Patterns for low-code Azure config state snapshot + recovery solution for resource groups
I’m looking for patterns that capture resource configuration changes over time and support best-effort recovery (redeployment) of resource config state. I understand that authoritative IaC (Bicep) would be the most mature option, however, I am wondering if anyone has ever implemented a solution similar to what I have described above. Ideally this would be a low-code, Azure native solution.
More security around using Custom Script Extensions and Session Host Configuration
We are currently implementing and testing the new Session Host Configuration and Session Host Management features. We rely on Custom Script Extensions to implement some functionality immediately to the newly deployed Session Hosts instead of waiting for GPOs or other to take effect. We don't add these changes to the golden images. Currently the Custom Script Extensions functionality definable in the Session Host Configuration only allows to define a script URL. What is the intended mechanism of authentication for this solution? Currently it seems that its only possible to use an anonymous access level Blob. Defining a token within the script URL is not great due to the fact that the URL is viewable in plain text via the Azure Portal. Neither of those will satisfy. Key vault references are used when defining credentials for domain join and local admin accounts for the Session Hosts. Would it be possible to have key vault references for CSE Storage Account Name/Key or SAS token or the possibility to define a Managed Identity instead. These can be defined when deploying the CSEs manually. Please guide me as to what the best solution would be to this topic. Many thanks in advance.
Update 'Update-AzWvdSessionHost' cmdlet
Today via the PowerShell cmdlet 'Update-AzWvdSessionHost', an administrator can assign a user to a session host without the user being assigned to the applicationgroup. This can cause some confusion to administrators if they are able to perform this task as the user will not be able to see the host in the Windows App. The suggestion would be to either put in a check which denies the assignment if the user is not associated with the applicationgroup directly or indirectly via group association. Or, update the cmdlet to also add an assignment to the application group by adding a required parameter which would assign the user to the application group. It's a small tweak but it may help with the overall stability of the Desktop.Virtualization PowerShell stack. Thanks!Fslogix. Add a command line to release the profile.
Hello. Add a command line with arguments to be able to release frozen folders in FSlogix. If you don't want to fix the problem, let me automate it myself. In large RDS installations, constant freezes and further duplication of local_%username% folders cause problems.
Azure automation feature, improvements and bugs
This is by no means meant as critic as i love the Azure Automation Account product and its current features but these are thing that i would love to see as an offering/fixed for the future. Source Control (I can only speak for Github as that is what i use): Bugs: Tags being overwritten / removed by source controll both on full sync but also on incremential syncs (Already reported in case #2508010040002105) Features: Runbooks in source control is not being deleted in automation account when they have been deleted in source control. Support for diffrent sync types other than PowerShell 5.1 (Personally we will not consider upgrading to a newer version before there is source control implemented) Support for syncing the full repository instead of only a specific folder. So recursive source control for easier organisation in repositories I know we can setup multiple source control in azure automation but that seems a bit redundant and more maintance as the source control integration expires after 1 year does not matter if your PAT token is set to never expires Add support for syncing synopsis / description for at least PowerShell scripts so it grabs it directly from the given script and inputs it into the description field. Just the output of get-help .\ScriptName.ps1 Logging: Bugs: From time to time we see that logs is being displayed twice after each other so lets say you get the first result of logs. For this example lets say the first 10 entries in the All log page and scroll down further then the same 10 entries are repeated again and again and again this can also be seen by the time stamp of the log entry. (No new network requests for logs is being made so i believe this might be a bug in a javascript without being 100% certain) The most often time we see this bug is when a runbook is still running so it might be the log output stream that messes this up. And just to provide a picture for refrence without exposing anything sensitive the bug can be seen based on timestamps here: PowerShell 7 and above log outputs seems to contain some non escaped ASCI characters which makes the logs harder to read and also makes a log object being split into multiple log entries in Azure automation Log outputs Seems to have been fixed since i last tested Features: Searching for a specific job id in the general job list. Currently there is a work arround by going into a specific runbook - go to jobs - Press "Find job" and then you can lookup a jobid globally but the UI is not being updated correctly as displayed here: Would love to see a button here or be able to search for a jobid Formatting log outputs so you can do multi line output in a single log output entry E.G. "Write-output "New´r´nLine" So the output entry contains multiple lines for easier human readable log outputs Runbook page: Bugs: Searching for runbook names seems a bit buggy as far as i have seen there is 3 diffrent results for the end user Base image intialy looking at all runbooks One option is that it is not able to find a runbook with that name I have not been able to replicate it to get a picture of it. Another is that it displays a list of runbooks none of which matches what you searched for Third is that when you have searched for something and remove your search it does not return the original view Features: Ability to go to a previous job and re-run it/restart it with the same parameters. Think a bit like the way you can restart a github action run Scheduling: Features: More of a feature request but adding the schedule for a runbook directly in the code is awesome. (This is something we currently do by adding a parameter that contains the scheduling information then we have a runbook going over all our runbooks every hour and looking for this parameter and then constructing a schedule if it does not exist and links the runbook to the schedule and finally we also add a tag mentioning If the schedule name is enabled or not (*back to the issue in source control removing the tag*)) Hybrid workers: Features: I personally would love the ability to pause a hybrid worker in a hybrid worker group - Why? - Well we currently have 4 hybrid workers all running windows and have monthly patch windows and if a job hits a hybrid worker that is in patch then the jobs would go into a suspended state and not be picked up again Now we could remove the hybrid worker from the group but that would also remove the extension which would be reinstalled when added and then we would hit this https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/automation/troubleshoot/extension-based-hybrid-runbook-worker#scenario-runbooks-go-into-a-suspended-state-on-a-hybrid-runbook-worker-when-using-a-custom-account-on-a-server-with-user-account-control-uac-enabled This is an issue we originally started experiencing when we migrated from agent-based hybrid workers to extension based due to the discontinuation of agent-based. Another great reason is when needing to troubleshoot something on a specific hybrid worker or even when needing to update modules on a specific hybrid worker as this can not be done while the hybrid worker is still running jobs unless you use force or hit a time that it is not running or by manually stopping the service and then again end up with suspended jobs that is not being picked up again. Additional features that i personally would love to see as an offering: A front end for azure automation for end users (Think self-service portal) as some kind of add-on feature allowing a specific group of people to start a given runbook but supplying a more user friendly front end for it while also including some more limitations for end user groupings. I know there is already third party solutions for this and tbh I almost created one my self on my last maternity leave but my company chose not to pursue it further as the statement is we have 1 self service platform being servicenow can be viewed https://github.com/Mynster9361/Self-Service-Frontend-Azure-Automation just to give some inspiration if needed RBAC permissions for individual runbooks (as far as i remember this can already be done through cli) A General overview management blade for managing webhooks and the associated runbooks Currently there is no way to know which runbooks has an active / inactive webhook assigned to them as the only way to see this is by going to a runbook go to the webhooks blade and look if there is one or not. Personally i would love to see a blade on the general overview called "Webhooks" that looks similar to this table maybe: RunbookNameExpirationLast triggeredStatusRunbook1 (Clickable to get directly to the runbook)Custom_name_for_this webhook02/01/2022 16:00 EnabledRunbook2webhook211/11/2026 16:00TodayDisabledRunbook3webhook311/11/2027 16:00TodayEnabled Instead of webhook being a gentleman agreemnet on when you can enable and when you shouldn't enable and naming and such you have 1 general overview of all webhooks which would give value in regards to security and easier management of webhooks The things i see as most critical or highest on my wish list: To list 2 things i would like to see sooner rather than later Source control definitely needs to be updated/revamped so it both supports other languages/versions and also does not remove tags. Another thing that would be nice to have is to force it to follow source control so if i delete something that is in source control it is also deleted in azure automation Hybrid workers in maintenance mode so it completes running jobs and you are able to work on the hybrid worker whether it be bugs or just regular updates.
Expose AVD registration status on Azure VM objects
In enterprise environments, it's difficult to determine whether a VM is successfully registered with Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) without querying the host pool or relying on indirect signals. Please consider surfacing the AVD registration status (e.g., Registered, Not Registered, Pending) directly on the Azure VM object, accessible via: Azure Portal Azure Resource Graph Azure PowerShell / CLI REST API This would simplify automation, monitoring, and remediation workflows across large-scale deployments. Thanks for considering this! VuAVD Hibernate on Azure Local
We're working to deploy AVD on Azure Local to improve performance of our apps. We have a set of users that work infrequently, but have a need to keep their session persistent between "Shifts". In a personal host pool setup, we're finding our current options cost prohibitive with the avd management costs for azure local based deployments. A solution that would allow hibernating the VMs during periods of inactivity would be the best case for our needs.
Need insight to domain join failures for session host configuration
We are trying to use the session host configuration for a new AVD host pool. We have confirmed that it can join computer to the specified OU without difficulty when we do it manually, and that the key vault access is intact since the local admin is created without issue. But any new session hosts fail to join to the domain. They're created with all other specifications. If we try to add them manually it seems to create some kind of instability in the FSLogix where it will then permanently hang for users when trying to log off. It would be good if we had insight to the domain join failures so we don't have to manually join them. In the deployment I can see the network, the VM, and a DSC, but that DSC is only for joining to the AVD Host pool. I don't see anything in it to join using the key vault credentials.Integrate AVD Session Launch at the Windows Login Screen (Similar to Windows 365 Boot)
I propose that Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) be integrated directly into the Windows login process, similar to how Windows 365 Boot operates. Currently, users must first log in locally and then manually start the AVD client. By enabling AVD to launch as part of the initial login (with Single Sign-On support), the transition from the local environment to the cloud-hosted desktop would become seamless, mirroring the convenience provided by Windows 365 Boot. (https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-365/enterprise/windows-365-boot-overview) Benefits: Enhanced User Experience: Users would access their AVD session immediately after logging in, streamlining their workflow. Simplified Process: Eliminates the need for additional login steps or manual client launches, reducing complexity and potential errors. Efficiency Gains: Particularly beneficial for thin clients and shared environments, this integration would lead to a more efficient deployment and use of resources.
