DP-203 Managed Identity Practice Question
You are troubleshooting an Azure Databricks job that writes data to Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2. The job fails with '403 Forbidden' error. The Databricks workspace uses a managed identity (system-assigned) for authentication. What should you verify?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common trap is to confuse 403 Forbidden (authorization failure) with 404 Not Found (resource not found). Ensure you check RBAC role assignments for managed identities rather than network configurations or resource existence.
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
✓
The managed identity has 'Storage Blob Data Contributor' role assigned to the storage account
The 403 Forbidden error indicates that authentication succeeded but authorization failed. For a managed identity to write data to Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2, it must be assigned the 'Storage Blob Data Contributor' RBAC role on the storage account. This role grants read, write, and delete permissions for blobs and directories. Without this role assignment, the managed identity cannot write data, resulting in a 403 error. Even if the storage account name is correct (A), the firewall is configured (B), or a private endpoint exists (C), the missing RBAC role assignment will cause the failure.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The storage account name is correct
Why it's wrong here
An incorrect storage account name produces a name-resolution or not-found error, not 403 Forbidden, which signals authenticated-but-unauthorised access. It is tempting because typos are a frequent misconfiguration, and would be correct if the job reported that the account or container could not be located.
- ✗
The storage account firewall is configured to allow Azure services
Why it's wrong here
Allowing Azure services permits traffic from trusted platform services, but the workspace's system-assigned managed identity still needs a role assignment granting access; the firewall alone does not authorise it. It is tempting because firewall rules commonly cause storage failures, and would be correct if the error were a network timeout.
- ✗
A private endpoint is configured between Databricks and the storage account
Why it's wrong here
A private endpoint affects network routing, not authorisation; a missing one yields timeouts or connection failures, not 403. It is tempting because private endpoints are commonly configured for secure Databricks storage access, and would be the answer if the error were a connectivity or DNS failure.
- ✓
The managed identity has 'Storage Blob Data Contributor' role assigned to the storage account
Why this is correct
The 403 arises because the system-assigned managed identity lacks data-plane authorisation on the storage account. Granting Storage Blob Data Contributor at the account or container scope supplies the OAuth permissions needed for writes to Data Lake Storage Gen2.
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
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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