Azure Administrator | AZ-104 Lab Guide

A comprehensive hands-on lab guide for the AZ-104 Azure Administrator certification — from Microsoft Entra ID and RBAC to Virtual Machines, ARM Templates, Load Balancers, Azure Storage, Backup, and Site Recovery. Built for the portal, proven in the cloud.

This guide covers every core Azure service domain tested in the certification exam. Each lab includes step-by-step portal walkthroughs, PowerShell and CLI commands, and real-world configuration scenarios, with screenshots taken directly from the Azure portal. Whether you’re preparing for the AZ-104 exam or administering a production Azure environment, this guide gives you the hands-on experience that makes the difference. All identity content has been updated to reflect the Microsoft Entra ID rebrand from Azure Active Directory.

What This Guide Covers

This lab manual walks you through building and administering a complete Azure environment:

Identity & Governance — Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD), tenant creation, user management, bulk provisioning, RBAC, Azure Policy, cost management, and resource tags
Azure Virtual Machines — VM deployment via Portal and PowerShell, disk configuration, networking, auto-shutdown, and IIS web server installation
Azure Administration — Azure Resource Manager, resource locks, resource moves, ARM templates, QuickStart templates, Azure CLI, and Cloud Shell
Networking & Load Balancing — VNet Peering, Azure Firewall, user-defined routes, system routes, Azure Load Balancer with backend pools and health probes
Azure Storage — Storage account creation, Blob containers, Azure File Shares, network drive mapping, Microsoft Storage Explorer, and data protection settings
Backup & Site Recovery — Recovery Services Vault, Azure VM backup policies, file and folder backup via MARS agent, Azure Site Recovery for Hyper-V, and VM failover/migration

Complete Lab Index

The 87-page guide is structured into 18 labs:

Lab 01: Microsoft Entra ID — Tenant, Users & Bulk Provisioning
Lab 02: User Permissions, Directory Roles & RBAC
Lab 03: Azure AD Premium P2 & Identity Protection
Lab 04: Governance — Subscription Types, Cost Management & Tags
Lab 05: Azure Policy — Definitions, Assignments & Compliance
Lab 06: Azure Virtual Machines — Portal Deployment
Lab 07: Azure Virtual Machines — PowerShell Deployment
Lab 08: Azure Resource Manager — Locks, Moves & Limits
Lab 09: ARM Templates — Download, Edit & QuickStart Deployment
Lab 10: Azure CLI & Cloud Shell
Lab 11: VNet Peering — Regional & Global
Lab 12: Azure Firewall — Deploy, Route & Rule Configuration
Lab 13: User Defined Routes & System Routes
Lab 14: Azure Load Balancer — Public LB with Backend Pools
Lab 15: Azure Storage — Account, Containers & File Shares
Lab 16: Backup Azure VMs — Recovery Services Vault & Policy
Lab 17: Backup Files & Folders — MARS Agent
Lab 18: Azure Site Recovery — Hyper-V to Azure Replication & Failover

Perfect For

AZ-104 Candidates preparing for the Microsoft Azure Administrator certification with real portal and CLI practice
Azure Administrators managing Azure subscriptions, VMs, identity, storage, and networking day-to-day
Cloud Engineers bridging on-premises infrastructure to hybrid and cloud-native Azure environments

Guide Details

Platform: Microsoft Azure
Exam: AZ-104
Length: 87 Pages
Version: 22.9

Ready to Master Azure Administration?

Download the complete 87-page lab guide covering the full AZ-104 Administrator domain — step-by-step portal walkthroughs, PowerShell and CLI commands, and real screenshots from the Azure portal. Free to download.

📥 Download the AZ-104 Lab Guide (PDF)

Have questions about Azure administration or completed the AZ-104 labs? Connect with me directly through the links below!