Azure Virtual Desktop Hybrid – Deployment Scripts

PowerShell scripts to automate the deployment of Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) for Hybrid Environments (Public Preview). Run AVD session hosts on-premises or on any non-Azure hypervisor using Azure Arc.

Public Preview: Host pools must be configured as validation environments. Not recommended for production until General Availability.

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Overview

Azure Virtual Desktop Hybrid extends AVD by using Azure Arc to bridge on-premises or non-Azure VMs into the AVD control plane. The session hosts run anywhere - your hypervisor, another cloud, a physical machine - while the host pool, workspace, and application group remain in Azure.

Full walkthrough: https://bowker.cloud/avdhybrid/

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Scripts

Script	Purpose	Where to run
Deploy-AVDHybrid-Greenfield.ps1	Sets up all Azure infrastructure	Your admin machine
Deploy-AVDHybrid-SessionHost.ps1	Onboards each session host VM	On each session host VM

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Supported Platforms

	Virtual Machine	Physical Machine
Windows Server 2016–2025	✅	✅
Windows 11 Enterprise (single-session)	✅	❌
Windows 11 Enterprise Multi-Session	❌	❌

Identity: Entra joined, ADDS joined, or hybrid joined are all supported.

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Prerequisites

• Azure subscription with Owner or Contributor access
• PowerShell 5.1 or later (Windows PowerShell ISE or VS Code)
• Session host VM with outbound internet access to AVD endpoints and Azure Arc endpoints
• Session host must be Entra joined, ADDS joined, or hybrid joined

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Quick Start

Step 1 – Run the Greenfield script (admin machine)

1. Open Deploy-AVDHybrid-Greenfield.ps1 in PowerShell ISE or VS Code
2. Update the variables in Section 0:

   $TenantId        = "YOUR_TENANT_ID"
   $SubscriptionId  = "YOUR_SUBSCRIPTION_ID"
   $AdminAccount    = "YOUR_ADMIN_UPN"

3. Run section by section using F8
4. At the end, AVD-SessionHost-Config.txt is saved to your Desktop

Step 2 – Run the Session Host script (on each VM)

1. Copy both Deploy-AVDHybrid-SessionHost.ps1 and AVD-SessionHost-Config.txt into the same folder on the VM
2. Open in PowerShell ISE or VS Code - Run as Administrator
3. Run section by section using F8

Step 3 – Assign users and connect

1. Add users to the AVD-Users group in Entra ID → Groups → AVD-Users → Members
2. Connect via Windows App or https://windows.cloud.microsoft

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What the Greenfield Script Creates

Resource	Name	Notes
Resource Group	AVD-HostPool-RG	Holds AVD resources
Resource Group	AVD-ArcServers-RG	Holds Arc-enabled session hosts
Host Pool	AVD-HostPool	Pooled, breadth-first, validation environment
Workspace	AVD-Workspace	Linked to app group
Application Group	AVD-AppGroup	Desktop app group
Entra Group	AVD-Users	Add users here to grant access
Service Principal	AVD-ArcOnboarding-SP	Used by session host script for Arc onboarding

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Troubleshooting

Issue	Fix
DomainJoinedCheck failed	Ensure VM is Entra/ADDS/hybrid joined before installing Arc extension
Arc agent shows Disconnected	Re-run Section 3 - auto-detects and reconnects
Session host Unavailable	Check SxSStackListenerCheck - restart the VM
MetaDataServiceCheck failed	Semi-fatal in non-Azure environments - doesn't prevent connections
Registration token expired	Re-run Section 8 of Greenfield script, copy updated config file to VM
MSI installer fails (1603)	Run PowerShell ISE as Administrator
BadRequest on role assignments	Entra propagation delay - script includes 15s wait to mitigate

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References

• Deploy Azure Virtual Desktop Hybrid
• Entra joined session hosts in AVD
• Azure Arc-enabled servers

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Author

Dan Bowker - bowker.cloud