MS-102 Deploy and manage a Microsoft 365 tenant Practice Question
An administrator has configured group-based licensing in Microsoft Entra ID. After adding users to the group, some users do not receive licenses. The users are in the group and have an assigned usage location. What is a possible reason?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates assume group-based licensing always works if the user is in the group and has a usage location, overlooking the common real-world scenario where pre-existing direct license assignments cause silent failures that require manual conflict resolution.
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 users have conflicting license assignments from another source
Group-based licensing in Microsoft Entra ID can fail when a user already has a license assigned from another source, such as direct assignment or another group. Microsoft Entra ID's group-based licensing processes assignments in a deterministic order, and if a conflict arises (e.g., different service plans or SKUs), the system may skip the user and log an error in the audit logs. This is a common scenario when users are migrated from direct licensing to group-based licensing without removing the existing assignments.
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 group is a mail-enabled security group, which is not supported for group-based licensing
Why it's wrong here
Mail-enabled security groups are fully supported for Microsoft Entra ID group-based licensing. Microsoft Entra ID supports assigning licenses via security groups, mail-enabled security groups, and Microsoft 365 groups, so this group type would not prevent license assignment. If a licensing problem applied to the group type, no member would receive licenses, but here only some users are affected, so this is not the cause.
- ✗
The license product name in the group setting does not match the available licenses in the tenant
Why it's wrong here
If the product name or SKU specified in the group-based licensing settings was invalid or did not match an available license in the tenant, the group assignment would fail for every member, not just a subset. Microsoft Entra ID validates the SKU against the tenant's available license catalog before applying it. Since some users did receive licenses, the product name is correct and this is not the reason for the issue.
- ✓
The users have conflicting license assignments from another source
Why this is correct
Conflicting license assignments are a common cause of partial group-based licensing failures. When a user already holds a license assigned directly or through another group that contains the same or conflicting service plans, Microsoft Entra ID group-based licensing detects the conflict and places that user in an error state rather than applying the group license. The affected users will appear with an error status such as 'Conflicting service plans' in the Microsoft Entra ID licensing blade, while other users without such conflicts get the license successfully.
- ✗
The users have not accepted the Microsoft Online Service Terms
Why it's wrong here
Acceptance of the Microsoft Online Service Terms is an organization-level agreement, not an individual user prerequisite for license assignment. Group-based licensing applies licenses at the directory level without requiring end-user consent or acceptance. Therefore, a user not having accepted these terms would not block or skip a license assignment, so this cannot explain why only some users are missing the license.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Entra ID Access Reviews
Key term
Audit
An audit is a systematic, independent review of IT systems, processes, and controls to verify compliance with policies, standards, and regulations.
Key term
Microsoft Entra ID
Microsoft Entra ID is a cloud-based identity and access management service that lets employees sign in and access resources both inside and outside of your organization.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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