The single Windows Server exam that replaced the AZ-800 and AZ-801 pair — core administration, security, storage and troubleshooting.
Windows Server administrators. One exam now, where the hybrid pair used to be two. Earns the Windows Server Administrator Associate certification.
Level: Intermediate · Official credential: Administering Windows Server
Straight to the official sources — no sign-up, no reselling
AZ-800 and AZ-801 both retired on 30 September 2026 and this is what replaced them: one exam, seven weighted areas. Active Directory carries the largest single share, then storage and file services and troubleshooting, with hybrid management, virtual machines, networking and security filling the rest. Broader than either of the old pair, and shallower than both of them combined.
Assumed knowledge: Real Windows Server administration experience plus familiarity with Azure fundamentals.
Why people in this role end up sitting AZ-802
What you actually build
The official lab repository for the replacement course, covering identity, hybrid management, storage, security and troubleshooting across the consolidated syllabus.
Everything a partner needs to put this course in front of the right customer. Lift any of it straight into a proposal.
“The two Windows Server exams retired in September. This is the one course that now covers both, and their certified people need to know.”
Who signs: Infrastructure manager. The retirement itself is the reason to call.
Who attends: Windows Server administrators, including long-serving ones who never certified.
And a straight answer for each
Then they have the knowledge and a retired certification. Worth checking whether the credential matters to them commercially before selling the replacement.
Almost nobody finishes that journey. The hybrid period lasts years and this is the course about managing it.
It replaced two four-day courses, so it is a consolidation rather than an expansion. Seven weighted areas is genuinely a week.
Fair question. It is brand new, which is exactly why it is the safe one to train against right now.
We deliver the official Microsoft course for AZ-802 — in person or virtual, public or in-company. Real demos, real stories, and the whiteboards to take home.
Prefer to browse first? See the full course catalog or the upcoming dates.
Exam titles, study guides and practice assessments are published by Microsoft and linked here directly; the descriptions on this page are our own. Microsoft may update exam content at any time — the official study guide is always the authority.