Step 1: Check and install the Agent

This step only appears if an on-premises Provider is used. It will not appear for Azure Virtual Desktop and cloud providers.

In this step, the wizard will check if the selected VM has the RAS Guest Agent installed. Wait for it to finish and then examine the Status field (closer to the bottom of the page). Depending on the result, do one of the following:

• If the agent is installed, click Next to continue. You may stop reading here and jump to Step 2: Configure the template.

• If the agent is not installed, you need to install it as described below.

To install the agent, first click the Customize Guest Agent deployment settings link and specify the options in the dialog that opens. None of the options are forced, so you can select or clear them depending on your needs. Note that depending on the template type, the options are different, as described below.

Virtual desktop:

• Add firewall rules: Automatically configure firewall rules in the host.

• Allow remote desktop connections: Select to automatically configure remote desktop access in the VM.

• Specify users or groups to be added to the Remote Desktop Users group: Select this option and then click the [+] icon to add specific users to the group.

RD Session Host:

• Add firewall rules: Automatically configure firewall rules in the host.

• Note: Network Discovery UDP port 137 must be enabled for a domain firewall profile in the guest OS as a separate step. This can be done via domain group policies or manually in the guest OS.

• Install RDS role: Install the RDS role in the host.

• Enable Desktop Experience: Enable the Desktop Experience feature in Windows.

• Restart server if required: Restart the VM if required.

• Specify users or groups to be added to the Remote Desktop Users group: Select this option and then click the [+] icon to add specific users to the group.

When done specifying the options, click OK to close the dialog.

Now click the Install button and follow the onscreen instructions to install the agent software.

Hint: If the host cannot be reached by its name specified as hostname, double-click the host name and change it to the correct IP address.

Once done, verify that the agent is installed by looking at the Status field on the Check Agent wizard page. If so, continue to the next section that describes Step 2: Configure the template.