Microsoft · AZ-400 · Expert

Designing and Implementing Microsoft DevOps Solutions (AZ-400) — Practice Questions and Mock Exam

Name: Pass-IT
Author: Pass-IT

Prepare for AZ-400 with original practice questions and clear answer explanations. Ask Alex, your AI tutor, when you need more detail, use your results to identify topics to review, and practice your pacing with timed mock exams.

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50Mock exam questions

100minTime limit

700/ 1000Passing score

Checked against Microsoft · August 2026 · Current exam version

Overview

About the exam

The AZ-400 certification validates expertise in designing and implementing DevOps practices for Microsoft Azure. It covers development process design, source control management, CI/CD pipelines with Azure DevOps and GitHub Actions, dependency management, infrastructure as code, continuous feedback, security practices, and compliance automation across the software delivery lifecycle.

This expert-level certification is designed for DevOps engineers, platform engineers, and developers who combine development and operations expertise. Candidates should be proficient with Azure administration and development, with practical experience in Azure DevOps or GitHub for implementing end-to-end DevOps workflows.

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Try five AZ-400 questions

Try five practice questions from the app’s current Designing and Implementing Microsoft DevOps Solutions question bank, with answers and explanations.

Design and implement build and release pipelines2 / 5

A team wants to roll out a new microservice version to an Azure Kubernetes Service cluster gradually: first to 10% of pods, then 20%, monitoring health after each traffic shift, and finally promoting to 100% only if health checks pass. Which deployment strategy in an Azure Pipelines deployment job should they use?

AlexFull explanation from Alex

Azure Pipelines deployment jobs support three strategies: runOnce, rolling, and canary. runOnce executes each lifecycle hook (preDeploy, deploy, routeTraffic, postRouteTraffic) exactly once. rolling replaces application instances on a fixed set of VMs in batches controlled by maxParallel and is currently supported only for VM resources. canary is the advanced strategy for incremental exposure: it runs preDeploy once, then iterates deploy, routeTraffic, and postRouteTraffic for each increment (for example 10%, then 20%), monitoring health in postRouteTraffic before promoting to 100%. The strategy.increment variable is available during those iterating hooks. Note blueGreen is not a built-in deployment-job strategy keyword. Exam tip: phased percentage rollout with health checks between increments equals canary; VM batch replacement equals rolling; single execution equals runOnce.

Sourcelearn.microsoft.com

Design and implement a source control strategy5 / 5

Does the following statement meet the goal? Goal: Ensure that a Git repository in Azure Repos preserves a linear commit history on the main branch. Statement: You configure the branch policy for the main branch to set 'Limit merge types' and allow only 'Squash merge' as the permitted merge strategy.

AlexFull explanation from Alex

A linear commit history on the main branch means no merge commits — each commit follows sequentially. The squash merge policy in Azure Repos achieves this by combining all commits from a pull request into a single commit on the target branch. When enabled as a branch policy on the main branch, all PRs must use squash merge, ensuring the main branch never contains merge commits or branching history. This creates a clean, linear history that is easy to read and bisect. Rebase merge also creates a linear history by replaying commits instead of creating merge commits. Basic merge creates merge commits and does not maintain linearity. Fast-forward merge maintains linearity but only works when the branch is directly ahead. Exam tip: Squash merge = single commit per PR (linear history); rebase = replay commits (linear); basic merge = merge commit (non-linear).

Sourcelearn.microsoft.com

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Question pool

334 practice questions

The Pass-IT question pool gives you material to practice for AZ-400. A Pass-IT mock exam uses 50 questions and a 100-minute time limit; these are practice settings.

Pool details: AZ-400

Exam details checked against MicrosoftAugust 28, 2026

date of the last check against the official Microsoft source

Passing score700 / 1,000

as published by Microsoft

Objectives in the guide102 objectives listed in the official guide

across 5 domains in the official exam guide

Pool size334 questions

= The pool size is equivalent to 6 sets of 50 questions; this does not mean that each mock exam uses a separate set.

Blueprint domains5 domains in the exam blueprint

Design and implement processes and communications 49 · Design and implement a source control strategy 43 · Design and implement build and release pipelines 139 · Develop a security and compliance plan 66 · Implement an instrumentation strategy 37

Recorded as checked against sources334 of 334

questions recorded as having their answer, options, and explanation checked against official Microsoft documentation

How questions are made →

Exam domains

What's on the exam

Designing and implementing build and release pipelines dominates the exam at 50–55%: package management, pipeline testing strategy, YAML pipeline design, deployment patterns like blue-green and canary, infrastructure as code, and pipeline maintenance all live in this one domain. Process and communication, source control strategy, and security and compliance planning each take 10–15%, and instrumentation (monitoring and metrics) closes it out at 5–10%.

More than half the exam sits inside one domain, so pipeline and release-engineering depth matters more than breadth across the other four areas combined.

Exam blueprint: AZ-400

Design and implement processes and communications10–15%

Design and implement traceability and flow of work (GitHub Flow, feedback cycles, GitHub projects, Azure Boards), design and implement metrics and queries for DevOps, and configure collaboration and communication (wikis, release docs, webhooks, Teams integration)

≈ 7 h

Design and implement a source control strategy10–15%

Design and implement branching strategies (trunk-based, feature branch, release branch, PR workflows, branch policies/protection rules) and configure and manage repositories (large files, Git LFS, scaling, permissions, tags, data recovery)

≈ 7 h

Design and implement build and release pipelines50–55%

Design and implement package management (GitHub Packages, Azure Artifacts, versioning), testing strategy (quality/release gates, comprehensive testing, code coverage), pipelines (GitHub Actions, Azure Pipelines, YAML, multi-stage, hybrid), deployments (blue-green, canary, ring, feature flags, database tasks), IaC (ARM, Bicep, Azure Machine Configuration), and pipeline maintenance

≈ 29 h

Develop a security and compliance plan10–15%

Design and implement authentication and authorization (service principals, managed identities, GitHub Apps, service connections, permissions/roles) and manage sensitive information in automation (Key Vault, secrets, workload identity federation, secure files)

≈ 7 h

Implement an instrumentation strategy5–10%

Configure monitoring for DevOps environments (Azure Monitor, Application Insights, VM/Container/Storage/Network Insights, GitHub insights) and analyze metrics from instrumentation (infrastructure performance, telemetry, distributed tracing, KQL queries)

≈ 5 h

Format

Exam format and question types

AZ-400 draws 40–60 questions from a mix of multiple-choice, multiple-select, drag-and-drop, ordering, and dropdown-selection formats inside a 100-minute window. Most items are scenario-based, pairing a pipeline, repository, or security requirement with a choice between the equivalent GitHub and Azure DevOps features (YAML syntax, branch policies, gate configuration) rather than abstract DevOps theory.

Question types: AZ-400

Multiple Choice41%

Select the single answer that best meets the question’s requirements.

Drag & Drop17%

Move items into the slots, groups, or sequence specified by the task.

Ordering11%

Arrange the steps in the sequence needed to complete the process.

Multiple Response11%

Select multiple answers. Follow the question’s instructions on how many to choose.

Dropdown11%

Choose options from dropdown menus to complete a statement or configuration.

True / False9%

Decide whether a statement is true or false, paying attention to its conditions and wording.

See Microsoft for official question-format information. The shares shown describe the Pass-IT practice pool; they do not establish the proportions on the official exam.

Planning

Preparing for AZ-400

AZ-400 runs through Pearson VUE, either online with a remote proctor or at an authorized testing center, and is offered in English, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, French, German, Spanish, and several other languages depending on location. Certification holds for one year, and Microsoft opens a free renewal assessment on Learn starting six months before it expires.

Preparation and logistics: AZ-400

Preparation

Illustrative study time35–85 h

illustrative planning range: 35 h with relevant experience to 85 h when starting out; your needs may fall outside this range

LevelExpert

Taking and maintaining the certification

DeliveryPearson VUE online proctored or at authorized testing centers worldwide

Retake policy24-hour wait after the first attempt, 14 days between subsequent attempts, maximum 5 attempts per exam within a 12-month period

Certification validity1 year

Free renewal assessment on Microsoft Learn, available starting 6 months before expiration. Must be completed before the certification expires.

Official guideView on provider site

Study notes

Common pitfalls

Topics to review: AZ-400

01YAML Pipeline Syntax
Not knowing Azure Pipelines YAML syntax for stages, jobs, steps, and variable groups including template references.
02GitHub vs Azure DevOps
Confusing equivalent features between GitHub Actions and Azure DevOps Pipelines including triggers and approval gates.
03IaC Tools
Struggling to differentiate when to use ARM templates, Bicep, Terraform, or Pulumi for infrastructure as code scenarios.
04Security Integration
Overlooking DevSecOps practices like SAST/DAST scanning, dependency scanning, and secret management in pipelines.
05Monitoring Strategy
Not understanding how to implement continuous feedback loops built on Azure Monitor, Application Insights, and dashboards.

Practice with questions and explanations in Pass-IT →

Questions

Frequently asked questions

How long is the Designing and Implementing Microsoft DevOps Solutions exam?

The AZ-400 exam has 50 questions and a 100-minute time limit.

What is the passing score for Designing and Implementing Microsoft DevOps Solutions?

The passing score for the AZ-400 exam is 700 / 1000.

Which pitfalls should I review when preparing for Designing and Implementing Microsoft DevOps Solutions?

Topics to review include YAML Pipeline Syntax, GitHub vs Azure DevOps, IaC Tools, Security Integration, Monitoring Strategy. Work through examples to check that you understand the distinctions and can explain your answer.

Which AZ-400 topics carry the most marks?

Designing and implementing build and release pipelines is 52% of the exam on its own, the most lopsided weighting in our catalog. Processes and communications, source control strategy and the security and compliance plan take 13% each, with instrumentation at 9%. If your pipeline knowledge is shaky, no amount of preparation elsewhere compensates.

Do you need AZ-104 or AI-200 before AZ-400?

Microsoft sets no prerequisite, so AZ-400 can be booked on its own. The exam assumes you either administer Azure or develop on it, because pipelines touch both sides. Coming from AZ-104 the gap is usually source control and testing; coming from development it is usually infrastructure and monitoring.

What comes after AZ-400?

AZ-305 is the sideways move towards solution design, and SC-100 if security architecture is becoming the role. AZ-700 fits when the networking layer under the pipelines is what keeps breaking. All three sit at the same expert or advanced level rather than above AZ-400.

What happens if you fail AZ-400?

You can rebook after 24 hours, then wait 14 days between any later attempts. Five attempts at the same exam are allowed in a 12-month period.

One certification, 12 months

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