Enabling Remote Work with Azure Virtual Desktop

In the first six months of the pandemic, “we need everyone working from home by Monday” became a sentence I heard from clients more times than I can count. For organisations with legacy Windows applications, custom line-of-business tools, or strict data-residency requirements, you can’t just hand out laptops. AVD (still Windows Virtual Desktop in some docs at the time of writing) lets you deliver a managed Windows session from Azure to whatever device the user has at home. The setup is more involved than people expect, so here’s what an actual production deployment looks like.

Why Azure Virtual Desktop?

• Rapid deployment - Get employees working remotely quickly
• Security - Data stays in the cloud, not on personal devices
• Scalability - Add or remove users as needed
• Cost efficiency - Pay only for what you use
• Multi-session Windows 10 - Unique to Azure

Prerequisites

• Azure AD tenant
• Azure subscription
• Azure AD Domain Services or Active Directory
• Proper licensing (Microsoft 365 or Windows 10 Enterprise)

Setting Up the Infrastructure

Create the Host Pool

# Create resource group
az group create \
    --name rg-avd \
    --location australiaeast

# Create host pool
az desktopvirtualization hostpool create \
    --name hp-general \
    --resource-group rg-avd \
    --location australiaeast \
    --host-pool-type Pooled \
    --load-balancer-type BreadthFirst \
    --preferred-app-group-type Desktop \
    --max-session-limit 10 \
    --registration-info expiration-time="2020-08-30T00:00:00Z" registration-token-operation="Update"

Create Application Group

# Create desktop application group
az desktopvirtualization applicationgroup create \
    --name ag-desktop \
    --resource-group rg-avd \
    --location australiaeast \
    --host-pool-arm-path "/subscriptions/{sub}/resourceGroups/rg-avd/providers/Microsoft.DesktopVirtualization/hostpools/hp-general" \
    --application-group-type Desktop

Create Workspace

# Create workspace
az desktopvirtualization workspace create \
    --name ws-corporate \
    --resource-group rg-avd \
    --location australiaeast \
    --application-group-references "/subscriptions/{sub}/resourceGroups/rg-avd/providers/Microsoft.DesktopVirtualization/applicationgroups/ag-desktop"

Deploying Session Hosts

Use an ARM template for session hosts:

{
    "$schema": "https://schema.management.azure.com/schemas/2019-04-01/deploymentTemplate.json#",
    "contentVersion": "1.0.0.0",
    "parameters": {
        "vmNamePrefix": {
            "type": "string",
            "defaultValue": "avd-host"
        },
        "vmCount": {
            "type": "int",
            "defaultValue": 2
        },
        "vmSize": {
            "type": "string",
            "defaultValue": "Standard_D4s_v3"
        }
    },
    "resources": [
        {
            "type": "Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines",
            "apiVersion": "2020-06-01",
            "name": "[concat(parameters('vmNamePrefix'), '-', copyIndex())]",
            "location": "[resourceGroup().location]",
            "copy": {
                "name": "vmCopy",
                "count": "[parameters('vmCount')]"
            },
            "properties": {
                "hardwareProfile": {
                    "vmSize": "[parameters('vmSize')]"
                },
                "storageProfile": {
                    "imageReference": {
                        "publisher": "MicrosoftWindowsDesktop",
                        "offer": "office-365",
                        "sku": "20h1-evd-o365pp",
                        "version": "latest"
                    },
                    "osDisk": {
                        "createOption": "FromImage",
                        "managedDisk": {
                            "storageAccountType": "Premium_LRS"
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    ]
}

User Assignment

Assign users via Azure CLI:

# Get the application group resource ID
appGroupId=$(az desktopvirtualization applicationgroup show \
    --name ag-desktop \
    --resource-group rg-avd \
    --query id -o tsv)

# Assign users or groups
az role assignment create \
    --assignee "user@contoso.com" \
    --role "Desktop Virtualization User" \
    --scope $appGroupId

FSLogix Profile Containers

Configure profile management for better performance:

# On each session host
# Install FSLogix
# Configure registry settings

$regPath = "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\FSLogix\Profiles"
New-Item -Path $regPath -Force
Set-ItemProperty -Path $regPath -Name "Enabled" -Value 1
Set-ItemProperty -Path $regPath -Name "VHDLocations" -Value "\\storageaccount.file.core.windows.net\profiles"
Set-ItemProperty -Path $regPath -Name "DeleteLocalProfileWhenVHDShouldApply" -Value 1
Set-ItemProperty -Path $regPath -Name "FlipFlopProfileDirectoryName" -Value 1

Azure Files for Profiles

# Create storage account for profiles
az storage account create \
    --name stavdprofiles2020 \
    --resource-group rg-avd \
    --location australiaeast \
    --sku Premium_LRS \
    --kind FileStorage

# Create file share
az storage share create \
    --name profiles \
    --account-name stavdprofiles2020 \
    --quota 100

# Enable AD authentication
az storage account update \
    --name stavdprofiles2020 \
    --enable-files-aadds true

Scaling Automation

Create an automation account for scaling:

# Scaling logic example
param(
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
    [string]$HostPoolName,
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
    [string]$ResourceGroupName,
    [int]$MinimumHosts = 2,
    [int]$SessionThreshold = 5
)

# Get current session count
$hostPool = Get-AzWvdHostPool -Name $HostPoolName -ResourceGroupName $ResourceGroupName
$sessions = Get-AzWvdUserSession -HostPoolName $HostPoolName -ResourceGroupName $ResourceGroupName

$sessionCount = $sessions.Count
$runningHosts = (Get-AzWvdSessionHost -HostPoolName $HostPoolName -ResourceGroupName $ResourceGroupName | Where-Object { $_.Status -eq "Available" }).Count

$sessionsPerHost = $sessionCount / [Math]::Max($runningHosts, 1)

if ($sessionsPerHost -gt $SessionThreshold) {
    # Scale up - start more hosts
    Write-Output "Scaling up: Sessions per host ($sessionsPerHost) exceeds threshold ($SessionThreshold)"
}
elseif ($runningHosts -gt $MinimumHosts -and $sessionsPerHost -lt ($SessionThreshold / 2)) {
    # Scale down - stop excess hosts
    Write-Output "Scaling down: Low utilization detected"
}

Monitoring

# Enable diagnostics
az monitor diagnostic-settings create \
    --name avd-diagnostics \
    --resource "/subscriptions/{sub}/resourceGroups/rg-avd/providers/Microsoft.DesktopVirtualization/hostpools/hp-general" \
    --workspace "/subscriptions/{sub}/resourceGroups/rg-monitoring/providers/microsoft.operationalinsights/workspaces/la-avd" \
    --logs '[{"category":"Checkpoint","enabled":true},{"category":"Error","enabled":true},{"category":"Management","enabled":true},{"category":"Connection","enabled":true}]'

The cost mistake I see most often: leaving session hosts running 24/7 because nobody set up scaling plans. AVD is one of the few Azure services where careful auto-scale (start hosts on weekday morning, drain and stop on evening) genuinely halves the bill. Build the scaling plan on day one, not after the first invoice arrives.\n\n## Takeaways\n\nAdd a concise, personal takeaway and recommended next steps here.\n