Power Virtual Desktop
Thomas Merino
Start VM on Connect for Azure Stack HCI with Azure Virtual Desktop is currently in PREVIEW. See the Supplemental Terms of Use for Microsoft Azure Previews for legal terms that apply to Azure features that are in beta, preview, or otherwise not yet released into general availability.
Start VM on Connect lets you reduce costs by enabling end users to power on the virtual machines (VMs) used as session hosts only when they're needed. You can then power off VMs when they're not needed.
For personal host pools, Start VM on Connect only powers on an existing session host VM that is already assigned or can be assigned to a user. For pooled host pools, Start VM on Connect only powers on a session host VM when none are turned on and more VMs are only be turned on when the first VM reaches the session limit.
The time it takes for a user to connect to a remote session on a session host that is powered off (deallocated) increases because the VM needs time to power on again, much like turning on a physical computer. When a user uses Windows App and the Remote Desktop app to connect to Azure Virtual Desktop, they're told a VM is being powered on while they're connecting.
You can enable Start VM on Connect for session hosts on Azure and Azure Stack HCI in personal or pooled host pools using the Azure portal, Azure PowerShell, or Azure CLI. Start VM on Connect is configured per host pool.
An existing host pool that's associated with an application group and workspace. You can only configure Start VM on Connect on existing host pools. You can't enable it at the same time you create a new host pool.
If you want to use Azure PowerShell or Azure CLI locally, see Use Azure PowerShell and Azure CLI with Azure Virtual Desktop to make sure you have the Az.DesktopVirtualization PowerShell module or the desktopvirtualization Azure CLI extension installed. Alternatively, use the Azure Cloud Shell.
To configure Start VM on Connect, you need to assign the Desktop Virtualization Power On Contributor role-based access control (RBAC) role to the Azure Virtual Desktop service principal with your Azure subscription as the assignable scope. If you assign this role at any level lower than a subscription, such as the resource group, host pool, or VM, prevents Start VM on Connect from working properly.
You need to add each Azure subscription that contains host pools and session host VMs you want to use with Start VM on Connect as an assignable scope. This role assignment allows Azure Virtual Desktop to power on VMs, check their status, and report diagnostic information for those subscriptions.
Once you assign the Desktop Virtualization Power On Contributor role to the service principal on relevant subscriptions, you can configure Start VM on Connect using the Azure portal, Azure PowerShell, or Azure CLI.
For pooled host pools, Start VM on Connect will start a VM every five minutes at most. If other users try to sign in during this five-minute period and there still aren't any available resources, Start VM on Connect won't start a new VM. Instead, the users trying to sign in will receive an error message that says, No resources available. They should wait a few minutes and try to connect again.
If the session host VM doesn't power on, you need to check the health of the VM you tried to power on as a first step. You can also view Azure Virtual Desktop logs in Log Analytics to check for problems. If you receive an error message, make sure to pay close attention to the message content and make a note of the error name for reference. You can also use Azure Virtual Desktop Insights to get suggestions for how to resolve issues.
I'm trying to use Power Automate Desktop with a virtual machine. I downloaded Power Automate for Virtual Desktop, but I'm getting an error message from the Power Automate agent for virtual desktops saying "A communication channel couldn't be established." Is there a way to fix this? Most of the things I'm trying to automate are using a virtual desktop, and I can't interact with any of the elements.
Dear Community Members, We'd like to let you know of an upcoming change to the community platform: starting July 16th, the platform will transition to a READ ONLY mode until July 22nd. During this period, members will not be able to Kudo, Comment, or Reply to any posts. On July 22nd, please be on the lookout for a message sent to the email address registered on your community profile. This email is crucial as it will contain your unique code and link to register for the new platform encompassing all of the communities. What to Expect in the New Community:A more unified experience where all products, including Power Apps, Power Automate, Copilot Studio, and Power Pages, will be accessible from one community.Community Blogs that you can syndicate and link to for automatic updates.We appreciate your understanding and cooperation during this transition. Stay tuned for the exciting new features and a seamless community experience ahead!
On July 16, 2024, we published the 2024 release wave 2 plans for Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Power Platform. These plans are a compilation of the new capabilities planned to be released between October 2024 to March 2025. This release introduces a wealth of new features designed to enhance customer understanding and improve overall user experience, showcasing our dedication to driving digital transformation for our customers and partners. The upcoming wave is centered around utilizing advanced AI and Microsoft Copilot technologies to enhance user productivity and streamline operations across diverse business applications. These enhancements include intelligent automation, AI-powered insights, and immersive user experiences that are designed to break down barriers between data, insights, and individuals. Watch a summary of the release highlights. Discover the latest features that empower organizations to operate more efficiently and adaptively. From AI-driven sales insights and customer service enhancements to predictive analytics in supply chain management and autonomous financial processes, the new capabilities enable businesses to proactively address challenges and capitalize on opportunities.
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With the Power Automate agent for virtual desktops, you can automate processes on virtual desktops as easily as you can on physical devices. If your virtual desktop uses Citrix or Microsoft Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), you can capture UI elements, deploy UI automation actions, and create desktop flows using the recorder, just like on your physical desktop.
The Power Automate agent for virtual desktops must be running both while you're designing a flow and when the flow runs. The agent starts automatically when a user logs in to the virtual desktop. If it isn't running on your virtual desktop, launch the agent manually. To launch the Power Automate agent for virtual desktops manually, double-click the shortcut on your desktop, or search for Power Automate agent for virtual desktops on the Start menu and then select the respective result, or go to the installation directory of the Power Automate agent for virtual desktops (by default, it's C:\Program Files (x86)\Power Automate agent for virtual desktops) and double-click PAD.RDP.ControlAgent.exe.
It's important to install Power Automate for desktop on the machine where you're developing and executing your desktop flows, and Power Automate agent for virtual desktops on the machine where the flow just interacts with for UI automation actions. This second machine can be a Citrix Desktop, a host machine for a Citrix Virtual App, a remote desktop with Windows RDP communication, or a machine that hosts a Remote Desktop app.
To automate on virtual desktops, the versions of Power Automate and Power Automate agent for virtual desktops must be the same. If they're different when you start recording or capturing UI elements, select Sync when you're prompted to sync them.
Generated selectors of windows and UI elements are the same regardless of whether they were captured on a physical device or a virtual desktop. Visual indications and the tree structure in the UI elements pane help you to distinguish UI elements captured on virtual desktops from those captured on a physical device. Learn more about UI elements and selectors.
UI elements captured on the physical device are located under the Computer parent. UI elements captured on a virtual desktop are located under an RDP or Citrix parent. Every virtual desktop has its own individual tree. A numeric prefix helps you to distinguish virtual desktops of the same type.
When you capture a UI element in a virtual desktop, virtual app or RemoteApp, it is linked to the details(IP, Name, etc.) of the machine at the time of capture. If you want to interact with the same UI element on a different machine, you will need to capture it again on that machine.
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