Build the infrastructure
Plan networking, storage and host pools, create session hosts, and manage images with VM Image Builder.
Partners and press
Overview
A virtual desktop is easy to demo. This exam tests one that stays up for everyone.
AZ-140 is a Specialty exam for administrators who design, implement and manage Azure Virtual Desktop and remote apps. Infrastructure is the biggest area, 40–45%: networking, storage, host pools and images, then FSLogix, identity and monitoring. Microsoft expects server or desktop admin experience with Azure compute, networking and identity; the credential lasts 12 months.
13Modules
100Minutes
12Months valid
8Roles
What it tests
Learn all the way down.
Learn all the way down.
Perform when it matters.
Secure and connect identities
Choose an identity scenario, apply Azure RBAC and Conditional Access, and protect session hosts.
Deliver the user’s desktop
Configure FSLogix profile containers and Cloud Cache, pick clients, and publish apps as RemoteApps.
Monitor and recover
Collect logs, track capacity with Azure Monitor, and plan updates, backup and disaster recovery.
Course outline
From a host pool on paper
From a host pool on paper
to desktops users forget are remote.
We design this course ourselves. Microsoft runs the exam and issues the credential, and LUNARTECH is independent of Microsoft.
Before building, learn what Microsoft runs and what you run. You study the control plane, session hosts, workspaces and application groups, and choose between pooled and personal desktops and between full desktops and published apps.
- The control plane and the parts you manage
- Pooled and personal host pools compared
- Multi-session Windows and its licensing
- Workspaces and application groups
- Sizing session hosts for a workload
- Reading a user requirement as a design
You build A design document that picks a delivery model and session host size for three different user groups.
A remote desktop is only as good as the path to it. You place session hosts in virtual networks, connect them to on-premises resources, open the right endpoints, and use RDP Shortpath to cut latency.
- Virtual networks, subnets and DNS for session hosts
- Connectivity to on-premises with VPN and ExpressRoute
- Required URLs, service tags and security groups
- RDP Shortpath for managed and public networks
- Bandwidth, latency and user experience
- Controlling outbound traffic from session hosts
You build A network design for an Azure Virtual Desktop deployment, with the rules that permit its traffic and no more.
Profile storage is where many deployments slow down. You compare Azure Files and Azure NetApp Files, size them for logons and file activity, and secure access with identity-based authentication.
- Azure Files and Azure NetApp Files compared
- Sizing storage for profile containers
- Identity-based access to Azure Files
- Redundancy options and what each protects
- Private endpoints for storage
- Measuring logon and file performance
You build A storage design for profile containers with its size, identity access and redundancy decisions explained.
Host pools tie users to machines. You create pools, register session hosts, choose a load-balancing method, and use scaling plans and Start VM on Connect to hold costs down without making users wait.
- Creating a host pool and registering session hosts
- Breadth-first and depth-first load balancing
- Scaling plans and schedules
- Start VM on Connect
- Drain mode and removing hosts safely
- Automating deployment with templates
You build A host pool deployed from a template, with a scaling plan that matches a working-hours pattern.
Every session host is only as good as the image it starts from. You build a golden image, store it in a compute gallery, automate builds with VM Image Builder, and roll out updated images without disturbing users.
- Starting from a marketplace image
- Installing and preparing apps for a golden image
- Azure Compute Gallery and image versions
- Automating builds with VM Image Builder
- Replacing session hosts with a new image
- Optimizing an image for multi-session use
You build An automated image build that produces a versioned image, and a plan to replace session hosts with it.
Identity decides who can connect and how smoothly. You compare Entra-joined, hybrid-joined and domain-joined session hosts, set up single sign-on, and match each scenario to the way an organization already manages users.
- Entra-joined, hybrid-joined and domain-joined hosts
- Hybrid identity requirements for each scenario
- Single sign-on to session hosts
- Assigning users and groups to application groups
- Choosing a scenario for a given organization
You build A decision record that picks an identity scenario for three organizations and lists what each must prepare.
Remote desktops are a target, so access and hosts both need protection. You assign Azure roles, require multifactor with Conditional Access, harden session hosts, and control what users can copy out of a session.
- Azure RBAC roles for Azure Virtual Desktop
- Conditional Access and multifactor for connections
- Defender for Cloud on session hosts
- Trusted launch and host hardening
- RDP properties: clipboard, drives and screen capture
- Reviewing the attack surface of a deployment
You build A security baseline for an Azure Virtual Desktop environment with its access, policy and host settings.
Users expect the same desktop wherever they land. You configure FSLogix profile and Office containers, set exclusions and permissions, and use Cloud Cache to keep profiles available across storage locations.
- How profile containers work
- Installing and configuring FSLogix
- Permissions on the profile share
- Redirections and exclusions
- Cloud Cache across locations
- Troubleshooting slow or failed logons
You build A working FSLogix setup with profile containers on Azure Files and a Cloud Cache variant.
How users connect shapes how they judge the whole service. You choose and configure clients for each device type, set redirection for printers, audio and cameras, and optimize Teams and media inside a session.
- Choosing clients for Windows, macOS, mobile and the web
- Client and RDP settings that users feel
- Printer, audio, camera and drive redirection
- Optimizing Teams in a session
- Multimedia redirection
- Collecting and acting on user feedback
You build A client and redirection configuration guide for each user group, with the settings for each.
Many users need one application, not a whole desktop. You publish RemoteApps from application groups, attach apps with MSIX app attach, and assign groups to workspaces so each user sees only what they need.
- Desktop and RemoteApp application groups
- Publishing apps from the start menu or a path
- MSIX app attach and its packaging
- Workspaces and user assignment
- Keeping app versions current
You build Two RemoteApps published through an application group, one delivered with app attach.
Problems show up as complaints unless you watch for them. You send logs to Log Analytics, read Azure Virtual Desktop Insights, trace a bad connection, and set alerts and capacity checks that warn you first.
- Diagnostic settings and Log Analytics
- Azure Virtual Desktop Insights workbooks
- Tracing a failed or slow connection
- Alerts on session host health and capacity
- Planning capacity from usage data
You build A monitoring setup with a workbook and alerts that catch a full host pool and a failing logon.
A desktop service that goes down takes the business with it. You plan patching, design host pools across regions, back up what matters, and write a recovery plan with targets you can actually meet.
- Patching session hosts with minimal disruption
- Multi-region host pools and failover
- Backing up session hosts and profile storage
- Recovery objectives and a disaster recovery plan
- Testing a failover
You build A disaster recovery plan for an Azure Virtual Desktop deployment, with its recovery targets and test steps.
One brief joins the whole course. You design, build and secure a deployment for a company with different user types, publish its desktops and apps, and set up monitoring and recovery, then explain your choices.
- Turning a brief into requirements
- Designing infrastructure, identity and security
- Building host pools, images and profiles
- Publishing desktops and apps
- Monitoring, recovery and handover
You build A complete Azure Virtual Desktop deployment for a sample company, with its design record and handover notes.
Issued by
Certifying body · Independent of LUNARTECH
Microsoft
Microsoft publishes its exam outlines and runs its certification program through Microsoft Learn. Exams are delivered through Pearson VUE, and Associate, Expert and Specialty credentials renew each year through a free, unproctored online assessment. LUNARTECH is independent of Microsoft.
How you get there
Top-tier roles go to people who can do the work.
Top-tier roles go to people who can do the work.
Here’s how you get there.
Know where you start.
Microsoft expects a server or desktop administrator with experience in Azure compute, networking, identity, storage and resiliency, working with Azure and Microsoft 365 admins.
Work through the course.
Thirteen modules, designed by LUNARTECH, at your own pace.
Sit it with Microsoft.
Microsoft runs the exam and issues the credential, so you register and book directly with them.
Support
Support at every stage.
Support at every stage.
You won’t be working through this alone.
Before you start
Try it first.
A 3-day free trial opens a selection of the content. Your card is only charged once it ends.
While you learn
Mentors within reach.
Stuck on a concept? Reach out to a mentor whenever you need help.
While you learn
One-on-one sessions.
On the yearly plan, one-on-one sessions give you dedicated support.
Any time
A team behind you.
Write to info@lunartech.ai at any point, from your trial onwards. If your employer is funding you, we’ll set it up with them directly.
All the way through
A schedule that fits around your life.
Your own paceFrom anywhereAt any hour
After the last lesson
Stay in the network.
Your alumni network stays with you: ongoing support, opportunities and industry insight.
Career support
Career support, past the last lesson. Coaching, a sharper resume, real interview preparation and the people to know.
Career direction
Tailored coaching helps you decide where to aim and how to get there.
Strong portfolio
Hands-on projects become work you can show, not just claim.
Resume and profile
Personalized refinement, so what you send says what you can actually do.
Interview preparation
Preparation for the questions that decide it, so you walk in ready.
Network and search
Connections with industry leaders, and an alumni network that stays with you.
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Lifetime alumni network
Stay connected after you finish, with ongoing support, opportunities and industry insight.
Your certificate
It doesn’t raise its voice. Neither will you.
Finish a LUNARTECH course and its certificate is issued in your name, under our signature. Microsoft’s credential comes from Microsoft, when you pass its exam.
Certificate of completion
Your Name
AZ-140 course
LUNARTECH RISE Academy
Pricing
This course comes with the membership.
This course comes with the membership.
So does everything else.
One membership opens every course, certification, workshop and masterclass in the Academy. Every plan starts with a 3-day free trial. You register and book the exam directly with Microsoft.
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Included in every plan
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In practice
Eight roles.
Eight roles.
One credential across them all.
No single job owns it. Here’s where each role leans hardest, and where its work ends up.
- 01Infrastructure
- 02Identity, security
- 03User environments
- 04Monitor, maintain
-
Session hosts are VMs that users feel directly. Capacity and monitoring decide whether they stay happy.
Infrastructure, Monitor, maintain
Enterprise IT, Remote and hybrid work
-
A slow login is usually a profile problem. FSLogix and well-placed storage fix it.
Infrastructure, User environments
Enterprise IT, Education
-
A remote desktop is a door into the network. RBAC and Conditional Access decide who walks through.
Identity, security
Healthcare, Financial services
-
Design for the region that fails, not the one that works. Backup and multi-region plans come first.
Infrastructure, Identity, security, Monitor, maintain
Healthcare, Financial services
-
Desktop sessions are only as good as the link to them. Latency and routing set what users feel.
Infrastructure
Enterprise IT, Remote and hybrid work
-
Golden images and FSLogix profiles shape every sign-in. Get them right and users never notice.
Infrastructure, User environments
Enterprise IT, Healthcare
-
Desktop complaints are really performance complaints. Monitoring finds the slow host before users call.
Monitor, maintain
Education, Healthcare
-
Regulated data stays in the cloud, not on the laptop. Session controls limit what can leave it.
Identity, security
Healthcare, Financial services
- Enterprise IT
- Healthcare
- Financial services
- Education
- Remote and hybrid work
Cloud Administrator
Session hosts are VMs that users feel directly. Capacity and monitoring decide whether they stay happy.
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Updated November 2026.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions.
Need help? These answers cover most of what people ask before they start.
No. Microsoft issues it. LUNARTECH is independent of Microsoft, and its names and marks belong to it. When you finish a course of ours, you earn a LUNARTECH certificate of completion for that course.
No. We design this course ourselves, around what the exam covers. Microsoft has no part in it, and you still register and book the exam directly with Microsoft.
100 minutes, proctored, in English, German, Spanish, French, Japanese, Portuguese (Brazil), Chinese (Simplified). The passing score is 700 or greater.
Microsoft expects a server or desktop administrator with experience in Azure compute, networking, identity, storage and resiliency, working with Azure and Microsoft 365 admins.
12 months. Pass a free online assessment on Microsoft Learn.
We last reviewed it on 5 November 2026, from Microsoft’s own pages. Details change, so check the official page before you book.
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The course
Build the skills behind AZ-140.
Show you can run Azure Virtual Desktop in production. Start with a free trial, or enroll in a plan and work through the course at your own pace. Microsoft runs the exam and issues the credential.
LUNARTECH is independent of the vendors and certifying bodies listed here. Their names, exam titles and marks belong to them, exams are run by them, and credentials are issued by them. Reviewed 5 November 2026. Catalogues change often, so confirm the details on the official page before you book.
