Lab: Implementing RDS in Windows Server

You have been asked to configure a basic Remote Desktop Services (RDS) environment as the starting point for the new infrastructure that will host the sales application. You would like to deploy RDS services, perform initial configuration, and demonstrate to the delivery team how to connect to an RDS deployment.

You are evaluating whether to use user profile disks for storing user profiles and making the disks available on all servers in the collection. A coworker reminded you that users often store unnecessary files in their profiles, and you need to explore how to exclude such data from the profile and set a limit on the profile size.

As the sales application will publish on the RD Web Access site, you also have to learn how to configure and access RemoteApp programs from the Remote Desktop Web Access (RD Web Access) portal.

You been tasked with creating a proof of concept (POC) for a virtual machine (VM)—based session deployment of Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI). You will create a virtual desktop template on a preexisting Microsoft Hyper-V VM manually with a few optimizations.

After completing this lab, you’ll be able to:

• Implement RDS
• Configure session collection settings and use RDS
• Configure virtual desktop template

Estimated Time: 90 minutes

For this lab, you’ll use the following VMs:

• WS-011T00A-SEA-DC1
• WS-011T00A-SEA-RDS1
• WS-011T00A-SEA-CL1

User Name: Contoso\Administrator

Password: Pa55w.rd

Sign in to WS-011T00A-SEA-DC1 and WS-011T00A-SEA-RDS1 by using the following credentials:

• User name: Administrator
• Password: Pa55w.rd
• Domain: Contoso

Sign in to WS-011T00A-SEA-CL1 by using the following credentials:

• User name: Jane
• Password: Pa55w.rd
• Domain: Contoso

In this exercise, you will learn how to install RDS using Windows PowerShell and Server Manager. You will create a session collection using Windows PowerShell, and then change various collection settings. You will configure User Profile Disk using both Windows PowerShell and graphical user interfaces (GUIs), and connect to a Remote Desktop Session Host (RD Session Host) using the Remote Desktop Web (RD Web) portal. You will conclude the exercise by verify that a User Profile Disk has been created for a user.

The main tasks for this exercise are as follows:

1. Install RDS.
2. Create a session collection.
3. Configure the session collection properties.
4. Connect to the session collection from the RD Web portal

1. On SEA-RDS1, open Server Manager, and then select Manage.
2. Select Add Roles and Features, and in the Add Roles and Features Wizard, select Next.
3. On the Select installation type page, select Remote Desktop Services installation, and then select Next.
4. On the Select deployment type page, select Next.

NOTE: Even though, we could have selected the Quick Start deployment option and have all three required RDS role services installed on SEA-RDS1, you selected the Standard deployment option to practice selecting different servers for the RDS role services. Furthermore, the Quick Start deployment option will create a collection named QuickSessionCollection and publish the following RemoteApp Programs: Calculator, Paint, and WordPad.

4. On the Select deployment scenario page, select Session-based desktop deployment, and then select Next.
5. On the Review role services page, select Next.
6. On the Specify RD Connection Broker server page, in the Server Pool section, select SEA-RDS1.Contoso.com, and then select Next.
7. On the Specify RD Web Access server page, in the Server Pool section, select SEA-RDS1.Contoso.com and then select Next.
8. On the Specify RD Session Host servers page, in the Server Pool section, select SEA-RDS1.Contoso.com, and then select Next.
9. On the Confirm selections page, select Cancel.

NOTE: We will now do the actual installation of RDS using Windows PowerShell. The previous steps were included to demonstrate how to install RDS using Server Manager.

1. Switch to SEA-DC1.
2. In the Administrator: C:\Windows\system32\cmd.exe command prompt window, enter the following command, and then select Enter:
   powershell
3. In the command prompt window, enter the following command, and then select Enter:
   $SVR="SEA-RDS1.contoso.com"
4. In the command prompt window, enter the following command, and then select Enter:
   New-RDSessionDeployment -ConnectionBroker $SVR -WebAccessServer $SVR -SessionHost $SVR
5. Wait for the installation to complete, which will take approximately 5 minutes, and then wait as SEA-RDS1 restarts automatically.
6. Switch to SEA-RDS1, and sign in as Contoso\Administrator with the password Pa55w.rd.
7. Open Server Manager, and wait for it to refresh.
8. In Server Manager, select Remote Desktop Services.

NOTE: RDS in Windows Server supports two types of Session Collections on a single RD Session Host: an RD Session Collection, or a RemoteApp Session Collection. You cannot run both session collection types on the same RD Session Host by default. Therefore, when you’re doing this exercise, you will first create an RD Session Host collection and verify that it works and then create a RemoteApp Session collection and verify that as well.

1. On SEA-RDS1, on the Remote Desktop Service Overview page, select Collections.
2. Under COLLECTIONS, select TASKS, and then select Create Session Collection. You might need to scroll to access this option.
3. On the Before you begin page, select Next.
4. On the Name the collection page, in the Name field, enter IT, and then select Next.
5. On the Specify RD Session Host servers page, in the Server Pool section, select SEA-RDS1.Contoso.com, and then select Next.
6. On the Specify user groups page, remove CONTOSO\Domain Users, and then select Add. Add the CONTOSO\IT group and then select OK. Verify that CONTOSO\IT is listed under User Groups, and then select Next.
7. On the Specify user profile disks page, clear the Enable user profile disks check box, and then select Next.
8. On the Confirm selections page, select Cancel.
9. When prompted, select Yes.
10. Minimize Server Manager.

NOTE: We will now create and configure the session collection using Windows PowerShell. The previous steps were included to demonstrate how to create a session collection using Server Manager.

1. On SEA-RDS1, open Windows PowerShell.
2. At the command prompt, enter the following command, and then select Enter:
   New-RDSessionCollection –CollectionName IT –SessionHost SEA-RDS1.Contoso.com –CollectionDescription “This Collection is for the IT department in Contoso” –ConnectionBroker SEA-RDS1.Contoso.com
3. Wait for the command to complete, which will take approximately 1 minute.
4. Maximize Server Manager, and then select Overview.
5. Refresh Server Manager by selecting the F5 key.
6. In Server Manager, select Collections, and verify that a collection named IT is in the details pane.

1. On SEA-RDS1, select the IT collection. Next to PROPERTIES, select TASKS, and then select Edit Properties.

2. On the Session Collection page, select the various settings and notice how the collection is configured.

3. select Client Settings, and verify that Audio and video playback and Audio recording is enabled.

4. select User Profile Disks, and verify that User Profiles Disks is not enabled.

5. In the IT Properties dialog box, select Cancel.

6. Minimize Server Manager.

7. In the Windows PowerShell window, enter the following command, and then select Enter:
   Get-RDSessionCollectionConfiguration –CollectionName IT –Client | Format-List

8. Examine the output and notice that next to ClientDeviceRedirectionOptions, the following entries are listed:

   • AudioVideoPlayBack
   • AudioRecording
   • PlugAndPlayDevice
   • SmartCard
   • Clipboard
   • LPTPort
   • Drive

9. In the WindowsPowerShell window, enter the following command, and then select Enter:
   Set-RDSessionCollectionConfiguration –CollectionName IT –ClientDeviceRedirectionOptions PlugAndPlayDevice, SmartCard,Clipboard,LPTPort,Drive

10. In the WindowsPowerShell window, enter the following command, and then select Enter:
    Get-RDSessionCollectionConfiguration –CollectionName IT –Client | Format-List

11. Examine the output and notice that next to ClientDeviceRedirectionOptions, only the following entries are listed now:

    • PlugAndPlayDevice
    • SmartCard
    • Clipboard
    • LPTPort
    • Drive

1. Switch to SEA-DC1, and in the command prompt window, enter the following commands, one line at a time, and then select Enter:

• New-Item C:\RDSUserProfiles -itemtype directory
• New-SMBShare –Name “RDSUserProfiles” –Path “C:\RDSUserProfiles” –FullAccess "Contoso\SEA-RDS1$", "Contoso\administrator"
• $acl = Get-Acl C:\RDSUserProfiles
• $AccessRule = New-Object System.Security.AccessControl.FileSystemAccessRule("Contoso\SEA-RDS1$","FullControl","Allow")
• $acl.SetAccessRule($AccessRule)
• $acl | Set-Acl C:\RDSUserProfiles

2. Verify that each command executes successfully.
3. Switch to SEA-RDS1, and select the IT collection.
4. Next to **PROPERTIES, select TASKS, and then select Edit Properties.
5. On the Session Collection page, select User Profile Disks, and then select Enable user profile disks.
6. In the Location field, enter \\SEA-DC1\RDSUserProfiles. In the Maximum size (in GB), enter 10, and then select OK.

1. On SEA-CL1, Open Microsoft Edge.
2. In Microsoft Edge, browse to https://SEA-RDS1.Contoso.com/rdweb.
3. On the This site is not secure page, select Details, and then select Go on to the webpage.

NOTE: This page opens because RD Web is using a self-signed certificate that is not trusted by the client. In a real production deployment, you would use trusted certificates.

4. On the RD Web Access page, sign-in using contoso\jane as the user name, and password as Password. If prompted by Microsoft Edge to save the password, select Never.
5. On the RD Web Access page, under Current folder: /, select IT, and when prompted, select Open.
6. In the Remote Desktop Connection dialog box, select Connect.

NOTE: This prompts the Unknown publisher pop up window because certificates for RDS have not yet been configured.

7. In the Windows Security dialog box, use Pa55w.rd as the password, and then select Enter.
8. After the connection completes, on SEA-RDS1, sign out of the session.
9. Sign out of the RD Web portal and close Microsoft Edge.

1. Switch to SEA-DC1, and in the command prompt window, enter the following command, and then select Enter:
   cd\
2. Enter the following command, and then select Enter:
   cd RDSUserProfiles
3. Enter the following command, and then select Enter:
   dir
4. Examine the contents of the RDSUserProfiles folder. Verify that there is a .vhdx file with an SID (a long string that starts with S-1-5-21) in its name.

In this exercise, you will explore how to add RemoteApp Programs to RDS using both Server Manager and Windows PowerShell. You will then run a RemoteApp Program from the RD Web portal.

The main tasks for this exercise are as follows:

1. Create and configure a RemoteApp collection using Server Manager
2. Create and configure a RemoteApp program using Windows PowerShell.
3. Run RemoteApp from RD Web portal.

1. Switch to SEA-RDS1.
2. In Server Manager, next to REMOTEAPP PROGRAMS, select TASKS, and then select Publish RemoteApp Programs.
3. On the Select RemoteApp programs page, select WordPad from the list, and then select Next.
4. On the Confirmation page, select Publish, and then wait for the RemoteApp to be published.
5. Verify that WordPad is listed in the details pane under RemoteApp Program, and then select Close.

1. ON SEA-RDS1, right-click or access the context menu for Start, and then select Windows PowerShell.
2. At the Windows PowerShell command prompt, enter the following command, and then select Enter:
   New-RDRemoteApp -Alias Paint -DisplayName Paint -FilePath "C:\Windows\system32\mspaint.exe" -ShowInWebAccess 1 -collectionname IT -ConnectionBroker SEA-RDS1.Contoso.com
3. Enter the following command, and then select Enter:
   Get-RDRemoteApp -CollectionName IT
4. Examine the output of the command. Notice that you will get a list of all published RemoteApp Programs.
5. Maximize Server Manager, and then select Overview.
6. Refresh Server Manager by selecting F5.
7. In Server Manager, select the IT collection and verify that Paint is listed in the details pane under REMOTEAPP PROGRAMS.

1. On SEA-CL1, open Microsoft Edge, and brwose to https://SEA-RDS1.Contoso.com/rdweb.
2. On the This site is not secure page, select Details, and then select Go on to the webpage.

NOTE: This page opens because RD Web is using a self-signed certificate that is not trusted by the client. In a real production deployment, you would use trusted certificates.

3. On the RD Web Access page, sign-in as contoso\jane using Pa55w.rd as the password.
4. On the RD Web Access page, run Paint, and when prompted, select Open.
5. In the Remote Desktop Connection dialog box, select Connect.

NOTE: The Unknown publisher pop-up window displays because you have not yet configured certificates for RDS.

6. In the Windows Security dialog box, use Pa55w.rd as the password.
7. Wait for the Paint RemoteApp program to start, and then test its functionality.
8. Close Paint.
9. Back in the RD Web portal**RD Web, sign out.
10. Close Microsoft Edge.

In this exercise, you will explore how to manually configure a virtual desktop template. The Hyper-V VM, you are using has already been created.

The main tasks for this exercise are as follows:

1. Verify the operating system (OS) version.
2. Disable unnecessary services.
3. Disable unnecessary scheduled tasks.
4. Prepare the virtual desktop template by using System Preparation Tool (Sysprep).

1. On SEA-CL1, sign in as .\Admin with the password Pa55w.rd.
2. On SEA-CL1, and then open About your pc.
3. In the Settings app, on the About screen, verify the following information:

• The Windows operating system edition is Windows 10 Enterprise
• The System type is 64-bit OS

4. Close the Settings app.

1. On SEA-CL1, and then open Services.
2. In the Services window, right-click or access the context menu for Background Intelligent Transfer Service.
3. In the Background Intelligent Transfer Service Properties (Local Computer) dialog box, on the General tab, select Stop.
4. In the Startup type box, select Disabled, and then select OK.
5. Repeat steps 2 through 4 for the following services:

• Diagnostic Policy Service
• Shell Hardware Detection
• Volume Shadow Copy
• Windows Search

5. Close the Services window.

1. On SEA-CL1, and then open Task Scheduler.
2. In Task Scheduler, expand Task Scheduler Library, expand Microsoft, expand Windows, and then select Defrag.
3. Disable ScheduledDefrag, and then close the Task Scheduler window.

1. On SEA-CL1, browse to C:\Windows\System32\Sysprep, and then run sysprep.exe.
2. In the System Preparation tool 3.14 dialog box, in the System Cleanup Action box, select Enter System Out-of-Box Experience (OOBE), and then select the Generalize check box.
3. In the Shutdown Options box, select Shutdown, and then select OK.
4. Wait while Sysprep completes and shuts down the VM.

After completing this exercise, you will have prepared a Hyper-V VM to be a virtual desktop template.