Get started with the AB-650 labs
These seven labs give you hands-on practice administering Microsoft 365 and its AI services. Each lab follows a learning path in course AB-650 and builds on the work you did in the labs before it.
Your lab environment
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Tenant | One Microsoft 365 E7 tenant that you keep for all seven labs. It includes nine licensed sample people, seeded groups, mail, documents, and agents. |
| SEA-DEV1 | The administrator workstation. Do most of your configuration work here. |
| SEA-DEV2 | The test workstation. Sign in as sample people here, in Microsoft Edge InPrivate windows, to test what they can and can’t do. |
| Lab files | The AllFiles (F:) drive on both workstations. |
| Azure | Not required. The labs don’t create Azure subscriptions, billing accounts, or resources. |
[!NOTE] Lab steps show your tenant as
<yourtenant>, for examplePattiF@<yourtenant>.onmicrosoft.com. Replace<yourtenant>with the tenant name provided in your lab environment.
Lab files
The AllFiles (F:) drive holds the files you open or upload during the labs. The drive is read-only. When a lab asks you to edit a file, copy it to Documents first.
| Folder | Used in |
|---|---|
| Lab03 | Lab 3: the new-hire file for bulk account creation |
| Lab05 | Lab 5: sensitive information type sample files and the DLP worksheet |
| Lab06 | Lab 6: a practice Cowork consumption case |
| ClassActivities | Practice files your instructor uses in class discussions |
If you aren’t using the hosted lab environment, each lab step that uses a file also links to it so you can download it. All the files are in the Allfiles folder of this repo.
How the labs work
- Complete the labs in order. Later labs use groups, sites, policies, and agents that you create in earlier labs.
- Test as the right person. Testing a sample person’s access from your administrator session can hide a permission boundary. Use an InPrivate window on SEA-DEV2 for each sample person, and close it before you sign in as someone else.
- Expect some delays. Some changes take minutes or hours to appear, such as usage reports, label publishing, and search indexing. When a lab says a result might be pending, record pending with the date and time, and continue.
- Practice cases are labeled. Some tasks use sample evidence instead of a live event, because a new tenant has no alerts or usage history. These are marked as practice or sample cases. Don’t search a portal for their names, IDs, or events.
- Each exercise ends with a check. A line that starts with You have successfully confirms what you completed.
The labs
| Learning path | Labs |
|---|---|
| 1: Configure and manage Microsoft 365 tenants and workloads | Lab 1: Operate the Microsoft 365 tenant Lab 2: Enable collaboration and govern its content |
| 2: Govern and secure Microsoft 365 tenants and workloads | Lab 3: Administer identities and delegated access Lab 4: Control sign-in and protect communications Lab 5: Protect and govern information |
| 3: Manage and secure Microsoft 365 AI services | Lab 6: Roll out and administer Copilot and Cowork Lab 7: Govern agents and operate AI services |
When you’re ready, start with Lab 1: Operate the Microsoft 365 tenant.