Start VM on connect starts Public Preview!

[evasse]

For all early birds who want to start testing, keep in mind that we have the following limitations:

• You can configure the setting on validation pool only (we will update this post when you can enable on non-validation too)
• You can apply this setting for personal host pools only.
• You can access this setting from PowerShell and RestAPI only.

Please review carefully the additional pre-requisites and set-up guidance here in our documentation.

We are working to make the setting available for you through the Azure portal. Later in preview you can expect support for pooled hostpools and support for remaining Remote Desktop clients. We will keep you updated in this forum. Please share your feedback by commenting to this post or create a new post.

[#2]

@evasse I tested this feature it looks good!

I have a feedback because I tested with Windows WVD RD Client and WVD RD Webclient both.

Can we have the timer showing up the time when we are starting the VM using Windows WVD RD Client also.The timer shows up the time when we connect using WVD RD Webclient. Here is the screen shot for reference.

[#3]

@adityaj141 : happy to hear your tests were successful. This is not a timer. It is an approximation on avg. how long it may take. 

[#4]

@evasse Thanks! Can we have that approx time showing up when we connect using WVD RD Windows Client as well the way we see the approx time when we use WVD RD WebClient.

[#5]

@evasse Worked flawlessly for us. We've sampled an average of ~3mins from clicking on the WVD resource until the user gets a login prompt to sign into their personal host.

Glad this feature is out! Looking forward to this coming out to GA!

[#6]

@evasse My understanding of this new feature is that it still needs to rely on the Azure virtual machines auto-shutdown feature. If I configure a machine to auto-shutdown at 17:00 as an example and a user is logged off said machine at 13:00, does this mean that the machine will remain running for an additional 4 hours before it is shut down? If so, this should be an enhancement request. I appreciate that some cost will still be saved as the machine will still shut down at 17:00 in my example, but further cost savings can be realized if the machine shuts down a few minutes after logoff.

[#7]

Yes this feature only promises what it's name says. You still need to rely on the methods you apply to shut down your VMs.

[#8]

@evasse Spent some time today testing the Start VM On Connect feature with little success.  It may be due to my customers unique configuration, but can't seem to get it to work.

WVD Spring Release (v2)

Personal Host Pool = check

Validation Host Pool = check

Custom Role = check

Azure Public = check

Updated Host Pool with StartVMOnConnect:$True = check

The session host was initially stopped (deallocated).  Started the VM from PowerShell and logged in to the VM using RD Client (1.2.1844.0). Shutdown the VM from inside the Session and confirmed via PowerShell the VM was stopped (not deallocated).  Tried to Connect to the VM and got the error below:

[Window Title]
Remote Desktop

[Content]
An internal error has occurred.

[^] Hide details [OK]

[Expanded Information]
Error code: 0x0
Extended error code: 0x0
Timestamp (UTC): 2021-04-06T20:46:42.414Z
Activity ID: b574ca6f-a0cb-4717-a7d2-f2606dd50000

Press Ctrl+C to copy.

Thanks,

Jason Parker

[#9]

Hi Jason! Please try the following:
- review the error messages in diagnostics for this activity ID. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-desktop/diagnostics-log-analytics . You can use as well: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-desktop/azure-monitor

- The issue your are running into most likely is missing permissions. Please review carefully this section of the docs: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-desktop/start-virtual-machine-connect#use-the-azure-p...

Thank you!

[#10]

We have an update for you :)! You can configure this setting using Azure Portal. See our post here: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/windows-virtual-desktop/start-vm-on-connect-public-preview-up...

[#11]

So, after the exiting news this is in preview for shared pools as well, we went ahead and started to try it out in our Office shared pool. And it works a treat! Are there any plans for introducing this feature in the Linux client as well during preview?

[#12]

@MaartenvandenBerg : thank you for feedback :)! We are happy to hear that you are happy with the results. In terms of Linux clients I assume you are using a client one of our partners. I recommend to raise the ask with the partner. 

NOTE: desktops should start even with the Linux clients but the new status messages will be missing.

[#13]

@evasseWorks as advertised, thank you.

I'd like to continue using the scaling script to deallocate machines...is it known whether it plays nice with WVD scaling automation? https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-desktop/set-up-scaling-script

For example, could there potentially be a conflict with both the scaling script and start on connect starting machines at the same time?

[#14]

Do you have any timescales for this moving out of preview?

[#15]

We are getting close and will update you on this forum. Stay tuned!

[#16]

@evasse working like a charm! 

[#17]

@Eva Seydl  Any way to limit certain users? Only want one WVD user to be able to start VM on connect. I know this sounds odd but that user has program that needs to be started before any other WVD users can log in.

[#18]

This is not supported today. You can accommodate this by separating users by host pools where you have the feature either on or off.

[#19]

Fellow sysadmin, you could force an auto login on the console side of the machine by using a passwordless autologin on boot. You could also set up a scheduled task to run as the user you need logging in first and schedule the task on machine boot.

[#20]

I'm trying to use the start on connect feature and i'm getting an error messsage saying the resource is not available. I created the custom role and assigned it to Windows Virtual Desktop