Top 25 Interview Questions With Answers For AZ-400T00

Mastering the AZ-400T00 certification can open doors to numerous career opportunities in the world of DevOps. Prepare yourself with these top 25 interview questions and answers to boost your confidence and knowledge.

Top 25 Interview Questions with Answers for AZ-400T00: Designing and Implementing Microsoft DevOps Solutions

The AZ-400T00 certification is a highly sought-after credential for professionals in the DevOps field. Whether you are preparing for a new job or looking to advance in your current role, understanding the key questions and their answers can be crucial. Here, we have compiled the top 25 interview questions along with their answers to help you get ready.

1. What is Azure DevOps, and what are its key services?

Azure DevOps is a comprehensive suite of development tools offered by Microsoft for planning, developing, testing, and delivering applications. It enables organizations to implement DevOps practices efficiently through a unified platform. The core services include Azure Boards (for project tracking), Azure Repos (for source control), Azure Pipelines (for CI/CD), Azure Test Plans (for testing), and Azure Artifacts (for package management). These services help automate workflows and foster collaboration between development and operations teams.

2. How does infrastructure as code (IaC) benefit a DevOps process in Azure?

Infrastructure as Code (IaC) automates the provisioning of infrastructure through machine-readable configuration files rather than manual processes. In Azure, tools like ARM templates, Terraform, or Bicep allow repeatable and consistent environment creation. This significantly reduces human error, increases deployment speed, ensures version control of environments, and simplifies the rollback or replication of resources across regions or teams.

3. Describe a typical CI/CD pipeline using Azure DevOps.

A CI/CD pipeline in Azure DevOps begins with Azure Repos for version control. Developers push code, which triggers Azure Pipelines to build the application. Unit tests are executed in the CI phase. If successful, the CD phase starts, deploying the build artifact to staging and then to production. Approval gates, manual interventions, or testing phases can be included to ensure deployment quality. This continuous process ensures that code changes are tested and delivered faster and more reliably.

4. What are the main components of Azure Pipelines?

• Agents: Execute tasks in the pipeline.
• Tasks and Jobs: Define what to run and how to group steps.
• Stages: Logical grouping of jobs (e.g., build, test, deploy).
• Triggers: Define when pipelines should run (e.g., commit, schedule).
• Artifacts: Outputs from builds used for deployments.

5. List some advantages of using YAML pipelines over classic UI-based pipelines in Azure DevOps.

• Version controlled along with source code.
• Easily reusable and shareable.
• Better suited for infrastructure as code practices.
• Easier to manage complex branching and templates.
• Declarative syntax improves readability and automation.

6. What are Azure Artifacts and when should you use them?

• Azure Artifacts hosts and manages packages like NuGet, npm, Maven, and Python.
• Use it to share versioned components between teams.
• Helps in dependency management across microservices.
• Supports upstream sources and retention policies.
• Integrates seamlessly into pipelines.

7. Compare Classic Release Pipelines and Multi-Stage YAML Pipelines.

GitFlow is a branching model that organizes work around branches for features, releases, and hotfixes. In Azure Repos, GitFlow can be implemented by using pull requests and branch policies. Developers work on feature branches, which are merged into develop. Releases are branched off develop, and hotfixes directly from main. Azure DevOps policies enforce reviews and build validation before merges, ensuring code quality and process control.

9. Explain the importance of setting up branch policies in Azure Repos.

• Ensures code quality through required peer reviews.
• Enforces build success before merge.
• Prevents direct push to protected branches like main.
• Enables required work item linking for traceability.
• Adds gates like required approvers or status checks.

10. What is the use of Azure Test Plans in DevOps workflows?

• Provides manual and exploratory testing capabilities.
• Helps plan, track, and execute test cases.
• Integrates test outcomes with pipeline status.
• Supports rich bug reporting with repro steps.
• Enables end-to-end testing visibility in pipelines.

11. Describe the process of implementing security (DevSecOps) in Azure Pipelines.

DevSecOps integrates security throughout the DevOps lifecycle. In Azure Pipelines, security is implemented by incorporating security scans during builds using tools like SonarQube, WhiteSource, or GitHub Advanced Security. Secrets are stored in Azure Key Vault, and pipelines can retrieve them securely during runtime. Policies ensure that all pull requests pass security checks, and compliance tools monitor pipeline activity and enforce data loss prevention (DLP) policies.

12. What are environments in Azure Pipelines, and how do they help in deployments?

• Logical representation of deployment targets (e.g., dev, QA, prod).
• Enable tracking of deployments, approvals, and resource health.
• Support multi-stage deployments and rollback scenarios.
• Can be linked with Kubernetes clusters or VMs.
• Facilitate controlled release workflows using approvals and gates.

13. What tools can be integrated into Azure DevOps for better monitoring and feedback?

• Application Insights: For real-time application telemetry.
• Azure Monitor: Tracks infrastructure metrics and logs.
• Grafana/Prometheus: Visualize time-series performance data.
• Slack/MS Teams: Alerts and release notifications.
• ServiceNow/Jira: Track incidents, problems, or requirements.

14. How does Azure DevOps support containerization and Kubernetes?

Self-hosted agents are build and deployment agents you set up on your own machines rather than using Microsoft-hosted ones. They are useful when:

• You need custom software not available on hosted agents.
• Build times are long and caching is important.
• You require isolated or private network access.
• Compliance or security mandates require on-prem execution.
• Cost control through VM-scale set or pooled machines.

16. What is the use of service connections in Azure DevOps?

• Allow pipelines to securely connect to external systems.
• Used for connecting to Azure, GitHub, Docker Hub, etc.
• Support OAuth, SPN, certificate, or PAT authentication.
• Enable RBAC control on who can use specific connections.
• Centralize access and avoid hardcoding credentials in code.

17. How do approval gates work in Azure Pipelines?

Approval gates control the transition from one pipeline stage to another. They can be configured to require:

• Manual approval from specific users or groups.
• Successful completion of external systems (like test suites).
• Automated checks like Azure Monitor alerts or security scans.
• Time delays (delayed deployment).
• Rejections or timeout policies for quality control.

Build validation policies require that a pull request triggers a successful build before the code can be merged into the target branch. This ensures that the new changes do not break the build or tests. These policies enforce automated testing, static code analysis, and compilation checks, improving code quality, reducing defects, and fostering a culture of continuous feedback and accountability.

20. List the steps to set up deployment to Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) via Azure Pipelines.

• Connect Azure subscription and AKS cluster using service connection.
• Create YAML pipeline with build, push, and deploy jobs.
• Use Docker to build and push images to ACR.
• Apply Kubernetes manifests or Helm charts using kubectl.
• Define stages: build → test → deploy, with approval gates if needed.

21. How do you handle secrets securely in Azure Pipelines?

• Use Azure Key Vault for storing secrets.
• Link Key Vault to pipeline using a secure service connection.
• Access secrets using the AzureKeyVault task or variables.
• Never hard-code secrets in YAML or scripts.
• Control access to secrets via Azure RBAC and policy.

To ensure rollback, Azure DevOps supports multiple methods:

• Retain previous successful builds and deployments.
• Use deployment slots for web apps to switch back instantly.
• Implement canary or blue-green deployments to reduce risk.
• Maintain versioned infrastructure/code with Git.
• Automate rollback scripts as part of the release pipeline.

24. What is a multi-repo strategy and how can Azure DevOps handle it?

• Organize large codebases by separating modules into multiple repos.
• Reduces build complexity and improves access control.
• Azure DevOps pipelines can reference multiple repos.
• Enables fine-grained access and permission delegation.
• Supports shared libraries across different teams/projects.

25. How can you monitor and analyze your pipeline's performance in Azure DevOps?

Azure DevOps provides built-in analytics for tracking pipeline duration, failure rates, and deployment frequency. Integration with Azure Monitor and Log Analytics helps collect telemetry and error data. Dashboards and Power BI can be connected for custom reporting. Monitoring helps identify bottlenecks, flaky tests, and slow stages, allowing continuous optimization of CI/CD performance.