AZ-204 Preparation Details

Preparing for the AZ-204 Developing Solutions for Microsoft Azure exam? Don’t know where to start? This post is the AZ-204 Certificate Study Guide (with links to each exam objective).

I have curated a list of articles from Microsoft documentation for each objective of the AZ-204 exam. Please share the post within your circles so it helps them to prepare for the exam.

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AZ-204 Developing Solutions for Azure Course

AZ-204 Azure Developer Practice Tests & Labs

Azure Developer Learning Materials (AZ-204)

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Using az-204 exam dumps can get you permanently banned from taking any future Microsoft certificate exam. Read the FAQ page for more information. However, I strongly suggest you validate your understanding with practice questions.

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Develop Azure Compute Solutions (25-30%)

Implement IaaS solutions

Provision virtual machines (VMs)

Create a Windows VM in Azure with PowerShell

Configure, validate, and deploy ARM templates

Create & deploy ARM templates by using the Azure portal

Validating Azure ARM template

Use ARM template test toolkit

Configure container images for solutions

Create a container image for deployment to Azure Container Instances

Test your knowledge on Azure Compute Solutions

Explanation: First, you need to know that Ingress is an object that manages external access to services in a cluster.

One of the main reasons to use an ingress controller is that by using a single IP address, you can route traffic to multiple services in a Kubernetes cluster.

The documentation mentions that an ingress controller is a piece of software that provides reverse proxy, configurable traffic routing, and TLS termination for Kubernetes services, all of which are a requirement in the question.

So, option 1 is the correct choice.

Reference Link: Create an ingress controller

This question is part of the free AZ-204 Whizlabs practice test. My detailed explanation (with demo) is given on my YouTube channel as well!

Publish an image to the Azure Container Registry  

Push image to Azure Container Registry

Run containers by using Azure Container Instance

Deploy a container application to Azure Container Instances

Create Azure App Service Web Apps

Create an Azure App Service Web App

Create an ASP.NET Core web app in Azure

Test your knowledge on Azure App Service

Explanation: Well, the app service plan D1 is only for the shared infrastructure and so contains only a limited number of features. For the D1 plan, autoscaling is not supported. So, the application cannot scale automatically when the CPU load reaches 85%.

To enable autoscaling, you need to upgrade the app service plan tier. Plans like B1, B2, and B3 enable you to scale manually but not automatically.

Autoscaling is only available for the standard and the premium plans.

So, these are the following steps to implement:

1. First, we need to configure the web application to use the standard app service plan. Note that the premium app service plan works too, but since we need to ensure that costs are minimized too, option 4 is incorrect.
2. And, since we need to select a total of 4 options, all the other 3 options must be selected to achieve the requirement.

Reference Link: App Service plans overview

Scale-up an app in App Service

This question is part of the free AZ-204 Whizlabs practice test. My detailed explanation (with demo) is given on my YouTube channel as well!

Enable diagnostics logging

Enable diagnostics logging for apps in Azure App Service

Deploy code to a web app

Deploy your app to Azure App Service with a ZIP or WAR file

Configure web app settings including SSL, API, and connection strings

Test your knowledge on Azure App Service

Explanation: To configure logging, we use the command az webapp log config. Option 1 is the correct choice.

You can easily ignore the other options as it is evident from their names that:

Reference Link: az webapp log config

This question is part of the free Whizlabs practice test. My detailed explanation (with demo) is given on my YouTube channel as well!

Implement autoscaling rules, including scheduled autoscaling, and autoscaling by operational or system metrics

Azure App Service Autoscaling rules

Scheduled Autoscaling & scaling by operational or system metrics

Also, review the common autoscale patterns

Implement Azure Functions

Create and deploy Azure Functions apps

Create a function app

Deploy a function app to Azure Functions

Implement input and output bindings for a function

Azure Functions triggers and bindings concepts

Test your knowledge on Azure Function Bindings

Q] You develop an Azure Function that performs the following activities:

• Read messages from an Azure Storage Queue, and,
• Process the messages and add entities to Azure Table Storage

You have to define the correct bindings in this function.json file.

{
  "bindings": [
    {
      "type": "queueTrigger",
      "direction": slot1 ,
      "name": "my-orders",
      "queueName": "queue-items",
      "connection": "STORAGE_APP_SETTING"
    },
    {
      "type": "table",
      "direction": slot2 ,
      "name": slot3 ,
      "tableName": "out-table",
      "connection": "TABLE_APP_SETTING"
    }
  ]
}

Which of the following would go into Slot 1?

1. “in”
2. “out”
3. “trigger”
4. “$return”

Explanation: Since we need to read messages from the Azure Storage Queue, an Azure Queue Storage trigger is defined as the first element in the binding array.

And since we need to process and add entities to Azure table storage, the second element in the array defines the Azure Table Storage output binding.

So, the binding direction will be out (slot 2) for the 2nd item in the array since it is an output binding. And the binding direction for triggers (slot 1) is always in.

Option 1 is the correct choice.

Reference Link: Azure Functions trigger and binding

Binding direction in Azure Functions

This question is part of the free AZ-204 Whizlabs practice test. My detailed explanation (with demo) is given on my YouTube channel as well!

Implement function triggers by using data operations, timers, and webhooks

Timer trigger for Azure Functions

Create an Azure function triggered by a webhook

Implement Azure Durable Functions

Create Durable Functions using the Azure portal

Implement custom handlers

Azure Functions custom handlers

Develop for Azure Storage (15-20%)

Develop Solutions That Use Cosmos DB Storage

Select the appropriate API and SDK for a solution

Choose the appropriate API for Azure Cosmos DB

Implement partitioning schemes and partition keys

Model & partition data on Azure Cosmos DB using a real-world example

Partitioning and horizontal scaling in Azure Cosmos DB

Deep Dive into Azure Cosmos Partition Keys

Perform operations on data and Cosmos DB containers

Insert and query data in your Azure Cosmos DB database

Set the appropriate consistency level for operations

Choose the right consistency level

Manage change feed notifications

Change feed in Azure Cosmos DB

Change Feed – Unsung hero of Azure Cosmos DB

Develop Solutions That Use Blob Storage

Move items in blob storage between storage accounts or containers

Moving Azure storage blobs using CLI

Test your knowledge on Azure Storage Account

azcopy copy slot1 slot2/?sv=2018-03-28&
amp;ss=bjqt&srt=sco&sp=rwddgcup&se=
2019-05-01T05:01:17Z&st=2019-04-30T
21:01:17Z&spr=https&sig=MGCXiyEzbtttk
r3ewJIh2AR8KrghSy1DGM9ovN734bQF4%
3D" --recursive=false

Explanation: To copy objects with the azcopy tool, use the azcopy command with the copy keyword. Then comes the local directory from where the objects need to be copied. Next comes the destination URL of the target container in the storage account.

Clearly options 3 and 4 are incorrect. Option a is the correct answer as the correct URL for a storage account will be in the format <name>.blob.core.windows.net. And, demo is the name of the container.

The characters that you see after the container name are for the SAS token.

Reference Link: Using a SAS token

This question is part of the free Whizlabs practice test. My detailed explanation (with demo) is given on my YouTube channel as well!

Set and retrieve properties and metadata

Setting properties & metadata during the import process

Perform operations on data by using the appropriate SDK

Azure Blob storage client library v12 for .NET

Implement storage policies, and data archiving and retention

Manage immutability policies for Blob storage

Add or remove a policy

Archive access tier

Set retention policies

Amazon link (affiliate)

Implement Azure Security (20-25%)

Implement User Authentication and Authorization

Authenticate and authorize users by using the Microsoft Identity platform

Authentication with the Microsoft identity platform endpoint

Authentication flows

Microsoft identity platform & OAuth 2.0 authorization code flow

Authenticate and authorize users and apps by using Azure Active Directory

Test your knowledge on Azure Active Directory

{
'appId' : 'ad1403a-dfb-48d03-b15-e622s3le31'
slot1 : 'all'
slot2 : true
}

Explanation: First, see the below application manifest file which sometimes you would edit to configure the attributes of an application in Azure Active Directory.

All the applications contain something called appID which is nothing but the application ID or the Client ID.

From the question, it is evident that the attribute (in slot2) will have a value of type Boolean.

Now, to meet the requirements in the question, you would set the value of the attribute oauth2AllowImplicitFlow to True.

This attribute specifies whether a web app can request OAuth2.0 implicit flow access tokens for browser-based apps, like single-page apps.

So, option 4 perfectly fits what’s asked in the question.

Options oauth2Permissions and requiredResourceAccess represent a value of type Collections so you can easily ignore them.

Reference Link: Azure Active Directory app manifest

Oauth2Permissions attribute

requiredResourceAccess attribute

This question is part of the free AZ-204 Whizlabs practice test. My detailed explanation (with demo) is given on my YouTube channel as well!

Create and implement shared access signatures

Grant limited access to Azure Storage resources using SAS

Implement Secure Cloud Solutions

Secure app configuration data by using App Configuration Azure Key Vault

Use Key Vault references in an ASP.NET Core app

Centralized app configuration and security

Develop code that uses keys, secrets, and certificates stored in Azure Key Vault

Implement solutions that interact with Microsoft Graph

Use the Microsoft Graph API

Microsoft Graph quick start

Test your knowledge of Microsoft Graph API

Q] You develop an ASP.Net Core application that works with blobs in an Azure storage account. The application authenticates via Azure AD credentials.

Role-based access has been implemented on the containers that contain the blobs. These roles have been assigned to the users.

You have to configure the application so that the user’s permissions can be used with the Azure Blob containers.

Which of the following would you use as the Permission for the Microsoft Graph API?

1. User.Read
2. User.Write
3. client_id
4. user_impersonation

Explanation: First, log in to the Azure portal and create a new app registration in the Azure Active Directory for the ASP.Net Core application.

Click ‘App registrations’ and then click ‘New registration.’ Enter a name for your app and then click ‘Register’ to create the app.

If you check the API permissions for the app, by default, the registered Azure AD application has access to the Microsoft Graph API.

And the permission used by the app for accessing Microsoft Graph API is User.Read. So, option 1 is the right choice.

This question is part of the free AZ-204  Whizlabs practice test. My detailed explanation (with demo) is given on my YouTube channel as well!

Monitor, Troubleshoot, and Optimize Azure Solutions (15-20%)

Integrate Caching and Content Delivery within Solutions

Configure cache and expiration policies

Configure cache and expiration policy for Azure CDNs

Configure cache and expiration policies for Azure Redis Cache

Setting an expiration value on keys

How to configure Azure Cache for Redis

Implement secure and optimized application cache patterns including data sizing, connections, encryption, and expiration

Common cache patterns with Azure Redis Cache

Caching guidance

Instrument Solutions to Support Monitoring and Logging

Configure an app or service to use Application Insights

Application Insights for ASP.NET Core applications

Configure Application Insights for your ASP.NET website

Application Insights for .NET console applications

Test your knowledge on Azure Application Insights

Explanation: Azure Application Insights Profiler provides performance traces for applications that are running in production in Azure.

Enabling Identity is part of Azure Active Directory and is not related to Application Insights Profiler.

Custom domains are a feature to access any Azure URI by a different or a customized URI. Hence this is not related to Application Insights Profiler.

Cross-origin resource sharing (or CORS) defines a way for web applications in 1 domain to interact with resources in another domain. CORS will not help in enabling Application Insights Profiler.

To enable Application Insights Profiler for a web App, the correct prerequisite is to enable ‘Always On.’

This is required because if a web app is idle for too long, Azure App Service unloads the website, and it only loads the website again when the traffic returns. By enabling ‘Always On’, you keep the Web App up and running all the time.

Reference Link: Profile live Azure App Service apps with Application Insights

This question is part of the free AZ-204 Whizlabs practice test. My detailed explanation (with demo) is given on my YouTube channel as well!

Analyze and troubleshoot solutions by using Azure Monitor

Troubleshoot solutions by using Azure Monitor

Troubleshoot an App Service app with Azure Monitor

Implement Application Insights web tests and alerts

Creating an Application Insights web test & alert programmatically

Connect to and Consume Azure services and Third-party Services (15-20%)

Implement API Management

Create an APIM instance

Creating Azure API Management instance using the Azure portal

Configure authentication for APIs

Secure APIs using client certificates in APIM

Define policies for APIs

How to set or edit Azure APIM policies

Develop Event-based Solutions

Implement solutions that use Azure Event Grid

Automate resizing uploaded images using Event Grid

Implement solutions that use Azure Notification Hubs

Send notifications to UWP apps using Azure Notification Hubs

Implement solutions that use Azure Event Hub

Visualize data anomalies in real-time events in Azure Event Hubs

Test your knowledge on Azure Event Hubs

Explanation: The scenario in the question is best understood with the help of the diagram below:

Since the data comes in for each highway, the highway represented by probably a highway number would be ideal for the partition key.

The other options are incorrect since they would not provide ideal values for the distribution of data across the partitions.

Reference Link: Partitions in Event Hub

This question is part of the free AZ-204 Whizlabs practice test. My detailed explanation (with demo) is given on my YouTube channel as well!

Import OpenAPI definitions

Import an OpenAPI specification

Import and publish your first API

API import restrictions & known issues

Develop Message-based Solutions

Implement solutions that use Azure Service Bus

Azure PowerShell to create a Service Bus namespace & a queue

Test your knowledge of Azure Service Bus

Explanation: Well, Azure Service Bus supports 3 different filter conditions: They are:

• Boolean filters
• SQL filters, and,
• Correlation filters.

Correlation filters have a set of conditions that are matched against the arriving messages.

SQL filter holds a SQL-like conditional expression that’s evaluated against the incoming messages.

Boolean filters cause either all or none of the arriving messages to be selected for the subscription.

Since the question mentions that we need to receive all messages sent to the topic, a Boolean filter would be more suitable.

Option 1 is the correct choice

Reference Link: Azure Service Bus topic filters

This question is part of the free AZ-204 Whizlabs practice test. My detailed explanation (with demo) is given on my YouTube channel as well!

Implement solutions that use Azure Queue Storage queues

Work with Azure storage queues in .NET

This brings us to the end of the AZ-204 Developing Solutions For Microsoft Azure Study Guide.

What do you think? Let me know in the comments section if I have missed out on anything. Also, I love to hear from you about how your preparation is going on!

In case you are preparing for other Azure certification exams, check out the Azure study guide for those exams.

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