Deploy management tool for Windows Virtual Desktop host pools

I've been test driving Windows Virtual Desktop recently and I'm impressed with what I've seen. I've blogged about my experience here. I have noticed however that I can create a host pool in the Azure Portal but I can't see it or manage it afterwards in the portal. 

I can see the VMs but not the host pool. 

Try it yourself. Have a look at All Resources. You won't find anything related to Windows Virtual Desktop or host pools.

So how do we manage WVD? We have two options. We can manage the host pool using PowerShell (see here for a full list of cmdlets) or we can create our own management user interface. It's very easy. Microsoft have already provided a sample, which is an Azure Resource Manager template. Admins are encouraged to customize to suit their requirements. 

Here's how it works.

Navigate to the ARM template on GitHub

Scroll down and select Deploy to Azure. You'll need permissions to create resources in your Azure subscription.

Enter the parameters (subscription, resource group, admin account). Give the application a unique name.

The deployment is under way and you can see the resources being created.

The deployment has completed. Now we need to launch the tool.

First, ensure that Users can consent to apps accessing company data on their behalf.

Where do we get the URL for the tool? Have a look in All Resources and find the application that you have just created.

You'll find the URL on the top right corner. It's of the format https://yourappname.azurewebsites.net. Browse to the URL and sign in with the host pool owner.

Grant permission to access WVD.

Choose your Tenant Group from the drop-down arrow and you have access to the host pool.

You can now manage the host pool. See how you can add or drain a host and see details of user sessions.

I hope you find this useful. Until next time.