Monitor and manage active sessions and application groups

Azure Virtual Desktop (formerly known as Windows Virtual Desktop) is a powerful cloud-based solution that allows organizations to virtualize and deploy Windows desktops and applications on Azure. As an administrator, it is crucial to monitor and manage the active sessions and application groups in Azure Virtual Desktop to ensure smooth operations and optimize resource utilization.

Monitoring Active Sessions:

1. Azure Virtual Desktop Diagnostics: Azure Virtual Desktop provides built-in diagnostics that help monitor session performance, identify issues, and troubleshoot problems. These diagnostics include session selection diagnostics, session performance diagnostics, RDP bandwidth diagnostics, and more. You can access these diagnostics through the Azure portal or by using PowerShell commands.

2. Azure Monitor: Azure Monitor provides comprehensive monitoring capabilities for Azure resources, including Azure Virtual Desktop. It allows you to collect, analyze, and act on telemetry data from Azure Virtual Desktop. You can set up alerts and notifications based on specific metrics and thresholds to proactively detect and respond to issues.

3. Log Analytics: Log Analytics is a part of Azure Monitor that helps you collect, analyze, and visualize log and performance data from various sources, including Azure Virtual Desktop. By configuring Log Analytics workspaces and connecting them to Azure Virtual Desktop, you can gain insights into session information, resource utilization, and performance metrics.

Managing Active Sessions:

1. Session Management in Azure portal: The Azure portal provides a user-friendly interface to manage active sessions in Azure Virtual Desktop. It allows you to view active user sessions, disconnect or sign off users, shadow user sessions for troubleshooting, and perform administrative tasks such as resetting sessions or sending messages to connected users.

2. PowerShell commands: Azure Virtual Desktop provides a rich set of PowerShell cmdlets to manage active sessions. You can use PowerShell commands to query and manage active user sessions, disconnect or log off users, send messages to users, or perform administrative tasks such as restarting or resetting sessions.

Managing Application Groups:

1. Azure portal: Application groups in Azure Virtual Desktop allow you to publish and manage collections of desktop applications for specific user groups. You can create, configure, and manage application groups through the Azure portal. This includes adding or removing applications, assigning users or groups to application groups, and configuring access control settings.

2. PowerShell commands: Similar to managing active sessions, PowerShell commands can be used to manage application groups in Azure Virtual Desktop. You can use PowerShell cmdlets to create, configure, and manage application groups, add or remove applications, assign users or groups, and set access control settings.

By effectively monitoring and managing active sessions and application groups in Azure Virtual Desktop, administrators can ensure optimal performance, troubleshoot issues promptly, and deliver a seamless virtual desktop experience to end-users.

Note: The code examples provided in this article are for illustrative purposes only. Please refer to the official Microsoft documentation for the latest and detailed instructions on using PowerShell cmdlets and Azure portal for monitoring and managing Azure Virtual Desktop.

# Example PowerShell commands for managing active sessions
# Connect to Azure Virtual Desktop
Add-RdsAccount -DeploymentUrl "https://rdbroker.wvd.microsoft.com"

# Send a message to a user session
Send-RdsUserSessionMessage -SessionId "GUID" -Message "Your session will be restarted in 5 minutes."

# Example PowerShell commands for managing application groups
# Connect to Azure Virtual Desktop
Add-RdsAccount -DeploymentUrl "https://rdbroker.wvd.microsoft.com"

In conclusion, monitoring and managing active sessions and application groups in Azure Virtual Desktop is essential for administrators to deliver a smooth and efficient virtual desktop experience. Utilizing tools like Azure Virtual Desktop Diagnostics, Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, and PowerShell cmdlets, administrators can effectively monitor performance, troubleshoot issues, and manage resources in Azure Virtual Desktop.