Virtualization: VDI session-based deployment

When running a VDI session-based deployment, take steps to ensure youve done so with an eye
toward expansion and availability.

Kristin Griffin and Freek Berson

The manner in which a Microsoft virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) Quick Start session-based
deployment installs the three Remote Desktop Services (RDS) role services onto one server works
fine for testing purposes. In a live environment, though, you need to architect for availability and
possible future expansion.
This means you should install the RDS role services (RD Session Host, RD Connection Broker and
RD Web Access) across multiple servers. The VDI Standard session-based desktop deployment can
be the basis of a highly available deployment with room for expansion. A VDI Standard session-based
desktop deployment will:

Install the RD Session Host server role service on a single (or multiple) server
Install the RD Connection Broker role service on a server
Install the RD Web Access role service on a server
Establish communication between all RDS role services to create a working environment

To begin the process, add all servers involved to the Server Manager on the deployment server. From
the deployment server, open Server Manager and on the Dashboard click Add other servers to
manage. On the Add Servers screen, click Find Now, then press Control and click to select each
destination server. Then click the arrow button in the middle of the screen to move those servers to the
right-hand pane, and finally click OK (see Figure 1).

Figure 1 Select the servers that will run the services that power your deployment.
Start the deployment by clicking the Add Roles and Features Wizard link on the Server Manager
Dashboard. Click Next on the Before You Begin screen. On the next screen (see Figure 2), select
Remote Desktop Services installation. Then click Next.

Figure 2 Select an RDS installation to create a session-based deployment.

On the next screen select Standard deployment and click Next. On the next screen choose the
Session-based desktop deployment deployment scenario and click Next (see Figure 3). The next
screen reviews the role services youll have installed in this deployment. Once youre satisfied, click
Next.

Figure 3 In the Add Roles and Features Wizard, choose your Deployment Scenario.
At this point, youve defined the servers to use and the type of deployment. To begin the actual
deployment, start with the RD Connection Broker. Choose one server from the server pool on which
to install the RD Connection Broker role service by highlighting that server in the left pane and
clicking the arrow to move it to the right pane. Then click Next.
This wizard implies you can install RD Connection Broker on more than one server, but you cant.
The installation wont proceed if you choose more than one server for those roles. For now, choose
one server for each RD Connection Broker (see Figure 3).
On the next screen, choose a server from the server pool to be the RD Web Access server. Move that
to the right pane, then click Next. On the next screen, choose a server or servers from the server pool
(now you can choose more than one) upon which to install the RD Session Host role service. Then
move the servers to the right pane, and click Next (see Figure 4).

Figure 4 Indicate which servers you want running which services.

The next screen will confirm your selections and tell you which servers youll need to reboot after the
installation. Check the box next to Restart the destination server automatically if required and click
Deploy. The deployment process will begin, showing you the progress of each server. Assuming all
goes well, youll see a screen telling you the deployment was a success.
Youre not quite done, though. The role services are installed, but after the Standard deployment
wizard is complete, you still have a few steps to create a usable environment:
1. Create a session collection to define the group of RD Session Host servers that will act as a
collective unit.
2. Add a user group (or groups) allowed to access the session collection.
3. Publish RemoteApps or full desktop sessions.

Create a session collection

When you open Remote Desktop Management Service (RDMS), you wont see any session collection
listed under the Deployment Overviews RD Session Host icon or under the Collections section. So
youll have to create one.
You cant publish RemoteApps or desktops outside a collection in Windows Server 2012. Make sure
that you have at least one RD Session Host server and that youve already created the domain user
accounts (and user groups) to which youll provision applications. To create a session collection, open
Server Manager on your deployment server. Click the Remote Desktop Services category in the lefthand column, then click Collections. Inside the Collections area, click on the Tasks dropdown and
select Create Session Collection.
From the Deployment Overview screen (see Figure 5), you could also right-click the RD Session
Host icon and choose Create Session Collection. Click through the Before you begin screen to
remind yourself of the prerequisites. Then on the Name the Collection screen, provide a name and

description for the session collection and click Next. On the Specify RD Session Host Servers screen,
select the RD Session Host servers you want to add to the collection from the Server Pool pane. Add
them to the Selected pane by clicking the arrow button in between the two panes, then click Next.

Figure 5 The Deployment Overview screen gives you a quick view as well as configuration
options.

Specify user and group access

Now that youve created a session collection, youll need to select the domain users or user groups to
which you will grant access. The Domain Users group is already added by default. You can remove
this group by clicking on it and choosing Remove. Click the Add button to launch the Select Users or
Groups dialog. Choose the appropriate users or groups and click OK.
The next screen lets you configure User Profile Disks (UPDs). UPDs are a new way to centrally store
user profile settings and data. For now, deselect Enable user profile disks and click Next.

The confirmation screen will summarize what youve configured during this wizard. Review the
summary and choose Create. When the View Progress screen shows the wizard has finished, confirm
that both activities display a Succeeded status and click Close.
Youll be able to see the session collection youve just created in RDMS under the Collections
section. Select the session collection in the left pane to view the details.
To test the full desktop deployment, open Internet Explorer and browse to the deployed RD Web
Access URL. Log in with user credentials permitted to access this deployment. You should see an
icon for a full Remote Desktop connection. Click the icon, then click the Connect button in the new
window to open a full Remote Desktop connection.

Publishing RemoteApps and full desktop sessions

The Session Collection Properties section in RDMS lists the Resources as Remote Desktop by
default. Publishing RemoteApps replaces the Remote Desktop Resource listing with
RemoteApps. You cant provide both RemoteApps and full Remote Desktop sessions from a single
session collection in Windows Server 2012.
To publish a set of RemoteApps, click the Publish RemoteApp programs link in the middle of the
RemoteApp Programs section. Alternatively, you could also click the Tasks dropdown menu and
choose Publish RemoteApp Programs.
The wizard will scan the server and return a set of common programs located on the RD Session Host
servers. When publishing RemoteApps in a farm scenario, the wizard will scan only one server for a
list of programs. The RDS model assumes all RD Session Host servers in a collection are identically
configured with the same installed applications.
Check the box next to one or more programs to publish as RemoteApps and click Next. You can also
add applications outside the default list by clicking Add and browsing to the program to publish. Then
the wizard will show a confirmation dialog that contains the RemoteApps you selected. Click Publish.
On the Completion screen, verify that all RemoteApps have the status Published and click Close.
On the RDMS session collection main screen, the Properties section will list the Resources as
RemoteApp Programs. The RemoteApp Programs section will list the published RemoteApps. Testing
RemoteApp availability is much like testing the published full desktop session. Open the RD Web
Access page to get to your deployment. Then log in and click one of the RemoteApp icons. Click
Connect on the pop-up window (see Figure 6). If the application opens, it was published successfully.

Figure 6 You can run RemoteApps once theyre published.

Scaling out
The result of running a Standard deployment may seem similar to a Quick Start deployment. Both
make either full desktop sessions or RemoteApps available. However, only the VDI Standard sessionbased deployment provides a path to creating a highly available environment. It lets you deploy the
RDS role services across multiple servers from the start.
To expand on this process, heres how to add more RD Web Access servers and more RD Session
Host servers. Click the icon in the RDMS Deployment Overview panel and choose Add RD Web
Access Servers or Add RD Session Host Servers. Choose the servers you wish to add from the Server
Pool list and move them to the Selected pane, then click Next. On the Confirmation screen, click Add.
If you add an RD Session Host server, youll need to reboot, so be sure to check the check box on the
confirmation page next to Restart the Computer as Needed.
Once installation is complete, you can add the newly added RD Session Host servers to a session
collection. Select a session collection listed under Collections in RDMS. In the Host Servers section,
pull down the Tasks menu and choose Add RD Session Host Servers. Choose the server from the
Server Pool, and add it to the Selected pane using the middle arrow button, then click Add.
You should now know how to run the VDI session-based Standard deployment wizard and how to
configure the deployment to publish either full desktop connections or RemoteApps. Next time, well
concentrate on how to use RDMS to further configure and manage your session-based deployment.

Related Content

Test Lab Guide: Remote Desktop Services Session Virtualization Standard Deployment
Microsoft Showcase: RD Session Hosting (Video)
Test Lab Guide: Remote Desktop Services Publishing

VDI Q&A
Q. Can I install Remote Desktop (RD) Connection Broker and RD Session Host role services on the
same server to consolidate servers?
A. Technically you can. Be aware, however, that if you create a farm of multiple RD Session Host
servers with one RD Connection Broker (running on one of your RD Session Host servers), then the
RD Connection Broker is the single point of failure. Although you have multiple RD Session Host
servers, your users wont be able to reach them if the RD Session Host server that also runs RD
Connection Broker fails.
You could expand the previous scenario by installing the RD Connection Broker role on both RD
Session Host servers and making RD Connection Broker also highly available. For production
environments, however, we always advise you to install the RD Session Host and RD Connection
Broker role services on dedicated servers.
Q. I created a second session collection. However, there arent any RD Session Host servers in my
deployment to add to this session collection.
A. Most likely, all RD Session Host servers are already assigned to a session collection. An RD
Session Host server can only be part of a single session collection. So youll have to either remove
servers from the first session collection or create additional RD Session Host servers and add those to
the deployment.