AZ-802 Exam Guide 2026: Administering Windows Server

This AZ-802 exam guide explains what Microsoft measures when it tests Windows Server administration. According to Microsoft Learn, the study guide was last updated on 19 October 2026.

The exam covers Windows Server as a workload on-premises, in the cloud and in hybrid setups. This guide covers the skill areas, who the exam suits and a four-week plan.

What is the AZ-802 exam?

AZ-802 is Exam AZ-802: Administering Windows Server. According to Microsoft Learn, it is part of the requirements for Microsoft Certified: Windows Server Administrator Associate, and the page lists the retirement date as none.

The candidate deploys, implements, manages and troubleshoots Windows Server. That includes administering identity, security, management, compute, networking, storage and monitoring.

Azure Arc is the Azure service that lets you manage servers outside Azure, such as on-premises machines, from the Azure portal. It appears throughout the outline, which is why this is a hybrid exam rather than a pure on-premises one.

What skills does AZ-802 measure?

The exam measures seven skill areas, and Active Directory Domain Services is the heaviest at 20-25%. The exam page publishes these ranges.

Skill area	Weight
Deploy and manage AD DS	20-25%
Manage Windows Server instances and workloads in a hybrid environment	10-15%
Manage virtual machines	10-15%
Implement and manage an on-premises and hybrid networking infrastructure	10-15%
Manage storage and file services	15-20%
Secure Windows Server infrastructure	10-15%
Monitor and troubleshoot Windows Server environments	15-20%

What is in the AD DS area?

This area covers Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS), the directory service that stores users, groups and computers for a Windows domain. The study guide lists domain controllers, read-only domain controllers and Flexible Single-Master Operations roles.

It also covers multi-site, multi-domain and multi-forest environments, trusts, replication, service accounts and Group Policy.

What is in the hybrid and virtual machine areas?

The hybrid area covers Windows Admin Center, PowerShell remoting, Secure Shell and Azure Arc-enabled servers. It also lists Azure Update Manager and Azure Automation runbooks.

The virtual machine area covers Hyper-V topics such as checkpoints, nested virtualization, Hyper-V Replica and virtual switches. It also covers Windows Server virtual machines in Azure, including availability sets, zones and Azure Bastion.

What is in the networking, storage and security areas?

Networking covers DNS, DNS security extensions and DHCP, including scopes and high availability. Storage covers Azure Files, Azure File Sync, Storage Spaces, Storage Spaces Direct, Storage Replica and BitLocker.

Security covers Credential Guard, exploit protection, Windows Local Administrator Password Solution and domain controller hardening.

What is in the monitoring and troubleshooting area?

This area, at 15-20%, covers Performance Monitor, data collection rules for Azure Monitor and VM Insights. The troubleshooting list is long: name resolution, Windows Update, Kerberos, replication, secure channel trust and Active Directory recovery.

Who is AZ-802 for, and who is it not for?

AZ-802 suits people who already administer Windows Server and want to prove they can do it across on-premises and Azure. Microsoft expects experience with Windows Admin Center, Hyper-V and PowerShell, plus familiarity with AD DS.

It is a good fit for:

• system administrators who run Windows Server and are adding Azure Arc and Azure Monitor to their toolset;
• IT support engineers moving into infrastructure roles;
• hybrid cloud administrators who manage servers both on-premises and in Azure.

It is a weaker fit for:

• people who have never administered a server, who may benefit from lab time before booking;
• security specialists focused on Azure controls, who may prefer our guide to the SC-500 exam.

How should you use this AZ-802 exam guide? A 4-week plan

Plan around the weights and give the first week to AD DS. This plan assumes about six hours a week.

1. Week 1: AD DS. Deploy a domain controller, add a second site, create users and groups, and apply a Group Policy. Practise restoring an object from the Active Directory Recycle Bin.
2. Week 2: hybrid management and virtual machines. Install Windows Admin Center, connect a server with Azure Arc, and manage updates with Azure Update Manager. Create Hyper-V checkpoints and a virtual switch.
3. Week 3: networking, storage and security. Configure DNS and a DHCP scope, then Storage Spaces and an Azure file share. Turn on Credential Guard and review a security baseline.
4. Week 4: monitoring and timed practice. Build a data collection rule and an alert, then work through the troubleshooting list. Then sit full timed practice tests and review every miss by skill area.

Mixed, spaced review beats rereading, as our post on studying smarter explains.

Is AZ-802 the only exam for the certification?

Yes, according to the exam page. It lists AZ-802 as part of the requirements for the Windows Server Administrator Associate certification and shows related exams as none.

That keeps the plan simple: one exam, seven skill areas, 120 minutes. Associate certifications expire annually and renew through a free online assessment on Microsoft Learn.

How is AZ-802 delivered?

The exam is proctored, and Microsoft’s certification page says you have 120 minutes. It may include interactive components.

It is offered in English only, and the price depends on the country or region where it is proctored. If you fail, Microsoft says you can retake it 24 hours after a failed attempt, and later waits vary.

Is AZ-802 hard?

It is wide rather than abstract. The exam asks you to remember what a tool does and also to troubleshoot a broken environment, so hands-on time matters more than reading.

Microsoft notes that most questions cover generally available features, though preview features can appear if they are commonly used. Work through the skills list line by line and tick off each item you have done in a lab.

How do you know you are ready to book?

You are ready when you can take any line of the skills list and perform it in your lab without notes. Microsoft offers a practice assessment on AI Skills Navigator, which needs a signed-in account.

Then sit at least two full timed AZ-802 practice tests and look at your score by skill area. If one area trails, spend another week in the lab before you book.

Before you schedule, recheck the AZ-802 exam page for the current price in your country and any outline update.

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