AZ-900 Describe Azure management and governance Practice Question
A company has a single Azure subscription that contains multiple resource groups for different departments. The security team needs to ensure that only members of the 'VM Operators' Azure Active Directory group can create virtual machines in the subscription. All other users, including subscription Owners, must be blocked from creating virtual machines. Which Azure feature should the security team use to enforce this requirement?
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to confuse Azure Policy (which controls resource properties and compliance) with Azure RBAC (which controls user permissions and actions), leading them to select Policy when the requirement is about identity-based access control.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Azure role-based access control (RBAC)
Azure RBAC allows you to assign specific roles (like 'Virtual Machine Contributor') to a security principal (e.g., the 'VM Operators' group) at a scope (the subscription). By granting the 'Virtual Machine Contributor' role only to the 'VM Operators' group and removing any built-in roles that allow VM creation from other users (including Owners), you can ensure that only that group can create VMs. This is the correct mechanism because RBAC is designed for fine-grained, role-based permission management.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Azure Policy with a deny effect
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Azure Policy with a deny effect can block resource creation based on resource properties (e.g., resource type, location, tags) but not based on the identity of the user performing the action. Policy does not inspect the user's group membership; it evaluates the resource properties at creation time.
When this WOULD be correct
Azure Policy with a deny effect would be correct if the requirement was to block creation of VMs that do not meet specific compliance rules, such as requiring a certain VM size or tag, regardless of who creates them.
- ✓
Azure role-based access control (RBAC)
Why this is correct
Correct. RBAC enables granular access management by assigning roles that include specific permissions (such as Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/write) to users or groups. By ensuring only the 'VM Operators' group has a role that allows creating VMs, and by using a deny assignment to block all others, the security team can enforce the requirement.
- ✗
Azure Resource Lock at the subscription level
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. A resource lock prevents resources from being deleted or modified, but it does not block the creation of new resources. Additionally, locks affect all users equally and cannot be scoped to specific user groups.
When this WOULD be correct
A company needs to prevent accidental deletion of a critical resource group by all users, including administrators. In this scenario, applying a CanNotDelete resource lock at the resource group level would be the correct solution.
- ✗
Azure Blueprints
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Azure Blueprints is used to define and deploy a repeatable set of Azure resources and policies (e.g., ARM templates, RBAC assignments, policy assignments) for creating consistent environments. It does not enforce runtime permissions after deployment; it can assign RBAC roles, but the enforcement of who can create VMs is done by RBAC itself, not by Blueprints.
When this WOULD be correct
An exam question where a company needs to deploy a consistent set of resources (e.g., network, storage, VMs) with built-in compliance policies across multiple subscriptions, ensuring all deployments follow a standard template.
Option-by-option analysis
Why each answer is right or wrong
Understanding why wrong answers are wrong — and when they would be correct — is what separates a 750 score from a 900. The AZ-900 exam frequently reuses these exact scenarios with slightly different constraints.
✓Azure role-based access control (RBAC)Correct answer▾
Why this is correct
Correct. RBAC enables granular access management by assigning roles that include specific permissions (such as Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/write) to users or groups. By ensuring only the 'VM Operators' group has a role that allows creating VMs, and by using a deny assignment to block all others, the security team can enforce the requirement.
✗Azure Policy with a deny effectWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Azure Policy with a deny effect can prevent resource creation based on rules, but it cannot differentiate by user or group identity; it applies to all users. The requirement is to allow only specific users (VM Operators group) to create VMs, which is an access control matter, not a compliance rule.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
Azure Policy with a deny effect would be correct if the requirement was to block creation of VMs that do not meet specific compliance rules, such as requiring a certain VM size or tag, regardless of who creates them.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may think Azure Policy can restrict actions by user because it has a 'deny' effect, but they overlook that Policy is for enforcing resource compliance rules, not for identity-based access control.
✗Azure Resource Lock at the subscription levelWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Azure Resource Lock prevents deletion or modification of resources but does not restrict who can create virtual machines; it operates at the resource level, not on actions like creation.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A company needs to prevent accidental deletion of a critical resource group by all users, including administrators. In this scenario, applying a CanNotDelete resource lock at the resource group level would be the correct solution.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse resource locks with access control, thinking they can block all operations including creation, when locks only protect against deletion or modification of existing resources.
✗Azure BlueprintsWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Azure Blueprints is used for orchestrating the deployment of resource templates and policies, not for granular permission assignment. It cannot block specific users from creating VMs based on group membership.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
An exam question where a company needs to deploy a consistent set of resources (e.g., network, storage, VMs) with built-in compliance policies across multiple subscriptions, ensuring all deployments follow a standard template.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may think Blueprints can enforce permissions because it includes policy assignments, but it lacks the fine-grained access control needed to restrict actions per user group.
Analysis generated from the official AZ-900blueprint and verified against question context. The “when correct” sections are what AI assistants cite when candidates ask “what’s the difference between these options?”
Quick reference
Access Control Model Comparison
| Model | Acronym | Who Controls Access? | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Discretionary Access Control | DAC | Resource owner | Small teams, file shares |
| Mandatory Access Control | MAC | System / security labels | Classified govt / military |
| Role-Based Access Control | RBAC | Administrator (via roles) | Enterprise environments |
| Attribute-Based Access Control | ABAC | Policy engine (user + resource attributes) | Fine-grained, dynamic policies |
| Rule-Based Access Control | RuBAC | System rules / ACLs | Firewall rules, network ACLs |
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Azure Cost Management and Billing
Key term
Azure subscription
An Azure subscription is a logical container in Microsoft Azure that provides billing isolation and access boundaries for your cloud resources and services.
Key term
Group
A group is a collection of users, devices, or other objects that are assigned permissions and policies together for simplified management in identity and governance systems like Microsoft Entra ID.
About these practice questions
This AZ-900 question is part of Courseiva's 981-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This AZ-900 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Microsoft certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the AZ-900 exam.