MS-102 Deploy and manage a Microsoft 365 tenant Practice Question

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.

• ✓

  Add a DNS TXT record provided by Microsoft to the domain registrar

  Why this is correct

  Domain ownership verification in Microsoft 365 is performed by adding the exact TXT record—containing a unique verification string generated in the Microsoft 365 admin center—to the domain's public DNS zone at the registrar. Microsoft periodically queries the TXT record for that domain; when the value matches, the domain is marked as verified and becomes an accepted domain. This must complete successfully before any user accounts, mail routing, or other service records can be associated with the custom domain.

• ✗

  Create user accounts with the new domain

  Why it's wrong here

  User accounts with a new domain suffix cannot be created until the custom domain has been proven owned by the tenant. The initial default domain, such as contoso.onmicrosoft.com, remains the only usable UPN suffix until DNS verification succeeds; otherwise, account creation would fail with a domain-not-verified error. Verification must come first, and only after the domain is verified can you add it as a UPN suffix and assign it to new or existing users.

• ✗

  Configure Exchange Online connectors

  Why it's wrong here

  Exchange Online connectors are an organizational mail-flow configuration that defines how messages enter or leave your tenant for hybrid systems, third-party cloud filters, or other remote SMTP servers. They do not perform any authentication of domain ownership and actually require a verified domain for proper setup—so configuring connectors before verification is both premature and ineffective. The initial domain verification step is a simple DNS TXT record lookup, not a mail-flow rule.

• ✗

  Set up MX records for email routing

  Why it's wrong here

  MX records determine where incoming email for the domain is delivered and are a post-verification step when configuring Exchange Online's email routing. Microsoft does not accept an MX record as proof of domain ownership for a custom domain in this scenario; verification relies specifically on a DNS TXT record with a Microsoft-provided value. Attempting to set up MX records before verification will not satisfy the ownership check and could misdirect email if the corresponding tenant services have not been configured.

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