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Donna_Ryan
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Multimedia Redirection and WebRTC Redirector plug-in updates for Windows 365 & Azure Virtual Desktop
Automating plug-in maintenance with GitHub Scripts Keeping your Windows 365 and Azure Virtual Desktop environment up to date is crucial for optimal performance and security. Two essential plug-ins, Multimedia Redirection service and WebRTC (Web Real-Time Communication) redirector service, require periodic updates. However, these plug-ins do not update automatically, which can lead to compatibility or performance issues if left unattended. Understanding the Challenge Unlike most of the components of Windows 365 and Azure Virtual Desktop, both the Multimedia Redirection and WebRTC plug-ins must be updated manually. This manual process can be time-consuming for IT administrators and disruptive if not managed properly, especially in enterprise environments where user experience and uptime are top priorities. Cloud PCs that are provisioned or reprovisioned with Gallery images do have the latest plug-ins installed and Azure Virtual Desktop session hosts deployed with Azure Marketplace images have the latest WebRTC plug-in installed. But as these Cloud PCs and Session Hosts age, these plug-ins will become outdated over time. Note: Windows 365 Gallery images that include the latest Multimedia Redirection and WebRTC plug-ins are only the Windows Enterprise + Microsoft 365 Apps images. For Azure Marketplace images, only the Windows multi-session + Microsoft 365 Apps images include the latest WebRTC plug-in. Features dependent on WebRTC and Multimedia Redirection WebRTC: Microsoft Teams media optimizations Users connect from non-Windows physical endpoints Users connect from Windows endpoints and SlimCore fails Multimedia Redirection: Video playback and call redirection on Edge or Chrome browsers Users who visit websites with embedded videos Users who use Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) solutions Manually Updating Administrators can update these binaries by deploying their respective MSI installers to users’ Cloud PCs and personal Session Hosts either through Intune or their management engine of choice. This may be the simplest way of upgrading endpoints, but there is a chance that end users would be disrupted during their work because WebRTC installer will forcefully stop Teams processes while installing, and Multimedia Redirection could break video streams or calls while the binaries are upgraded. If choosing this method, administrators should leverage maintenance windows to minimize disruptions. The MSI installers can be manually downloaded from the links below: WebRTC redirector installer MSI Multimedia redirector installer MSI Automating Updates with GitHub Scripts To address this challenge, our team has developed a series of PowerShell scripts available in our GitHub repository. These scripts automate the update process for both Multimedia Redirection and WebRTC plug-ins, ensuring that the latest versions are installed without the need for direct user intervention. The benefits of these scripts are: No End User Impact: The scripts are designed to run silently in the background, so end users experience no downtime or interruptions. Consistent Plugin Versions: Automated updates help maintain consistency across all Windows 365 instances, reducing troubleshooting time and compatibility issues. Easy Integration: The scripts can be deployed with Intune via Remediations, or as a standalone script. Remediations provides the best admin experience as it will report back on compliance and any errors encountered during deployment. Getting Started To begin using the automated update scripts: Visit our GitHub repository and download the latest versions of the update scripts. WebRTC Updater Multimedia Redirector Updater Review the step-by-step setup and configuration instructions. Deploy the scripts to your Windows 365 or Azure Virtual Desktop environment, either in standalone mode or with Remediations. IMPORTANT: The scripts currently do not support Windows Multi-Session hosts. Updating Azure Virtual Desktop Multi-Session Hosts Updating these plugins should be done during the build process of the golden image or the Session Hosts. This can be achieved by using an automated building solution, like Azure Image Builder, to install the latest versions. The URLs for these plugins are static, meaning that administrators can use the same URL without having to be concerned about the version that is being downloaded. For reference, the URLs are below: WebRTC - https://aka.ms/msrdcwebrtcsvc/msi Multimedia Redirection - https://aka.ms/avdmmr/msi More information on WebRTC and Multimedia Redirection plug-ins Microsoft updates these binaries periodically for functional and security enhancements. To stay current on the latest releases and what they contain, please visit the following links: What’s new for WebRTC Redirector Service What’s new for Multimedia redirection service Conclusion Regularly updating the Multimedia Redirection and WebRTC plugins is essential for a secure and efficient Windows 365 environment. By leveraging the automation scripts from our GitHub repository, IT administrators can ensure plugins remain current, all while eliminating manual effort and minimizing any impact on end users. For more details and to access the scripts, check out our GitHub page.Enable RDP Shortpath for Windows 365 with Proactive Remediation
RDP Shortpath for Windows 365 is now in public preview, bringing the ability to lower latency and improve end-user experience on the Cloud PC. When this feature becomes generally available (GA) it will be enabled by default. But while its in preview, it needs to be enabled on the Cloud PCs. To enable RDP Shortpath, a single registry value needs to be set. Details about RDP Shortpath for Windows 365 can be found here. The registry value to set can be found here. You can use Endpoint Manager to enable this for some or all Cloud PCs with minimal effort. While this can be accomplished in several ways, below are the steps deploy a PowerShell script package using Proactive remediations, enabling IT Pros to see reports on its effectiveness. As RDP Shortpath can improve connectivity to Cloud PCs and Proactive remediations can improve your User Experience score in Endpoint Analytics, using Proactive remediations to deploy this script is a recommended practice to enhance IT Pros' ability to clearly understand the end-user experience of their users. We’ve updated the Windows 365 GitHub repository, creating an RDP Shortpath Proactive Remediation folder. The folder contains two scripts, a remediation script and a detection script to enable the registry value and enable reporting on its status, respectively. Both must be used within a script package in Proactive Remediations. Be aware that the scripts are not signed, which can cause the scripts to fail if your organization is blocking unsigned scripts from running. Before getting started, it is advisable to read the official documentation on this feature as there are caveats and requirements with its enablement. It is also recommended to test this feature on a small set of test systems before enabling it production-wide to ensure it works as intended. This can be done by manually changing the Registry Key as outlined in the following links. Use RDP Shortpath for public networks (preview) with Windows 365 Azure Virtual Desktop RDP Shortpath for public networks (preview) Let’s get started! Firstly, go to the Windows 365 GitHub repo and download the two scripts in the RDP Shortpath Proactive Remediation folder (The Windows 365 GitHub repository) Next, in the MEM portal, open the Reports Tab, then select Endpoint Analytics. Clicking on Endpoint analytics will make new options appear in the console. Click on Create Script Package. Fill out the fields, then click Next. Click the folder icons for the Detection and Remediation scripts. Select the appropriate scripts that were downloaded from our Windows 365 GitHub repo. Once the correct scripts are selected, click next. If you need to leverage Scope Tags, complete the fields as needed. If not needed, or fields completed successfully, click next. Finally, select an Azure AD Group that contains the Windows 365 Cloud PCs that need to be updated to use RDP Shortpath. Once that is complete, click Next. Review the selections and either go back and fix problems or click “Complete”. It will take some time for the data from the Windows 365 Cloud PCs to start populating the dashboard. Once data starts to become available, you can monitor the progress of the scripts. If you need more details about the actions of the scripts, Proactive Remediation provides a way to export the data to CSV. The added benefit to this action is it captures the output of the scripts, giving admins insight to what is happening on the endpoints during remediation. To retrieve this data, click on Device Status, then export. A ZIP file will be downloaded, and upon opening, there will be a CSV file. Once the CSV file is opened, admins can see the outputs from the scripts. Please let me know if this script package had been useful to your organization, if a bug has been found, or suggestions. If you’d like to improve this script, make a Pull Request on the repository. The goal for the repo is to have it be a community compilation, not just a place where I put scripts that I think will be useful.
