This post has been republished via RSS; it originally appeared at: New blog articles in Microsoft Tech Community.
Would you like to have the Remote Desktop for Windows client automatically log into your Windows 365 environment to start a Windows 365 Cloud PC session? In this post, I show you how to auto-register Azure AD accounts into the Remote Desktop for Windows client without any user interaction! I also provide information on how you can configure Kiosk mode to make your endpoints purpose-built as lightweight endpoints for frontline workers or other scenarios. Let’s get started!
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Note: The following settings work on both Windows 10 and Windows 11 devices managed via Microsoft Endpoint Manager. You can find more information about which operating systems are is supported in our Policy CSP documentation. |
Configure settings in Microsoft Endpoint Manager
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Note: Before you begin, make sure you deploy the latest Remote Desktop client for Windows 365 on the managed endpoint as a Win32 application. For more information, see Prepare Win32 app content for upload. |
To enable this simplified way of logging in, you'll need to utilize the settings catalog in Microsoft Endpoint Manager. After signing in to the Microsoft Endpoint Manager admin center, navigate to Devices > Configuration profiles.
Create a new profile for Windows 10 and later. Select Settings catalog (preview) as the profile type.
Enter a descriptive name for your configuration profile; for example, Auto-subscribe Remote Desktop client and a description if desired, then select Next.
In Configuration settings, select Add settings to open the settings catalog.
Search for "Remote Desktop" to bring up a list of Remote Desktop settings. Select the option for Remote Desktop and check the box next to Auto-subscription (User).
Select Add and enter the following URL: https://rdweb.wvd.microsoft.com/api/arm/feeddiscovery.
Configure the right assignment settings for your use case—for example, based on Azure AD Groups—and complete the configuration and deploy the settings to your endpoints.
In the Devices menu, you can find the new device configuration profile and the status of the enrolment.
Once enrolled, when the user selects the Remote Desktop client, they will no longer be asked to log on with their Azure AD credentials. Instead their account will automatically be registered with the Remote Desktop client.
Does this work with Windows Hello?
Windows Hello works in this flow. We’re working on improving and adding single sign-on (SSO) support to the flow after the user selects the Cloud PC. More news soon on this.
How to configure the Remote Desktop client in Kiosk Mode
The above scenario is great, but what about generating a purpose-built endpoint with Microsoft Endpoint Manager, Windows Autopilot, and Windows 365 that you can use as thin client or kiosk experience?
Within Windows Autopilot, you can configure a multi-app Kiosk or thin client that only populates with the Remote Desktop client. The full configuration and enrollment happen without user interaction. When the client is done, the end user only has to log on with their Azure AD credentials to get access to their cloud PC!
Simply select the device configuration profile assigned to your endpoint. From there, you can configure the Remote Desktop client, Win32, or Store application to automatically launch and create a great experience for the user.
Combining the power of Windows 365 Cloud PC and the capabilities of Microsoft Endpoint Manager are great. If you want to learn more about Windows 365 and Microsoft Endpoint Manager, see Managing Cloud PCs with Microsoft Intune.