Azure Virtual Desktop Host Pool Builder

ComputeAzure

Build AVD host pool configs with session host templates, scaling plans, application groups, domain join, and RDP properties.

Azure Virtual Desktop Configuration

Build AVD host pool configs with session host templates, scaling plans, application groups, domain join, and custom RDP properties.

Required Fields

hostPoolNameresourceGrouphostPoolTypeloadBalancerTypemaxSessionLimitsessionHosts.vmTemplate.vmSizesessionHosts.vmTemplate.numberOfVMs

{
  "hostPoolName": "hp-contoso-engineering",
  "resourceGroup": "rg-avd",
  "location": "eastus2",
  "hostPoolType": "Pooled",
  "loadBalancerType": "BreadthFirst",
  "maxSessionLimit": 12,
  "preferredAppGroupType": "Desktop",
  "validationEnvironment": false,
  "startVMOnConnect": true,
  "customRdpProperties": "audiocapturemode:i:1;camerastoredirect:s:*;encode redirected video capture:i:1;redirectsmartcards:i:0;devicestoredirect:s:;drivestoredirect:s:;redirectclipboard:i:1;redirectprinters:i:0;use multimon:i:1;screen mode id:i:2",
  "registrationInfo": {
    "registrationTokenOperation": "Update",
    "expirationTime": "2026-04-14T00:00:00Z"
  },
  "agentUpdate": {
    "type": "Scheduled",
    "maintenanceWindowTimeZone": "Eastern Standard Time",
    "maintenanceWindows": [
      {
        "dayOfWeek": "Sunday",
        "hour": 2
      }
    ],
    "useSessionHostLocalTime": false
  },
  "sessionHosts": {
    "vmTemplate": {
      "vmSize": "Standard_D4s_v5",
      "imageReference": {
        "publisher": "microsoftwindowsdesktop",
        "offer": "office-365",
        "sku": "win11-23h2-avd-m365",
        "version": "latest"
      },
      "osDisk": {
        "managedDiskType": "Premium_LRS",
        "sizeGB": 128
      },
      "numberOfVMs": 6,
      "namePrefix": "sh-eng",
      "availabilityZones": ["1", "2", "3"]
    },
    "networkProfile": {
      "subnetId": "/subscriptions/a1b2c3d4/resourceGroups/rg-networking/providers/Microsoft.Network/virtualNetworks/vnet-avd/subnets/snet-session-hosts"
    },
    "domainJoinConfiguration": {
      "joinType": "AzureADJoin",
      "intuneMdmEnroll": true
    }
  },
  "applicationGroups": [
    {
      "name": "ag-desktop-engineering",
      "applicationGroupType": "Desktop",
      "friendlyName": "Engineering Desktop",
      "assignedUsers": ["grp-avd-engineering@contoso.com"]
    },
    {
      "name": "ag-remoteapp-devtools",
      "applicationGroupType": "RemoteApp",
      "applications": [
        { "applicationName": "Visual Studio Code", "filePath": "C:\\Program Files\\Microsoft VS Code\\Code.exe" },
        { "applicationName": "Terminal", "filePath": "C:\\Windows\\System32\\wt.exe" }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "scalingPlan": {
    "name": "sp-engineering-weekday",
    "timeZone": "Eastern Standard Time",
    "schedules": [
      {
        "name": "Weekday",
        "daysOfWeek": ["Monday", "Tuesday", "Wednesday", "Thursday", "Friday"],
        "rampUpStartTime": "07:00",
        "rampUpLoadBalancingAlgorithm": "BreadthFirst",
        "rampUpMinimumHostsPct": 50,
        "peakStartTime": "09:00",
        "peakLoadBalancingAlgorithm": "DepthFirst",
        "rampDownStartTime": "18:00",
        "rampDownLoadBalancingAlgorithm": "DepthFirst",
        "rampDownMinimumHostsPct": 10,
        "offPeakStartTime": "22:00",
        "offPeakLoadBalancingAlgorithm": "DepthFirst"
      }
    ]
  }
}

Generated Output

Output will appear here...

Overview

Build AVD host pool configs with session host templates, scaling plans, application groups, domain join, and RDP properties. This tool helps Azure engineers generate valid configurations quickly without consulting documentation, reducing errors and accelerating infrastructure deployment. All processing runs in your browser with no data sent to external servers.

How Engineers Use This

•Producing a Virtual Desktop Host Pool starting point for a new service that follows the Azure reference architecture rather than copy-paste from another team's repo.
•Drafting a Virtual Desktop Host Pool change for an Azure Bicep or Terraform module before raising the pull request, so reviewers can see intent in plain text.
•Sketching a Virtual Desktop Host Pool migration from one Azure subscription to another with subscription and resource-group differences called out.
•Building a Virtual Desktop Host Pool reference implementation for a partner integration where you cannot rely on their portal access.

Questions & Answers

Can I use this Virtual Desktop Host Pool builder for Azure Government or sovereign clouds?

Most Virtual Desktop Host Pool primitives behave the same across commercial, Government, and other sovereign Azure clouds, but the endpoints, available regions, and a handful of services differ. The output is portable in terms of resource shape; you must verify service availability and adjust endpoints when targeting a sovereign cloud.

Will the output of this Virtual Desktop Host Pool builder pass `az deployment validate` or `terraform validate`?

It produces structurally valid output for the Azure schemas it supports. We still recommend running provider validation locally before applying — schemas evolve and a recently-released property may not yet be reflected. When validation does fail, the error message points at the exact attribute the schema rejected.

Related Learning Guides

Azure VM Series Guide22 min read

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Disclaimer: This tool runs entirely in your browser. No data is sent to our servers. Always verify outputs before using them in production. AWS, Azure, and GCP are trademarks of their respective owners.