Blog Post

Azure Virtual Desktop Blog
2 MIN READ

Windows 11 preview is now available on Azure Virtual Desktop

Kam_VedBrat's avatar
Kam_VedBrat
Former Employee
Aug 19, 2021

Azure Virtual Desktop has become a popular cloud VDI platform to run desktops and apps in the cloud and deliver a full Windows experience to users virtually anywhere. Organizations today use it with Windows 10, Windows 7, Windows Server … and now we are pleased to offer https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/blog/?p=237098 11 on Azure Virtual Desktop. Windows 11 is the operating system for hybrid work and learning. It delivers a more streamlined, more personal computing experience that doesn’t compromise performance, security, and manageability. 

 

For Windows 11, Azure Virtual Desktop still provides exclusive support for multi-session, an important option that helps you optimize costs by running multiple users on a single Azure virtual machine. You can use https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/trusted-launch#:~:text=Azure%20offers%20trusted%20launch%20as%20a%20seamless%20way,coordinated%20infrastructure%20technologies%20that%20can%20be%20enabled%20independently. (available in preview) to enable TPM 2.0 and secure boot as part of the VM configuration to take full advantage of the security capabilities in Windows 11.  The user experience with Azure Virtual Desktop is intended to be identical to the local PC experience. Some higher-end graphics effects, such as transparencies, animations, and rounded corners, may require using Azure Virtual Desktop with an Azure VM with the right GPU support.   

 

Getting started 

Azure Virtual Desktop is a great place for customers to set up their validation environment to try out this new operating system. Enterprise and Education customers can use Azure Virtual Desktop to test Windows 11 now that it is available in the Windows Insider Program. 

 

You can visit the https://azuremarketplace.microsoft.com/marketplace/apps/microsoftwindowsdesktop.windows-11-preview?tab=Overview to choose from three Windows 11 images: 

  • Windows 11 Enterprise (Preview) 
  • Windows 11 Enterprise multi-session (Preview) 
  • Windows 11 Enterprise multi-session + Microsoft 365 Apps (Preview) 

 

Please join the Azure Virtual Desktop Tech Community to share your feedback and compare notes with other users. 

Published Aug 19, 2021
Version 1.0
updates

19 Comments

Sort By
Show More
  • AndreasR's avatar
    AndreasR
    Brass Contributor
    Aug 23, 2021

    Thanks a lot. Just deployed a test Host Pool with sysprepped Win11 image.

  • denis89's avatar
    denis89
    Brass Contributor
    Aug 21, 2021

    Stefan Georgiev Hi Stefan, 

    is there any way to get the image via Get-AZVMImagesku
    I would like to test the Image within our deploymentprocess. 

  • Huafang's avatar
    Huafang
    Copper Contributor
    Aug 21, 2021

    Hello, is Win11 enterprise multi-session (preview) support TPM 2.0. I have chosen with Gen2, but there's no Trusted launch (secure boot, vTPM) list under Advanced tab. VM generation is on the bottom.

     

    While still on the Advanced tab, scroll down to Trusted launch, and then select the Trusted launch checkbox. This will make two more options appear - Secure boot and vTPM. Select the appropriate options for your deployment.

  • Stefan Georgiev's avatar
    Stefan Georgiev
    Former Employee
    Aug 21, 2021

    Hi everyone, 

     

    Please let me post the detailed instructions on how we can test Windows 11 in AVD. 

     

    Option 1 – Create an image

    Navigate to the https://azuremarketplace.microsoft.com/marketplace/apps/microsoftwindowsdesktop.windows-11-preview?tab=Overview and subscribe and add the offer to your tenant  

    Create a VM

    Generalize and prepare an image following the process outlined https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/windows/capture-image-resource#create-a-managed-image-in-the-portal

    Follow https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-desktop/create-host-pools-azure-marketplace#begin-the-host-pool-setup-process steps to create a host pool

     

    Option 2 – Manual registration

    Navigate to the https://azuremarketplace.microsoft.com/marketplace/apps/microsoftwindowsdesktop.windows-11-preview?tab=Overview and subscribe and add the offer to your tenant  

    Create a VM using Windows 11 images as source

    Navigate to Azure Virtual Desktop

    Create a host pool without adding any VMs

    Generate a registration key

     

    Then add the VM created via the manual registration process follow the process https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9gb_tRW2bA starting at 4:58 to register your VM with the host pool.

     

    Happy testing 

     

    Stefan

  • adityaj141's avatar
    adityaj141
    Copper Contributor
    Aug 20, 2021

    Windows 11 shows OS name as windows 10 ent multi session and version is 21h2. Could you please provide more details on this. Also I am not able to select this Windows 11 image when creating AVD Host Pools with Virtual Machine (Session Host VM), it is not available.
  • denis89's avatar
    denis89
    Brass Contributor
    Aug 20, 2021

    Same here, when i go to the portal to create a single vm I can create the vm. If I try it via arm with the exact same information I got from the creation process template it is not available. Also over powershell i can't get any Windows 11 offer. 

  • R_D_P's avatar
    R_D_P
    Copper Contributor
    Aug 20, 2021

    Where are these images available? every location I try when creating one as an AVD VM it's stating it's not available.

    It's letting me create a stand-alone VM though.