Running a Windows Server 2012 Remote Desktop Services environment on Azure

Technorati Tags: Windows Server 2012,azure,RDS,Remote Desktop Services,Cloud

 

I recently set up a trial account for Azure. The trial allows you to explore the new possibilities and create Virtual Machines, Websites and other Cloud services. Get your trial account here: http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/pricing/free-trial/)

Deploying new Virtual Machines is a matter of minutes. I deployed a set of 9 virtual machines running Window Server 2012 in no time. After deployment you can immediately access and manage the VM's using RDP and the machine is also accessible using a automatically created DNS name (ending on cloudapp.net)

 

 

Before deploying the machines I created a new virtual network to allow communication between the virtual machines.

On the Virtual Machines I deployed a complete Virtual Desktop Infrastructure environment serving a Session-Based Desktop Deployment.

After setting up the necessary endpoints to allow communication over port 443 to the RD Gateway and port 443 to the RD Connection Broker. The environment was accessible from my client.

Accessing the environment on my client running Windows 8 even created a full Single Sign On to all my published Remote Apps and Remote Desktop seamlessly integrated on my client.

Overview of all new Windows 2012 GPO’s related to Remote Desktop Services

The Group Policy Settings Reference for Windows and Windows Server has been updated with Windows Server 2012.

The download offers Excel Sheets with all the GPO’s policies available and also contains a “Status” column to allow you to filter on New GPO settings and a “Registry information” column to get the registry equivalent of the GPO setting.

Below an overview of all the new GPO settings related to Remote Desktop Services:

Terminalserver-Server.admx
Turn off Fair Share CPU Scheduling
Machine
Windows Components\Remote Desktop Services\Remote Desktop Session Host\Connections

Terminalserver-Server.admx
Use the hardware default graphics adapter for all Remote Desktop Services sessions
Machine
Windows Components\Remote Desktop Services\Remote Desktop Session Host\Remote Session Environment

TerminalServer-WinIP.admx
Configure image quality for RemoteFX Adaptive Graphics
Machine
Windows Components\Remote Desktop Services\Remote Desktop Session Host\Remote Session Environment

TerminalServer-WinIP.admx
Configure RemoteFX Adaptive Graphics
Machine
Windows Components\Remote Desktop Services\Remote Desktop Session Host\Remote Session Environment

TerminalServer-WinIP.admx
Enable Remote Desktop Protocol 8.0
Machine
Windows Components\Remote Desktop Services\Remote Desktop Session Host\Remote Session Environment

TerminalServer-WinIP.admx
Select network detection on the server
Machine
Windows Components\Remote Desktop Services\Remote Desktop Session Host\Connections

TerminalServer-WinIP.admx
Select RDP transport protocols
Machine
Windows Components\Remote Desktop Services\Remote Desktop Session Host\Connections

TerminalServer-WinIP.admx
Turn Off UDP On Client
Machine
Windows Components\Remote Desktop Services\Remote Desktop Connection Client

TerminalServer.admx
Limit maximum display resolution
Machine
Windows Components\Remote Desktop Services\Remote Desktop Session Host\Remote Session Environment

TerminalServer.admx
Suspend user sign-in to complete app registration
Machine
Windows Components\Remote Desktop Services\Remote Desktop Session Host\Connections

TerminalServer.admx
Configure image quality for RemoteFX Adaptive Graphics
Machine
Windows Components\Remote Desktop Services\Remote Desktop Session Host\Remote Session Environment

TerminalServer.admx
Configure RemoteFX Adaptive Graphics
Machine
Windows Components\Remote Desktop Services\Remote Desktop Session Host\Remote Session Environment

TerminalServer.admx
Allow RDP redirection of other supported RemoteFX USB devices from this computer
Machine
Windows Components\Remote Desktop Services\Remote Desktop Connection Client\RemoteFX USB Device Redirection

TerminalServer.admx
Configure RemoteFX
Machine
Windows Components\Remote Desktop Services\Remote Desktop Session Host\Remote Session Environment\RemoteFX for Windows Server 2008 R2

TerminalServer.admx
Optimize visual experience when using RemoteFX
Machine
Windows Components\Remote Desktop Services\Remote Desktop Session Host\Remote Session Environment\RemoteFX for Windows Server 2008 R2

TerminalServer.admx
Enable RemoteFX encoding for RemoteFX clients designed for Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1
Machine
Windows Components\Remote Desktop Services\Remote Desktop Session Host\Remote Session Environment

TerminalServer.admx
Specify default connection URL
User
Windows Components\Remote Desktop Services\RemoteApp and Desktop Connections

TerminalServer.admx
Select network detection on the server
Machine
Windows Components\Remote Desktop Services\Remote Desktop Session Host\Connections

TerminalServer.admx
Select RDP transport protocols
Machine
Windows Components\Remote Desktop Services\Remote Desktop Session Host\Connections

TerminalServer.admx
Turn Off UDP On Client
Machine
Windows Components\Remote Desktop Services\Remote Desktop Connection Client

Microsoft RDV Team: RemoteFX USB Redirection in Windows Server 2012 and Windows 8

The Microsoft Remote Desktop Virtualization team posted a great blog post with some highlights on RemoteFX USB Redirection in Windows Server 2012. The features discussed:

• Dynamic In-Session USB Redirection
• Expanded USB Device Support
• USB Redirection for RD Session Host (Session Isolation)
• Windows PowerShell Interface for USB Redirection Configuration.

Source: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/rds/archive/2012/09/11/remotefx-usb-redirection-in-windows-server-2012-and-windows-8.aspx

Protocol 8.0 update for Windows 7 in Q4 2012

Microsoft announced via windowsteamblog.com that a update will be available in Q4 of 2012 to update the Remote Desktop Client (RDC) in Windows to Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) version 8.0 allowing it to benefit from enhancements in regards to RemoteFX!

“…I frequently get asked if the enhancements we've made for Windows 8 access devices will also work on Windows 7 access devices. I am happy to share that the answer is yes, they will. In late Q4, we will deliver, via download, the Remote Desktop Protocol 8.0 Update for Windows 7, which can be applied to Windows 7 SP1 access devices, allowing them to benefit from the same great enhancements in RemoteFX with Windows Server 2012….”

Source: http://windowsteamblog.com/windows/b/business/archive/2012/09/06/microsoft-desktop-virtualization-taking-another-step-forward-with-ue-v-and-vdi.aspx

Remote Desktop Protocol 8.0 officially supports ‘Nested Sessions’

You probably have been using nested RDP sessions (RDP Session initiated from another RDP session) for years, and so have I. Up until now Microsoft never officially supported this. There now is a official statement from Microsoft:

Remote Desktop Protocol 8.0 is tested for and supports “nested sessions”

A quick reference table on what's supported below.

More information can be found in KB2754550:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2754550

And on the RDS MSDN blog:
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/rds/archive/2012/09/06/remote-desktop-protocol-8-0-supports-nested-sessions.aspx?CommentPosted=true#commentmessage

Microsoft User Experience Virtualization (UE-V) RC is now available !

The Release Candidate (RC) version of Microsoft’s User Experience Virtualization (UE-V) is now available on connect !

“…UE-V will reach general availability when the Microsoft Desktop Virtualization Pack (MDOP) 2012 becomes available in the fourth quarter of this calendar year…”

https://connect.microsoft.com/MDOPTAP/Downloads

Also, the Microsoft User Experience Virtualization (UE-V) agent can npw be managed using existing Group Policy infrastructure. The UE-V ADMX template configures the synchronization settings for the UE-V agent and is also available on Connect.

For more info read these blog posts Karri Alexion-Tiernan and Stephen L Rose:

http://windowsteamblog.com/windows/b/business/archive/2012/09/06/microsoft-desktop-virtualization-taking-another-step-forward-with-ue-v-and-vdi.aspx

http://windowsteamblog.com/windows/b/springboard/archive/2012/09/06/microsoft-user-experience-virtualization-ue-v-release-candidate-now-available.aspx?utm_term=RESTweet&utm_content=REST+Corporation+TechUps&utm_source=twitterfeed@RC&utm_medium=twitter@RC

Microsoft RDV team blog post –“Introducing the Remote Desktop Windows Store App”

The Microsoft Remote Desktop Virtualization team posted a new blog on MSDN about the Remote Desktop App, available in the Windows App Store.

Questions answered in the blog post:

• What do you get with the Remote Desktop app?
• How do you get the Remote Desktop app?
• What is the launch experience?
• How do you connect to a new PC?
• How do you interact with the remote PC?

View the blog post here:Introducing the Remote Desktop Windows Store App

“…In summary, the Remote Desktop app offers a fresh approach for accessing your remote PCs and RemoteApp programs. Please install this free Remote Desktop app from the Windows Store and try out the new experience today. With its rich features and touch-friendly UI, we hope you will have a pleasant RemoteFX experience…”

Video’s related to VDI / RDS on Windows Server 2012 launch site

Windows Server 2012 is here!
The Windows Server 2012 launch site contains some great video’s. Below the link to some video’s related to Desktop Virtualization:
http://www.windows-server-launch.com/TechnicalTracks/VDI

Windows Server 2012 will arrive today, get prepared for RDS 2012!

 

I’ve collected some links to TechNet Wiki’s I wrote recently regarding Remote Desktop Services in Windows Server 2012:

Scenario Based Deployment of RDS in Windows Server 2012
Deploying the RDS Quick Start deployment type in Windows Server 2012 (for Session Virtualization)
Deploying the RDS Standard deployment type in Windows Server 2012 (for Session Virtualization) (en-US)

Installing and configuring RD Connection Broker High Availability in Windows Server 2012
Deploying RD Connection Broker High Availability in Windows Server 2012
RD Connection Broker HA and the RDP properties on the client
RD Connection Broker HA – SQL Permissions

Deploying and configuring RD WebAccess in Windows Server 2012
Enabling the RD WebAccess Expired password reset option in Windows Server 2012
Adding folders in RD WebAccess in Windows Server 2012
Publishing RemoteApps in Windows Server 2012

Deploying and configuring RD Gateway in Windows Server 2012
Changing the default port of RD Gateway in Windows Server 2012
Configuring UDP support on the RD Gateway in Windows Server 2012

Using Powershell to install, configure and maintain RDS in Windows Server 2012 (en-US)
Deploying a Session Based Desktop Deployment using PowerShell on Windows Server 2012 (en-US)
Managing Remote Apps using PowerShell on Windows Server 2012 (en-US)
Managing RDS licensing using PowerShell on Windows Server 2012

RemoteFX for WAN and RemoteFX Multi-Touch for Windows 8

In case you missed them, two great articles on the Remote Desktop Services MSDN blog related to RemoteFX for Windows Server 2012 and Windows 8.

RemoteFX for WAN: Overview of Intelligent and Adaptive Transports in Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012

RemoteFX Multi-Touch for Windows 8