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MSP Guest Blog: 3 Advantages to Boost Your MSP’s Azure Practice

  • Microsoft Azure, Business
By: Jim Brennan, President, Managed Services IT I own and lead an MSP in the...
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Windows 365 License Optimization: Don’t Pay for Licenses You Aren’t Using

  • Windows 365
  • Windows 365
  • Articles
Windows 365 Cloud PC and Azure Virtual Desktop are both virtual desktop services from Microsoft.  However, the pricing...
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FREE NMM-100 Certification Launches to Equip MSPs with the Fundamentals of Nerdio + Azure

  • Nerdio Updates
  • Articles
Last May we launched the Nerdio Partnerd program to give our MSP and channel partners access to a full arsenal of resources including...
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Meet the Inaugural 2021 Class of NVPs: Celebrating the NVP Captains!  

  • Nerdio Updates
  • Articles
 Last month I had the honor of announcing the launch of our Nerdio Valuable Professional (NVP) program: a...
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How to Make Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) Deployment More Resilient for Disaster Recovery Considerations

  • Azure Virtual Desktop
  • Azure Virtual Desktop
  • Articles
The usage of Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) is growing fast and AVD has become a mission critical component of many IT environments. Making AVD resilient is an important design consideration...
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All About Application Management in Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD)

  • Azure Virtual Desktop
  • Azure Virtual Desktop
  • Articles
The purpose of a virtual desktop deployment is to provide users access to applications.  Application...
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Nerdio Launches Inaugural NVP Program Recognizing Exceptional Supporters

  • Nerdio Updates
  • Articles
Joining Nerdio in mid-2020, it’s crazy to think of the amount of new product features...
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Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) Advanced Specialization – Part 2: Why Your Company Should Pursue It & How to Collaboratively Do So

  • Azure Virtual Desktop, Microsoft Azure
  • Azure Virtual Desktop, Microsoft Azure
  • Articles
Neil McLoughlin, UK Field CTO In our first part of this new series about Azure...
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Why Nerdio Licenses are Actually Free (and Make You Money!)

  • Azure Virtual Desktop
  During my time at Nerdio, I have spoken to numerous companies, clients, and partners— literally hundreds of them. Conversations range from...
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Academy Categories

For Enterprise
For Managed Service Providers

Content Types

AVD MANAGEMENT

Multi-Cloud and On-Premises Deployment with Azure Stack HCI (Coming Soon)

Deploy Azure Virtual Desktop in Azure and extend the session host VM placement to on-premises and other cloud using Azure Stack HCI. Nerdio Manager automates deployment of session hosts, AVD agent installation, and full integration into the AVD deployment in Azure.

Deploy new or manage existing AVD environment

Create a brand new Azure Virtual Desktop environment or allow Nerdio Manager to discover an existing deployment, connecting to existing resources, and manage them.

Wizard-driven AVD deployment in under 2 hours

Deploy Nerdio Manager from Azure Marketplace and configure a new AVD environment with an easy to follow, step-by-step configuration wizard. First group of users can access their AVD desktop in less than 2 hours.

Automatic, scripted AVD deployment

Service providers, system integrators, and consultants can leverage Nerdio Manager’s scripted AVD deployment template. Create complete environments with desktop images, host pools, and auto-scaling in minutes.

Multi-region, subscription, network, & resource group AVD deployments

Create and manage AVD environments that span Azure regions and subscriptions. Quickly link Vnets and resource groups and manage AVD deployments world-wide from unified portal.

Split-Azure AD tenant AVD deployments

Link multiple Azure tenants under the same Nerdio Manager instance and manage AVD deployments that span Azure AD tenants. User identities and session host VMs can run in separate tenants for maximum flexibilty and security.

Cross-sovereign Azure Cloud AVD deployments

Deploy and manage AVD environments that span across sovereign Azure Clouds. Cross-sovereign cloud support allows identity (e.g. users and groups) to be in one Azure Cloud, while session host VMs are in another Azure Cloud.

Management of workspaces, host pools, app groups, RemoteApps & custom RDP settings

Administer every aspect of AVD with Nerdio Manager including workspaces, host pools, application groups, RemoteApp publishing, RDP properties, session time limits, FSLogix, and much, much more. Every Azure service that AVD relies on can be managed with Nerdio Manager.

Complete session host lifecycle management

Deploy and manage AVD session host VMs. Hosts can be created manually or with auto-scaling, deleted on-demand or on a schedule, re-imaged to apply updates, run a scripted action, resized, put into or taken out of drain mode, and more.

User sessions

Manage user sessions across the entire AVD environment, within a workspace, host pool or on a single host. Monitor session status, disconnect or log off the user, shadow or remote control to provide support, or send user an on-screen message.

End-user self-service portal

End users have the ability to log into Nerdio Manager with their Azure AD credentials and manage their own session, restart their desktop VM, or start a session host if none are started in a host pool. (Ability to resize and re-image own desktop is coming soon.)

Azure Files management

Create, link, and manage Azure Files shares including AD domain join. Synchronize Azure Files permissions with host pools, configure quotas, and enable SMB multi-channel. Manage file lock handles and configure Azure Files auto-scaling to increase quota as needed.

Azure NetApp Files management

Create, link, and manage Azure NetApp Files accounts, capacity pools and volumes. Configure provisioned volume size, monitor usage, and use auto-scaling to automatically adjust volume and capacity pool size to accommodate the needed capacity and latency requirements.

FSLogix configuration profiles

FSLogix configuration can be complex and overwheling, but not with Nerdio Manager. Create one or more FSLogix profiles with all the needed options, point at one or more Azure Files, Azure NetApp Files, or server locations and select from VHDLocations, CloudCache and Azure Blob storage modes.

Directory configuration profiles

Multiple identity source profiles can be set up and used automatically on different host pools. Active Directory, Azure AD DS, and Native Azure AD are all supported. Choose the appropriate directory profile when adding a host pool and all VMs will automatically join this directory when being created.

Host pool cloning

Create a copy of a host pool with all of its settings: auto-scale config, app groups and RemoteApps, MSIX AppAttach, user/group assignments, VM deployment settings, etc. Save time by creating host pool “templates” that can be cloned to any Workspace, Azure region or subscription instead of starting from scratch.

Session time limits

Apply user session time limits at host pool level. Automatically log off disconnected sessions, limit the duration of idle sessions, control empty RemoteApp session behavior and more.

Assign and un-assign users to personal desktops

Assign Azure AD users to personal desktops to ensure the user will log into a pre-configured VM. Un-assign personal desktops from users who leave the organization and re-use these VMs for new users.

Automatic custom Azure tagging of all resources

Pre-configure custom Azure tags for all Azure resources associated with each host pool. Tags can be used for charge-back and cost allocation by host pool.

Automatic GPU driver installation

When creating session hosts using NV-series VMs NVIDIA and AMD GPU drivers are automatically installed.

AVD Classic to AVD ARM migration

Move existing host pools from Fall 2019 (Classic) object model to Spring 2020 (ARM) object model. Choose to whether to move or copy user assignments. Existing session hosts are automatically migrated or new ones can be created in the ARM host pool.

Automatic performance & utilization monitoring configuration

Automatically enable and configure AVD integration with Azure monitor. Zero configuration required. Azure Monitor Insights for AVD can be used instead of or in conjunction with Sepago Monitor.

AVD personal desktops to Windows 365 Cloud PC migration (Coming Soon)

Migrate users from AVD personal desktops to Windows 365 Enterprise Cloud PCs using an existing image and user assignment. (Coming soon)

IMAGE MANAGEMENT

Create image from VM, Marketplace, custom, or shared image gallery

Create desktop images from a single pop-up with just a few clicks. No need to Sysprep, capture, version or do any of the other complex Azure image management tasks. Nerdio Manager fully automates the process. Desktop Images can start with a gallery image, existing custom image, or even an existing VM. Images can be stored as custom or Shared Image Gallery integrated objects.

Local and cross-region image cloning

Duplicate desktop images by cloning them to either the same region or another Azure region. Make a clone before making major changes to the image so the changes can be tested without impact the production environment. All with one click.

Geo-replication of images

Distribute desktop images to multiple Azure regions by selecting the locations where the images should be available. Can be enabled on new or existing images. A single desktop image VM can now be used to update AVD session hosts in all locations.

Automatic image patching and re-packaging

Schedule a recurring update to Desktop Images and automatically re-image host pools on a pre-defined schedule. System and application updates can be automatically applied after hours without manual intervention.

Image refresh from Azure Marketplace

Schedule a regular refresh of a desktop image from Azure Marketplace using the latest patched version. Customize the image with scripted actions and have it automatically deployed to host pools for full end-to-end update automation.

Image VM backup and restore

Leverage native Azure backup to create versions of desktop image VMs before making changes and easily revert to prior versions. Take a backup of an image VM while powering it on to modify or manually trigger a backup at any time.

Image versioning

Maintain multiple version of a desktop image by retaining old versions during image updates. These version can be easily used to deploy session hosts in the future.

Image staging and testing automation

Modify and update production images and test them without affecting current production host pools that use these images. When updating an image, select for the new version to be created in “staged” mode. Designated test host pools can start using and testing this image right away, but production host pools will only begin using it when it is activated after testing and validation. The end-to-end process of image update, user acceptance testing, and deployment into production can be fully automated.

Automatically re-image used hosts in host pool when all users log off

Ensure that users always log into a pristine, image-based session host by refreshing (re-imaging) used VMs after users log off. In single-user pooled scenarios, desktops will be automatically re-imaged when users log off. In multi-user pooled scenarios, session hosts will be re-imaged as soon as the last user logs off. This way, all hosts will be always kept up-to-date and in pristine state

Automatically re-image hosts in host pool on a recurring schedule

Schedule a recurring update to Desktop Images and automatically re-image host pools on a pre-defined schedule. System and application updates can be automatically applied after hours without manual intervention.

Retain host VM name and IP during re-image

When session host VMs are re-imaged, the VM name, AD computer object, IP address and DNS host name remain the same. No need to update other systems when re-imaging host VMs since they appear identical to external systems before and after the re-image process.

Image update change log and reporting

Before “sealing” the image (i.e. running “set as image” task) document any changes that were made. A report can be generated to show these changes and who made them.

COST & PERFORMANCE OPTIMIZATION

Multiple Scaling Algorithms

Dramatically reduce Azure compute and storage costs up to 75% by precisely matching the size of Azure infrastructure to the user demand at all times. Nerdio Manager provides multiple auto-scaling algorithms based on CPU usage, RAM usage, user sessions, and user-driven behaviors. Multiple usage triggers can be combined (e.g. CPU and RAM) for precise scaling behavior.

VM Power Management

Start VMs when users need them and stop them automatically when no longer in use. VM power management reduces Azure compute costs up to 75%.

VM just-in-time create/delete

Create new session host VMs on-the-fly, as needed, without keeping many VMs created and consuming storage costs by the OS disks. Newly created VMs are always fresh and based on the prestine image state. Add scripted actions to customize the VM provisioning process. When the VMs are now longer needed they can be automatically removed from the environment. A mix of “base capacity” (always created VMs) and “burst capacity” (just-in-time VMs) optimizes costs and user experience.

Schedule & event-driven scaling

Auto-scale can start, stop, create, or delete session host VMs based on several auto-scale algorithms that take into account actual usage (e.g. CPU, current active sessions) and/or do so on a schedule to pre-stage capacity in expectation of users logging in.

3 scale-in aggressiveness levels

Balance between cost savings and end-user experience by setting one of three scale in aggressiveness levels that controls the type of hosts can be scaled in (stopped or removed). High aggressiveness provides the highest savings and will forcefully disconnect even active users after end of work hours. Medium will stop host with disconnected sessions. Low aggresiveness will only stop or remove hosts that has no user sessions.

Multiple auto-scale schedules per host pool

Create multiple auto-scale pre-stage settings to ramp up host pool capacity during certain days of week and times of days. In education environments multiple schedules can be used to turn on VMs based on a pre-defined class schedule.

VDI host pools auto-scaling

Provide users with non-persistent, single-user pooled desktops that are used exclusively by a single user during the session then returned to the pool, optionally refreshed/re-imaged, and made available to others. This VDI host pool configuration provides significant savings as compared to permanently-assigned pesonal desktops.

Spot VM instances

Save up to 90% on Azure VM compute costs while testing an AVD deployment by creating session hosts as Spot VMs. Not to be used in production scenarios as VMs can be unexpectedly “evicted”. Easily convert VMs from spot to pay-as-you-go and back to spot VMs with this scripted action.

Reserved Instances analytics for auto-scale

Save up to additional 60% on the cost of Azure compute by using Reserved Instances in combination with auto-scaling. Nerdio Manager will analyze prior auto-scale behavior and recommend quantity of CPU core reservations to purchase to take advantage of RI savings.

Auto-deallocate user stopped VMs

Host VMs shut down from inside Windows are in stopped, but not deallocated, state and continue to generate Azure compute costs. Nerdio Manager can automatically detect VMs in this state and deallocate them proactively.

VM OS disk auto-convert to lower storage tier

Define “running” OS disk storage type (e.g. Premium or Standard SSD) and “stopped” OS disk storage type (e.g. Standard HDD). Auto-scale will change the OS disk to cheaper storage when it stopped and automatically change it to a more performance storage type when the VM is started. This results in up to 75% in OS disk storage savings when the VM is not running.

Ephemeral OS disks

Save on OS disk storage costs and increase performance with Ephemeral OS disks that can be used for AVD session host VMs. Ephemeral OS disks are free and are stored on the Azure physical host’s local storage and are therefore faster.

VM OS disk shrink to 64 GB and 32 GB

Reduce the size of an image VM’s OS disk from the default 128GB to 64GB (or 32GB). This reduces storage costs for session host VMs by requiring a smaller disk and allows for use of smaller VMs with ephemeral OS disks.

Azure Files schedule, free space, & latency-based scaling

Ensure high performance of Azure Files at the lowest possible cost. The performance characteristics of Azure Files Premium are determined by the provisioned capacity quota. Storage auto-scale increases capacity quota in response to increased storage latency (or on a schedule), and decreases it when the extra performance is no longer needed to save on costs.

Azure NetApp Files schedule, free space, & latency-based scaling

Ensure high performance of Azure NetApp Files at the lowest possible cost. The performance of an Azure NetApp Files volume is determined by the volume size, regardless of capacity actually used. Storage auto-scale increases the volume size during times of peak demand (e.g. log-on and log-off storms) and decreases it automatically when the extra boost in performance is no longer needed. This is done based on a schedule and/or in response to elevated IO latency. Storage auto-scale also automatically grows volume (and capacity pool) size when capacity reaches a pre-defined threshold ensuring that it never runs out of space.

FSLogix profile compression

Shrink FSLogix VHD(X) by removing the “white space” from inside the profile container. This dramatically reducess FSLogix storage costs.

Windows 10 & 11 optimization for higher user density

Automatically run Microsoft’s Windows 10 and Windows 11 virtual desktop optimization tool on session host VMs as they are created. This results in drastically improved performance and increased user-per-CPU density, which reduces total Azure compute costs.

WINDOWS 365 ENTERPRISE MANAGEMENT

Cloud PC License Usage Optimization

Reduce total cost of Windows 365 Cloud PCs by optimizing license assignment and reclaim and re-use unused licenses.

Cloud PC Enterprise environment preparation

Extend existing AVD environments with Windows 365 Enterprise Cloud PCs. Nerdio Manager automatically creates the necessary network connections, images, and provisioning policies based on the current AVD configuration. It can also be used to deploy Windows 365 even if there is no existing AVD deployment.

Cloud PC device lifecycle management

Manage all aspects of Windows 365 Enterprise Cloud PCs. Restart, re-provision from image, resize to a larger VM size based on available licenses, end grace period when Cloud PC is no longer needed, and run any Powershell script on one or more Cloud PCs.

Cloud PC user group assignment

Create and manage Cloud PC provisioning policy and assign user security groups to policies to begin the provisioning process for licensed users.

Intune primary user management on Cloud PCs

Automatically detect if a provisioned Cloud PC does not have an assigned Intune primary user. Alert administrator and allow for one-click primary user assignment.

AVD and Windows 365 image sharing

Leverage existing AVD images to create Cloud PC deployments. Image updates are automatically applied to AVD and Cloud PC environments using these shared images.

AVD and Windows 365 scripted actions sharing

Scripted actions are shared between AVD and Windows 365 Enterprise Cloud PC environments. Scripts that install apps, apply optimizations, or anything else that can be scripted with Powershell can be applied to both AVD session hosts and Cloud PCs.

Migrate AVD personal desktops to Cloud PCs (Coming Soon)

Automate the migration process from a personal AVD host pool to an Enterprise Cloud PC. (Coming soon)

AVAILABILITY & RESILIENCE

Automated Active/Active host pool Disaster Recovery

Enable host pool level active/active DR configuration and Nerdio Manager will automatically distribute session hosts across two Azure regions. Users will be distributed across VMs in both regions as they log in and FSLogix profiles will be automatically replicated using Cloud Cache. In case of an Azure region failure users will continue accessing VMs in the available region.

Auto-heal broken session host VMs

Auto-scale can automatically detect broken AVD session hosts and attempt to repair them by either restarting or deleting and re-creating the VMs without user intervention.

Availability zones

Protect against data center failure by automatically distributing session host VMs across Availability Zones (data centers) in supported Azure regions.

Availability sets

Azure availability sets of variable size can be optionally enabled. When enabled, session host VMs are automatically placed in availability sets when deployed.

Image VM backup

Leverage native Azure backup to create versions of desktop images before making changes and easily revert to prior versions. Take a backup of an image while powering it on to modify or manually trigger a backup at any time.

Image update staging and testing

Modify and update production images and test them without affecting current production host pools that use these images. When updating an image, select for the new version to be created in “staged” mode. Designated test host pools can start using and testing this image right away, but production host pools will only begin using it when it is activated after testing and validation. The end-to-end process of image update, user acceptance testing, and deployment into production can be fully automated.

Scheduled Nerdio Manager backup

Configure a scheduled backup of Nerdio Manager application by protecting App Service, Azure SQL database, and key vault contents.

SECURITY & COMPLIANCE

Single-customers, Azure application architecture

Nerdio Manager is a single-customer Azure application deployed from the Azure Marketplace into a customer’s own Azure environment. It consists of Azure PaaS services only with no VMs to manage. The application is integrated into Azure AD and uses Graph API to turn the dials inside the Azure environment. No third-parties have any access into the customer’s Azure environment.

No third-party vendor access

Nerdio Manager is not a hosted SaaS service, but rather an Azure application that’s installed in a single customer environment. There is no third party access to this single tenant app deployment.

Data residency control

Because Nerdio Manager is an Azure application, customers can choose the Azure region where it is deployed. All associated metadata is stored in a selected Azure region with customer having full control over backup, retention, and destruction of this metadata.

Built-In RBAC Roles

Delegate access to deploy and administer Azure Virtual Desktop deployments to users with defined role-based access controls. Built-in AVD Admins can full access to the environment, Reviewers have read-only access, Desktop Admins can manage images and power state of host VMs, Help Desk users manage user sessions, and End-users can manage their own virtual desktop session in a self-service portal. Create your own custom RBAC roles and select Read-only or Full Access to all areas of Nerdio Manager, including limiting access to individual host pools.

Custom RBAC Roles

Create custom roles to control admin access to all areas of Nerdio Manager. Custom roles define scope and level of access and can be assigned to users and security groups. Users can access modules in read-only or full access mode.

Per-Workspace and Per-Host Pool RBAC Role Assignment

RBAC admin roles can be assigned to users and groups and proper level of access is provided at Workspace level and host pool. Different groups of admins can manage different sets of Workspaces and host pools within a larger AVD deployment.

Custom SSL cert and app service name support

Company-provided SSL certificate and domain name can be applied to Nerdio Manager for Enterprise Azure App Service to increase the security posture of the deployment.

Private network endpoint and firewall support

Protect Nerdio Manager and AVD deployment by hardening the SQL, Key Vault, Storage Accounts, App Service by enabling private vnet endpoints in Azure.

Prevent Users from Using Saved Password in AVD Client App

Increase security posture of an AVD host pool by preventing users from using saved credentials in their AVD client app. Users will always be prompted for password when logging into their desktop.

MONITORING & REPORTING

Complete environment dashboard

Consolidated dashboard that combines usage, costs, and savings across all Workspaces in WVD deployment. Select desired time range and view graphs of named, concurrent, and active users. View graphs of host pools, hosts, and total CPUs. Review and export data on compute and storage costs savings.

Azure compute and storage costs

Analyze Azure compute (VMs) and storage (OS disks, Azure Files and Azure NetApp Files) costs at per-hostpool, per-workspace and across the entire environment. Understand average per named, concurrent, and monthly active user costs.

Monthly and hourly usage, costs, & savings exportable reports

Export detailed usage and costs data to be used for chargeback.

Auto-scale history and visualization

Review auto-scale behavior in an easy-to-understand, visualized dashboard that can be drilled into for more detail. All auto-scale behavior, including corresponding user sessions, can be reviewed for further optimization.

Dynamic host pool cost estimate before creation

View project montly compute (VM) and storage (OS disks) costs when creating a new host pool. The real-time calculation is based on Azure pricing API and takes into account the entire auto-scale configuration profiles. This calculation provides the minimum host pool cost, assuming the pool stays at the minimum size and never scales out, and the maximum cost, assuming the host pool scale out to its maximum size and never scales in.

Negotiated Azure pricing support

Azure list prices used for all calculations can be adjusted with a negotiated discount so all financial data accurately reflect actual Azure costs.

Email notifications & alerting

Be always in the know with automated notifications and alerts. Define rules to generate email alerts based on various conditions and actions. Select whom to notify based on tasks, statuses, resources, and other criteria.

User performance & utilization

Gain fully visibility into AVD environment that extends beyond the Azure Monitor Insights. User sessions dashboard provides a wholistic view into user performance that can be drilled down on a per-user basis to understand latency, app input delay, utilization patterns and more.

Host performance & utilization

Hosts dashboard provides a deep analysis of VM performance and utilization (e.g. CPU, RAM, CPU queue, Disk queue, etc.) and displays recommendations for user-to-host density.

Application performance & utilization

Application dashboard display per-application-per-user stastics to understand applicatino usage patterns, application resource consumption, and user behavior.

Image updates change log

Track and report on all changes to desktop images performed by all users.

ORCHESTRATION & INTEGRATION

REST API

Leverage the power of Nerdio Manager automation by integrating with existing ITSM platforms (e.g. ServiceNow). Add and re-image hosts, create or update desktop images, control user sessions and much more.

Windows scripts & Azure runbooks scripted actions library

Scripted actions provide limiteless flexibility in AVD deployments. Windows scripts can be used to execute any set of Powershell commands on VMs are created, started, stopped, remove, or re-imaged. This can be used to deploy applications, security software, optimizations, and much more. Azure runbooks can be used to configure and maintain the Azure environment on the outside of the VM. Many triggers are available including VM or AVD host create, start, stop, delete, image create, schedule, run-once, and more.

GitHub integration with scripted actions

Synchronize scripted actions with Public and/or Private GitHub repositories. Use your favorite tools, like Visual Studio Code, to edit and maintain scripted actions with all of the power of GitHub workflows, versioning, and so much more. Scripted actions are automatically synchronized with GitHub repositories and any changes take effect immediately without any configuration changes made in Nerdio Manager.

Azure DevOps Integration with Scripted Actions (Coming Soon)

Synchronize scripted actions with Azure DevOps. Use your favorite tools, like Visual Studio Code, to edit and maintain scripted actions with all of the power of Azure DevOps workflows, versioning, and much more. Scripted actions are automatically synchronized with Azure DevOps repositories and any changes take effect immediately without any configuration changes made in Nerdio Manager.

Run scripts on hosts

Windows scripts and Azure runbooks can be executed automatically with security context maintained by Nerdio Manager during VM create, delete, start stop, and AVD host register operations.

Run scripts on host pool

Windows scripts and Azure runbooks can be executed on all hosts within a host pool either on demand or on a schedule with recurrence.

Run scripts on image VMs

Automatically install software on newly created desktop images or maintain existing images with regular updates using Scripted Actions.

Run scripts on image capture

Execute Scripted Actions on desktop images while packaging the VM into an image object. These scripts do not impact the original image VM but only apply to the the resulting image. For example, SCCM agent can be uninstalled from the image but remain on the image VM where it is used to update and install software.

Schedule any host VM action

Leverage powerful scheduling capability to schedule any session host actions such as start, stop, add, delete, re-image, resize, activate, deactivate, run script, and more.

Health check probe for third-party tool monitoring

Get status of Nerdio Manager, SQL DB, Azure and AVD access via an unauthenticated URL. Can be used by monitoring tools to check environment health.

Secure data sharing with scripted actions

Define global variables that can be used by any scripted action. Variables are encrypted and stored securely in Azure Key Vault.

Third-party integrations

Nerdio Manager provides built-in integrations for popular desktop virtualization tools such as Teradici PCoIP, security and AV tools like Sophos, and much more.

APPLICATION MANAGEMENT

Application installation with scripted actions during image or host VM creation

Use Scripted Actions to install and manage applications on desktop images or during session host VM creation. Large library of popular software installations is included and gets updated on a regular basis. Create your own scripts to install and manage your own apps.

Per-User and Per-Group Application Assignement

Applications installed on images or session hosts are automatically discovered and can be assigned to only some users and groups (whitelist) or be available to all users with exceptions (blacklist). Leveraging FSLogix application masking technology, apps are completely removed from user’s environment unless user is authorized.

MSIX images management library

Create MSIX images using msix apps, store them in an Azure Files based library with versioning, and deliver these apps seamlessly to users.

Automatic MSIX upload and VHDX package expansion

Upload native MSIX installer files and let Nerdio Manager automatically expand them into a VHDX container, capture all needed metadata, and make the app available for host pool attachment.

Multi-MSIX package image creation

Upload multiple MSIX apps to be packaged together in a single VHDX image. Combining multiple apps in a single image reduces the number of VHDX files mounted on each session host VM and improves performance.

MSIX image versioning

Upload and manage MSIX App Attach images to an Azure Files share. Update images to new versions and automatically apply to all host pools with existing assignments. Leverage images with multiple MSIX packages inside for more efficient app delivery.

MSIX app publishing to users & groups as desktop app or RemoteApp

Leverage native WVD MSIX App Attach integrations via the AVD agent. Assign MSIX packages to host pools from Nerdio Manager image library or use existing images storage on any SMB storage including Azure NetApp Files and file servers.

Certificate library and automatic delivery to images & host VMs

Upload and manage a library of self-signed or CA-issued certs that were used to package apps in MSIX format. These certificates can be automatically installed on desktop images or session hosts during provisioning.

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Secure Remote Work: Azure Virtual Desktop GTM Strategy

In this session, we will discuss how Azure Virtual Desktop and Windows 365 enable a secure remote workforce with a ZeroTrust mindset.

Available Webinars

The Economics of Azure: Building a Competitive Package
March 1, 2022 -
12:00 EST
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Microsoft Azure: The Future of VDI
February 24, 2022 -
14:00 EST
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Demystifying Microsoft Azure: Getting Started with Azure for MSPs
February 22, 2022 -
12:00 EST
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Secure Remote Work: Azure Virtual Desktop GTM Strategy
February 17, 2022 -
14:00 EST
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The Economics of Azure: Building a Competitive Package
February 15, 2022 -
13:00 EST
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Microsoft Azure: The Future of VDI
February 10, 2022 -
14:00 EST
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