If you are new to the Windows 365 service and want to learn more, starting with a POC for your organization is a great first step to understanding Windows 365 capabilities, various use cases, and overall technical fit. Before getting started, it is highly recommended to review the pre-requisites on Microsoft’s Windows 365 docs website.
After acquiring a Windows 365 license (trial or paid), for a first step, you will need to assign a license to an end-user in the Microsoft 365 admin portal (https://admin.microsoft.com). Also, please see Cloud PC size recommendations with example scenarios provided.
Once a license has been assigned, navigate to Microsoft Endpoint Manager admin center (https://endpoint.microsoft.com). After signing in with your credentials, click on “Devices”, then “Windows 365” under “Provisioning” and navigate to the “On-premises network connection”.
Once in the OPNC (On-premises network connection) screen, click “Create” and fill out relevant information under “General” (Name, Azure Subscription, Resource Group, Virtual Network, Subnet) and “AD domain” (AD DNS domain name, Organization Unit, AD username UPN, AD domain password).
Please note, an on-premises network connection (OPNC) allows Cloud PCs to be created in your organization's Azure Virtual Network. Learn more about OPNCs.
At this stage, ensure that all status checks have passed indicated by a green check mark.
After your OPNC status checks pass, navigate to “Provisioning policies” and click “Create policy” plus sign.
Follow the provision policy flow starting with General (Name, Description, Network), Image type – gallery or custom (please note custom imaging is supported under “Device images”). More guidance on Windows 365 Enterprise docs under Add or delete custom device images.
Lastly, assign to respective groups. (Please see additional guidance for how to Create a dynamic device group containing all Cloud PCs)
After a provisioning policy has been created, navigate to “All Cloud PCs” to check provisioning status.
After the Cloud PC has reached a “Provisioned” status, you can then test out the end-user experience by navigating to https://windows365.microsoft.com and signing in with your assigned credentials.
At this stage, you will see a welcome screen giving the options of downloading the Remote Desktop app (recommended for the best experience – available for Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android), opening in a browser session, and taking a tour of the service.
You now have access to a Cloud PC providing the productivity, security, and collaboration benefits of Microsoft 365!
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