Configure a host pool as a validation environment

Article
11/07/2024

Important

This content applies to Azure Virtual Desktop with Azure Resource Manager Azure Virtual Desktop objects.

Host pools are a collection of one or more identical virtual machines within Azure Virtual Desktop environment. We highly recommend you create a validation host pool where service updates are applied first. Validation host pools let you monitor service updates before the service applies them to your standard or non-validation environment. Without a validation host pool, you may not discover changes that introduce errors, which could result in downtime for users in your standard environment.

To ensure your apps work with the latest updates, the validation host pool should be as similar to host pools in your non-validation environment as possible. Users should connect as frequently to the validation host pool as they do to the standard host pool. If you have automated testing on your host pool, you should include automated testing on the validation host pool.

You can debug issues in the validation host pool with either the diagnostics feature or the Azure Virtual Desktop troubleshooting articles.

Note

We recommend that you leave the validation host pool in place to test all future updates. Validation host pools should only be used for testing, and not in production environments.

Create your host pool

You can configure any existing pooled or personal host pool to be a validation host pool. You can also create a new host pool to use for validation by following the instructions in any of these articles:

Define your host pool as a validation environment

To use the Azure portal to configure your validation host pool:

Sign in to the Azure portal.
Search for and select Azure Virtual Desktop.
In the Azure Virtual Desktop page, select Host pools.
Select the name of the host pool you want to edit.
Select Properties.
In the validation environment field, select Yes to enable the validation environment.
Select Save to apply the new settings.

If you haven't already done so, follow the instructions in Set up the Azure Virtual Desktop PowerShell module to set up your PowerShell module and sign in to Azure.

Run the following PowerShell cmdlets to define the new host pool as a validation host pool. Replace the values in brackets with the values relevant to your session:

Update-AzWvdHostPool -ResourceGroupName <resourcegroupname> -Name <hostpoolname> -ValidationEnvironment:$true

Run the following PowerShell cmdlet to confirm that the validation property has been set. Replace the values in brackets with the values relevant to your session.

Get-AzWvdHostPool -ResourceGroupName <resourcegroupname> -Name <hostpoolname> | Format-List

The results from the cmdlet should look similar to this output:

    HostPoolName        : hostpoolname
    FriendlyName        :
    Description         :
    Persistent          : False
    CustomRdpProperty   : use multimon:i:0;
    MaxSessionLimit     : 10
    LoadBalancerType    : BreadthFirst
    ValidationEnvironment : True

If you haven't already done so, prepare your environment for the Azure CLI and sign in.

If you prefer to run CLI reference commands locally, install the Azure CLI. If you're running on Windows or macOS, consider running Azure CLI in a Docker container. For more information, see How to run the Azure CLI in a Docker container.
- If you're using a local installation, sign in to the Azure CLI by using the az login command. To finish the authentication process, follow the steps displayed in your terminal. For other sign-in options, see Sign in with the Azure CLI.
- When you're prompted, install the Azure CLI extension on first use. For more information about extensions, see Use extensions with the Azure CLI.
- Run az version to find the version and dependent libraries that are installed. To upgrade to the latest version, run az upgrade.

To define the new host pool as a validation host pool, use the az desktopvirtualization hostpool update command:

az desktopvirtualization hostpool update --name "MyHostPool" \
    --resource-group "MyResourceGroup" \
    --validation-environment true

Use the following command to confirm that the validation property has been set.

az desktopvirtualization hostpool show --name "MyHostPool" \
    --resource-group "MyResourceGroup"

Update schedule

Service updates happen monthly. If there are major issues, critical updates will be provided at a more frequent pace.

If there are any service updates, make sure you have at least a couple of users sign in each day to validate the environment. We recommend you regularly visit our TechCommunity site and follow any posts with WVDUPdate or AVDUpdate to stay informed about service updates.

Next steps

Now that you've created a validation host pool, you can learn how to use Azure Service Health to monitor your Azure Virtual Desktop deployment.

Set up service alerts

Configure a host pool as a validation environment

Create your host pool

Define your host pool as a validation environment

Update schedule

Next steps

Additional resources