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Step-by-Step Guide to Deploy Windows Virtual Desktop in Azure

Step-by-Step Guide to Deploy Windows Virtual Desktop in Azure 3

Windows Virtual Desktop (WVD) was finally released to public preview GA (UPDATED 9/2019), so here’s your step-by-step guide to deploy Windows Virtual Desktop! For those of you that have been living under a rock (or spending time with your friends and families), WVD is Microsoft’s new Desktop-as-a-Service offering to provide Windows 10 virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) in the Azure cloud for Windows 10 E3 / E5 subscribers. (Full WVD pricing plan details here.)

Requirements for Deploying Windows Virtual Desktop in Azure

Here are a few prerequisites that you’ll need already configured in your lab before you start deploying Windows Virtual Desktop:

Deploy Windows Virtual Desktop in Azure

Now for the fun part!

Consent to Deploy Windows Virtual Desktop

  1. Go to the WVD consent page and approve consent for both your Server and Client App:

 

 

a.      You’re doing this in a lab, so there’s no need to get approval from legal.

b.     To lookup your AAD Tenant GUID, copy the Directory ID from this page: https://portal.azure.com/#blade/Microsoft_AAD_IAM/ActiveDirectoryMenuBlade/Properties

Configure Enterprise Application Administrators in Azure AD

  1. Go to this blade in the Azure Portal
    https://portal.azure.com/#blade/Microsoft_AAD_IAM/StartboardApplicationsMenuBlade/AllApps/menuId/
  2. Search for deploy Windows Virtual Desktop and select it
  3. Select Users and Groups, then add everyone that you want to have access to WVD:

 

Deploy a Windows Virtual Desktop Tenant in PowerShell

  1. Open PowerShell as an administrator
  2. Run the following block of code:
Install-Module -Name Microsoft.RDInfra.RDPowerShell
Import-Module -Name Microsoft.RDInfra.RDPowerShell
Add-RdsAccount -DeploymentUrl "https://rdbroker.wvd.microsoft.com"
New-RdsTenant -Name <TenantName> -AadTenantId <DirectoryID> -AzureSubscriptionId <SubscriptionID>

The last line should look something like:

New-RdsTenant -Name ContosoWVD -AadTenantId 00000000-1111-2222-3333-444444444444 -AzureSubscriptionId 55555555-6666-7777-8888-999999999999

Provision a Windows Virtual Desktop Host Pool in the Azure Portal

  1. Create a new Azure resource at this link: https://portal.azure.com/#create/hub
  2. Search for Windows Virtual Desktop – Provision a host pool and select Create:

 

*Choose a name for the host pool and keep a note of it, as we’ll need it later

 

 

NOTE: Windows Virtual Desktop management is only available in East US 2 or the Central US during preview. Check a current list here:
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/global-infrastructure/services/?products=virtual-desktop

3. Don’t get in trouble with your boss—choose a small B series VM for testing. (If you get a validation error, choose a D-Series and resize the VM after creating it as needed.)

 

 

4. Everyone is so excited about Azure being the only cloud to offer a true multi-session Windows 10 Enterprise desktop, so let’s use that image:

Update: Make sure you use the new image for Windows 10 Enterprise multi-session with Office 365 ProPlus otherwise you will have to manually deploy Office 365 ProPlus to WVD.

 

 

NOTE: Make sure you choose a network that has access to your AD environment

5. Specify the Windows Virtual Desktop Tenant Name that you created via PowerShell above and the AAD account that you used to create it:

 

 

6. Buy it!

 

 

Add Users to your Windows Virtual Desktop Host Pool

First, we’ll need to assign users to Enterprise Application in the Azure portal.

  1. Open the Enterprise Applications page: https://portal.azure.com/#blade/Microsoft_AAD_IAM/StartboardApplicationsMenuBlade/AllApps/menuId/
  2. Search for Windows Virtual Desktop Client and then select it.
  3. Navigate to Users and groups and then add your remote users. (Groups are supported here.)
    1. Or navigate to Properties and set User assignment required to No to allow all users to access.

Then open PowerShell again and run the following command for every user you want to add. (Groups support isn’t ready yet.)

Add-RdsAppGroupUser -TenantName ContosoWVD  -HostPoolName "DAN-USE2-WVD-HostPool" -AppGroupName "Desktop Application Group" -UserPrincipalName jeff@handsomedan.com

You’re done! (Maybe.)

Update: I’ve had multiple people tell me they receive a DSC failure. If you get this error, you’ll also need to run through the PowerShell scripts on this page as well. These are the steps to follow:

# Generate a WVD registration token for your Host Pool
New-RdsRegistrationInfo -TenantName ContosoWVD  -HostPoolName "DAN-USE2-WVD-HostPool" -ExpirationHours 4 | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Token

Connect to you Windows Virtual Desktop Environment

Access your WVD environment here:
https://rdweb.wvd.microsoft.com/webclient/index.html

You should see a web page with the following icon that will load the RDS session in the browser:

 

 

Or use our guide to install the WVD (Windows Virtual Desktop) client on any device.

Using the desktop app, I was able to run three 4K monitors without any lag connecting to the East US2 Azure data center from San Diego, CA. That’s incredible!

Troubleshooting a Windows Virtual Desktop Deployment in Azure

I screwed up the first three times I deployed this today. Pro tip: RTFM.

Microsoft’s official Windows Virtual Desktop guide is available here:
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-desktop/tenant-setup-azure-active-directory

I also had to RDP into the WVD Host Pool and run everything in this guide before I was able to connect:
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-desktop/create-host-pools-powershell

Closing Thoughts on Windows Virtual Desktop

Once I read the entire deployment guide, I was able to deploy WVD in under an hour. Granted, I haven’t configured any auto-scaling rules yet, that is an incredibly short amount of time for a small business to setup a VDI environment.

Some points to consider:

Overall, I am hugely impressed with the initial preview of Windows Virtual Desktop and I can’t wait to see what features Microsoft adds to the service over the next few months. Pricing for WVD is broken out by service here.

After setting up MFA for WVD, check out our guide to configure FSLogix in WVD.

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