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Explore AB-900 AI-901
AZ-400

DevOps Engineer Expert
Expert

The expert-level DevOps certification. Azure Pipelines, GitHub Actions, IaC, deployment strategies, pipeline security, and monitoring — explained with real-world scenarios and YAML examples.

📖

Study Guide

25 interactive modules

Azure Pipelines YAML, GitHub Actions, Deployment Strategies, and Pipeline Identity modules + 28 practice questions. No account needed.

Start Free →
✍️

Practice Exam

200 exam-style questions

Study mode with explanations + timed exam simulation. 28 free questions.

Try Free Questions →

25

Modules

200

Questions

5

Domains

Free

Domain 3 included

📝 Sample Question

A team deploys to production using blue-green deployment with Azure App Service slots. After swapping the staging slot to production, they discover a critical bug. What is the fastest rollback approach?

A. Redeploy the previous version to the staging slot
B. Perform another swap — the previous production slot is now staging ✓
C. Restore from a backup of the App Service

📊 What you'll cover

Design and Implement Processes and Communications 3 modules
Design and Implement a Source Control Strategy 3 modules
Design and Implement Build and Release Pipelines (Free) 13 modules
Develop a Security and Compliance Plan (Free) 4 modules
Implement an Instrumentation Strategy 2 modules

What you'll learn

🔧

Azure Pipelines & GitHub Actions

Master both CI/CD platforms. YAML syntax, triggers, multi-stage pipelines, templates, and approvals — with realistic code examples.

🚀

Deployment Strategies

Blue-green, canary, ring-based, feature flags, and A/B testing. Know which strategy fits each scenario — the exam tests this heavily.

🏗️

Infrastructure as Code

ARM vs Bicep vs Terraform — when to choose which. Plus desired state configuration and self-service deployment environments.

🔒

Pipeline Security

Service principals, managed identities, OIDC, Key Vault, GHAS, Defender for Cloud DevOps, Dependabot — secure your entire pipeline.

Full Curriculum

25 interactive modules across 5 exam domains

1

Design and Implement Processes and Communications

3 modules

Premium

Plan work with Azure Boards and GitHub Projects. Design dashboards with DORA metrics. Configure wikis, Teams integration, webhooks, and automated release notes.

  1. 1Work Item Tracking
  2. 2DevOps Metrics
  3. 3Collaboration & Communication
Preview Domain
2

Design and Implement a Source Control Strategy

3 modules

Premium

Design branching strategies (trunk-based, feature, release). Configure branch policies and protection rules. Manage large files with Git LFS and recover data with Git commands.

  1. 1Branching Strategies
  2. 2Pull Request Policies
  3. 3Repository Management
Preview Domain
3

Design and Implement Build and Release Pipelines

13 modules

Free

The heart of AZ-400 (50-55%). Master Azure Pipelines YAML and GitHub Actions. Design deployment strategies, implement IaC, manage packages, and optimise pipeline health.

  1. 1Package Management
  2. 2Testing Strategy
  3. 3Test Implementation
  4. 4Azure Pipelines YAML
  5. 5GitHub Actions
  6. 6Pipeline Agents
  7. 7Multi-Stage Pipelines
  8. 8Deployment Strategies
  9. 9Safe Rollouts
  10. 10Deployment Implementations
  11. 11IaC: ARM vs Bicep vs Terraform
  12. 12IaC: Desired State & Environments
  13. 13Pipeline Maintenance
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4

Develop a Security and Compliance Plan

4 modules

Free

Authenticate pipelines with service principals and managed identities. Manage secrets with Key Vault. Automate security scanning with GHAS, Defender, and Dependabot.

  1. 1Pipeline Identity
  2. 2Authorization & Access
  3. 3Secrets Management
  4. 4Security Scanning
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5

Implement an Instrumentation Strategy

2 modules

Premium

Configure Azure Monitor, Application Insights, and GitHub monitoring. Analyse metrics, distributed traces, and write KQL queries to interrogate logs.

  1. 1Monitoring for DevOps
  2. 2Metrics & KQL
Preview Domain

Practice Exam Lab

200 original questions — two study modes

📖

Study Mode

Learn as you go

  • ✓ See explanation after each question
  • ✓ "Why wrong" for every option
  • ✓ Real-world context & exam tips
  • ✓ Microsoft Learn links
⏱️

Exam Mode

Simulate the real thing

  • ✓ 120 minutes timed session
  • ✓ Randomised question order
  • ✓ Score breakdown by domain
  • ✓ Pass/fail against 700 / 1000
1

Processes and Communications

25 questions · Exam weight: 10-15%

0 Free

8

Easy

12

Medium

5

Hard

Every question includes a scenario, detailed explanation, and a link to Microsoft Learn.

Preview Questions
2

Source Control Strategy

25 questions · Exam weight: 10-15%

0 Free

8

Easy

12

Medium

5

Hard

Every question includes a scenario, detailed explanation, and a link to Microsoft Learn.

Preview Questions
3

Build and Release Pipelines

110 questions · Exam weight: 50-55%

20 Free

33

Easy

50

Medium

27

Hard

Every question includes a scenario, detailed explanation, and a link to Microsoft Learn.

Try Free Questions →
4

Security and Compliance

25 questions · Exam weight: 10-15%

8 Free

7

Easy

12

Medium

6

Hard

Every question includes a scenario, detailed explanation, and a link to Microsoft Learn.

Try Free Questions →
5

Instrumentation Strategy

15 questions · Exam weight: 5-10%

0 Free

5

Easy

7

Medium

3

Hard

Every question includes a scenario, detailed explanation, and a link to Microsoft Learn.

Preview Questions

🎁 Free tier: 28 questions. No account needed.

Choose your path

Start free. Upgrade when you're ready.

Practice Exam

$14

one-time purchase

  • ✓ 200 exam-style questions
  • ✓ Study mode + Exam mode
  • ✓ Detailed explanations

Study Guide

$19

one-time purchase

  • ✓ 25 interactive modules
  • ✓ Flashcards & ELI5
  • ✓ Progress tracking
Recommended

Complete Bundle

$29

save $4

  • ✓ Everything in both
  • ★ Best value

🎁 Free tier: Azure Pipelines YAML, GitHub Actions, Deployment Strategies, and Pipeline Identity modules + 28 practice questions. No account needed. No account needed.

About the AZ-400 Exam

Exam code
AZ-400
Duration
120 minutes
Passing score
700 / 1000
Question types
MCQ, multi-select, case studies
Cost
$165 USD

Exam Domains & Weights

D1: Processes and Communications (10-15%)
D2: Source Control Strategy (10-15%)
D3: Build and Release Pipelines (50-55%)
D4: Security and Compliance (10-15%)
D5: Instrumentation Strategy (5-10%)
View on Microsoft Learn →

Frequently Asked Questions

What is AZ-400?
AZ-400 is the Microsoft DevOps Engineer Expert certification. It tests your ability to design and implement DevOps solutions using Azure DevOps and GitHub — pipelines, source control, security, IaC, and monitoring.
Is AZ-400 hard?
Yes — it is an Expert-level certification. You need prior experience with Azure development OR administration (AZ-104 or AZ-204 as a prerequisite). Domain 3 (Build and Release Pipelines) is 50-55% of the exam and requires deep YAML knowledge.
What's in the free tier?
Four study modules covering Azure Pipelines YAML, GitHub Actions, Deployment Strategies, and Pipeline Identity — plus 28 practice questions. These are the highest-value exam topics.
Does this cover both Azure DevOps and GitHub?
Yes — every relevant module covers both platforms side by side. The exam tests both Azure DevOps (Boards, Repos, Pipelines, Artifacts) and GitHub (Actions, Projects, Packages, Advanced Security).
Is this a one-time purchase?
Yes. Pay once, access forever. No subscription or recurring fees.
Can I study on my phone?
Yes — every module is optimised for 10-minute mobile study sessions.

Ready to start?

Try the free tier. Upgrade when you're ready to pass.

Start Free → Try Practice Quiz

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