You dont have javascript enabled! Please enable it!
Microsoft Certified: Windows Virtual Desktop Specialty

AZ-140 Exam Study Guide: Configuring and Operating Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop

Categories Microsoft | Certifications | by
12 Min. Read
Share this post:
Share on LinkedIn

Updated – 18/08/2023 – The exam guide below shows the changes to be implemented starting on August 21, 2023. The study guide has been updated to reflect the new exam objectives added by Microsoft.

Updated – 06/07/2023 – The exam study guide below includes a new Free practice assessment for the AZ-140 certification.

Updated – 06/10/2021 – The AZ-140 exam guide below shows the changes that will be implemented starting on September 24, 2021. This article has been updated to reflect the new exam objectives added by Microsoft and new study references to help you prepare successfully.

Updated – 30/03/2021 – To receive the discount, when you register for the AZ-140 exam, please check the exam registration section below.

In this article, we will share with you how to prepare and pass the AZ-140: Azure Virtual Desktop Specialty certification exam successfully (exam az 140).

Introduction

Microsoft is keeping evolving its learning programs to help you and your career keep pace with today’s demanding IT environments. The new updated role-based certifications will help you to keep pace with today’s business requirements. Microsoft Learning is constantly evolving its learning program to better offer what you need to skill up, prove your expertise to employers and peers, and get the recognition—and opportunities you’ve earned.

At the Azure Virtual Desktop Master Class in late January 2021, Microsoft announced a new certification specialty exam for Azure Virtual Desktop: Configuring and Operating Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop.

Exam Preparation

How do I prepare for AZ-140?

I would like to share with you how to prepare and pass the AZ-140: Configuring and Operating Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop exam successfully.

This exam will be available in March 2021 in the Beta phase at the time of this writing. Beta exams are not scored immediately because Microsoft is gathering data on the quality of the questions and the exam. This exam is out of the Beta phase now and it’s Public. I will update this article as soon as I get the exam results from Microsoft.

Updated on 14/10/2021 – In this exam, I got around 56 questions in total with 2 case studies, 2 sections with Yes/No answers, and no lab questions but this might change in the future. The total time for this exam is 100 minutes (1.40 hours). The exam is very long and a bit tough, you need to manage your time and prepare very well. The questions do pretty much match the list of skills measured below.

Updated on 28/04/2022 – Important information for Microsoft certification candidates: You should prepare for the performance-based testing (PBT) lab questions, starting now. Whether you see PBT or not depends on which exam, where you take the exam, etc. You would expect to see lab questions for the AZ-140 exam. It’s important to know you do NOT have to wait for deployments to complete these performance-based (lab) tests. As long as the deployment passes validation, you’re good. Every minute counts on these exams. Hands-on labs are the best way of demonstrating ability.

I am so happy and grateful now that I received the final report for the AZ-140 Configuring and Operating Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop with a high passing score as shown in the exam report below!

AZ-140 - Configuring and Operating Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop
AZ-140 – Configuring and Operating Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop

Updated on 18/08/2023 – For the renewal assessment, I got 26 questions in total without any case study. The performance assessment is based on the following topics:

> Business continuity and disaster recovery for Azure Virtual Desktop.
> Deploy applications by using the MSIX app attach for Azure Virtual Desktop.
> Deploy Azure Virtual Desktop.
> Connect to virtual machines through the Azure portal by using Azure Bastion.
> Secure an Azure Virtual Desktop deployment.
> Prepare for Azure Virtual Desktop.
> Manage access for Azure Virtual Desktop.
> Create and manage session host image for Azure Virtual Desktop.

Renewal assessment results for Microsoft Certified: Azure Virtual Desktop Specialty
Renewal assessment results for Microsoft Certified: Azure Virtual Desktop Specialty

Exam Target Audience

The candidates for this exam are Microsoft Azure administrators with subject matter expertise in planning, delivering, and managing virtual desktop experiences and remote applications, for any device, on Azure.

The responsibilities for this role include deploying virtual desktop experiences and apps to Azure. Professionals in this role deliver applications on Azure Virtual Desktop and optimize them to run in multi-session virtual environments. To deliver these experiences, they work closely with the Azure administrators and architects, along with Microsoft 365 Administrators.

To prepare for this exam, you should have experience in Azure technologies, including virtualization, networking, identity, storage, backups, resilience, and disaster recovery. They should understand on-premises virtual desktop infrastructure technologies as they relate to migrating to Azure Virtual Desktop. These professionals use the Azure portal and Azure Resource Manager templates to accomplish many tasks. This role may use PowerShell and Azure Command-Line Interface (CLI) for more efficient automation.

Please note that to take this exam, you must have expert Azure administration skills. Check my AZ-104 Exam: Microsoft Certified Azure Administrator Associate study guide to get prepared.

Prerequisites

Successful Azure Virtual Desktop administrators start this role with experience in operating systems, virtualization, and cloud infrastructure.

This knowledge includes:

  • Understanding of on-premises virtualization technologies, including VMs, virtual networking, and virtual hard disks.
  • Understanding of network configuration, including TCP/IP, Domain Name System (DNS), virtual private networks (VPNs), firewalls, and encryption technologies.
  • Understanding of Active Directory and Azure Active Directory concepts, including users, groups, and role-based access control.
  • Understanding of resilience and disaster recovery, including backup and restore operations.

Skills measured on this exam

This exam measures your ability to accomplish the technical topics listed below based on the latest update from Microsoft.

I have also included the direct link to the Microsoft documentation so you can read more about each objective.

Plan and implement an Azure Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (40–45%)

Plan, implement and manage networking for Azure Virtual Desktop

Plan and implement storage for Azure Virtual Desktop user data

Plan host pools and session hosts

Implement host pools and session hosts

Create and manage session host images

Plan and implement identity and security (15–20%)

Plan and implement identity integration

Plan and implement security

Plan and implement user environments and apps (20–25%)

Plan and implement FSLogix

Plan and implement user experience and client settings

Install and configure apps on a session host

Monitor and maintain an Azure Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (10–15%)

Monitor and manage Azure Virtual Desktop services

Plan, implement and maintain business continuity

Learning Paths

At the time of this writing, Microsoft did not publish the official learning path for this exam yet. However, I gathered all the resources available to help you get prepared ahead of time and pass this exam.

I highly recommend you start practicing how to implement Azure Virtual Desktop in the enterprise by following the online course and the step-by-step guide below:

1) Implementing Azure Virtual Desktop: Azure Virtual Desktop Overview and Architecture.
2) Implementing Azure Virtual Desktop: WVD Deployment, Profile Management, Identity, and Security.
3) Implementing Azure Virtual Desktop: WVD Infrastructure Management.
4) Implementing Azure Virtual Desktop: WVD Assessment, Migration, and Optimization.
5) Hands-on lab preparation guide: Implementing Azure Virtual Desktop in the enterprise.
6) Hands-on lab step-by-step guide: Implementing Azure Virtual Desktop in the enterprise.

The hands-on lab is brought to you by Microsoft Cloud Workshop.

Additionally, you can study and go through the following resources that will help you to get prepare for this exam based on the topics covered in the learning objectives for each domain:

1) Azure Virtual Desktop – Product vision, latest news, and roadmap.
2) Security Practices for Azure Virtual Desktop Environments – How to increase the security posture of your Azure Virtual Desktop deployment.

3) Azure Virtual Desktop – Operating your Azure Virtual Desktop environment at scale.
4) Azure Virtual Desktop – Simplifying image and application management.
5) Azure Virtual Desktop – Cost Optimization.
6) Azure Virtual Desktop – Using GPUs to improve user experience and scalability.
7) Azure Virtual Desktop – Migrating to Azure Virtual Desktop.
8) Azure Virtual Desktop – AZ-140 AVD Study Guide YouTube Playlist by Dean Cefola.

Microsoft Learn – Study Resources

To prepare for this exam, I use the new Microsoft Learn which is a great resource and provides self-paced skills training on delivering remote desktops and applications from Azure with Azure Virtual Desktop. I highly recommend checking the following modules:

1) Introduction to Azure Virtual Desktop in Microsoft Azure ( 6 units).

2) Prepare for Azure Virtual Desktop in Microsoft Azure (7 units).

3) Deploy Azure Virtual Desktop in Microsoft Azure (7 units).

4) Optimize Azure Virtual Desktop in Microsoft Azure (7 units).

5) Secure an Azure Virtual Desktop deployment (9 units).

6) Deploy applications by using the MSIX app attach for Azure Virtual Desktop (7 units).

Training Labs

Check the following step-by-step hands-on labs that will help you to gain more practical experience in configuring and operating Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop.

The labs comprise two separate tracks, depending on the identity provider you decide to use.

Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS). This track consists of the following labs:

1) LAB 01: Prepare for the deployment of Azure Virtual Desktop ADDS
2) LAB 02: Deploy host pools and session hosts with the Azure Portal ADDS
3) LAB 03: Implement and manage storage for AVD ADDS
4) LAB 04: Deploy host pools and hosts with ARM templates ADDS
5) LAB 05: Deploy and manage host pools and hosts with PowerShell ADDS
6) LAB 06: Create and manage session host images ADDS
7) LAB 07: Configure Conditional Access policies for AVD ADDS
8) LAB 08: Implement and manage AVD profiles ADDS
9) LAB 09: Package Azure Virtual Desktop applications ADDS
10) LAB 10: Implement autoscaling in host pools ADDS

Azure Active Directory Domain Services (Azure AD DS). This track consists of the following labs:

1) LAB 01: Prepare for the deployment of Azure Virtual Desktop AADDS
2) LAB 02: Create and configure host pools and session hosts AADDS
3) LAB 03: Implement and manage storage for Azure Virtual Desktop AADDS
4) LAB 04: Implement and manage Azure Virtual Desktop profiles AADDS

AZ-140 Exam Dumps and Practice Test

AZ-140 practice test. If you wish to validate and assess your skills before taking the real AZ-140 exam, I highly encourage you to purchase the following assessment and practice test:

> Assessment AZ-140: Configuring and Operating Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop. The AZ-140 assessment is designed to test your knowledge of the topics included in the Microsoft AZ-140 exam. This assessment contains 30 questions from the MeasureUp-associated practice test. It does not include explanations or references as this is an assessment-only product and not a practice test (check below).

> Microsoft Official Practice Test AZ-140: Configuring and Operating Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop. This exam is aimed at Administrators who want to validate and test their skills. This test contains 120 questions and covers all the AZ-140 exam objectives. It also includes explanations and references as this is a practice test product.

AZ-140 Free Practice Assessment

Are you preparing for the AZ-140 certification exam? Microsoft just announced Practice Assessments on Microsoft Learn, the newest free exam preparation resource that allows you to assess your knowledge and fill knowledge gaps so that you are better prepared the take the AZ-140 certification exam.

The following assessment provides you with an overview of the style, wording, and difficulty of the questions you’re likely to experience on the exam. Through this assessment, you’re able to assess your readiness, determine where additional preparation is needed, and fill knowledge gaps bringing you one step closer to the likelihood of passing your AZ-140 exam.

> Take now Exam AZ-140: Configuring and Operating Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop Practice Assessment (50 questions).

Prepare for your certification exam by assessing your knowledge through Practice Assessments, which are free and can be attempted multiple times. These assessments are created and regularly updated by the same team that develops the official certification exams.

You can access practice assessments on Microsoft Learn by signing in or creating an account. The score report for each question includes the answer, rationale, and links to additional information.

Schedule AZ-140 Exam

Microsoft launched the AZ-140 exam in beta mode, if you would like to take the beta exam and receive the 80% discount*, use the code below when prompted for payment: You must register for the exam on or before April 29, 2021. The seats are offered on a first-come, first-served basis.

The AZ-140 exam is out of the Beta phase now and it’s Public, the beta code below is NOT available anymore.

AZ140LAHAINA

Once you are ready, click Schedule exam here and take it online from the comfort of your home/office with proctor supervision.

Exam AZ-140: Configuring and Operating Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop
Exam AZ-140: Configuring and Operating Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop

If you are planning to take the AZ-140 exam… I wish you all the best and Happy Studying!!!

Other Microsoft Azure Exam Study Guides

Are you interested in another Azure certification exam? I highly encourage you to check out the following Azure exam study guides:

__
Thank you for reading my blog.

If you have any questions or feedback, please leave a comment.

-Charbel Nemnom-

Photo of author
About the Author
Charbel Nemnom
Charbel Nemnom is a Senior Cloud Architect, Swiss Certified ICT Security Expert, Certified Cloud Security Professional (CCSP), Certified Information Security Manager (CISM), Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP), and Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT). He has over 20 years of broad IT experience serving on and guiding technical teams to optimize the performance of mission-critical enterprise systems with extensive practical knowledge of complex systems build, network design, business continuity, and cloud security.
Previous

Get Azure Overall Secure Score from REST API

Log in with RDP to a Windows Azure VM using Azure AD

Next

2 thoughts on “AZ-140 Exam Study Guide: Configuring and Operating Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop”

Leave a comment...

  2. Thank you, Bob. Unfortunately, the exam code is expired. There are more than 300 users who got registered. There is no additional code for this exam at the moment. Sorry!

Let me know what you think, or ask a question...

error: Alert: The content of this website is copyrighted from being plagiarized! You can copy from the 'Code Blocks' in 'Black' by selecting the Code. Thank You!