Apps in the workplace

Workplace apps have become part of the norm – pair that with the new world of remote work and you’re looking at non-centralized workplaces that are synchronizing their tasks, workflow, and information through apps.

With this new work system culture, you’ll likely want to take advantage of Azure’s app group feature. This guide will walk you through how to install Azure Virtual Desktop applications into manageable, customizable groups.

What are app groups?

Application groups, or app groups, are an assortment of remote applications that you can choose to be shared with Azure Virtual Desktop.

In Azure, there are two different types of application groups: Desktop, where you allow users access to the full desktop, and RemoteApp, where you can pick and choose specific apps to be made available to the app group.

Take note that desktop app groups are available with pooled or personal host pools, while RemoteApp is only available for pooled host pools.

Keep reading to learn how to install Azure Virtual Desktop applications and RemoteApps.

Before we get started

For instructions on how to install Azure Virtual Desktop applications, skip to the section, “How to Set Up the Application Group”. If you want to make sure you fully understand the intricacies of using remote applications in Azure, check out the notes below:

• Users must be assigned to an app group before they’re able to access RemoteApps.
• Users can only have one active user session running at any given time, so make sure that each user is only assigned to either the RemoteApp or Desktop app group. However, you can choose to assign a user to multiple app groups as long as they’re in the same host pool.
• AVD will automatically create a desktop app group each time you create a host pool. This default group is called ‘Default Desktop’, and can be safely deleted.
• Lastly, if you set your app group type value to RemoteApp, users will only be able to access the RemoteApps.

For more information, click here.

How to assign a user to the app group

Before you learn how to install Azure Virtual Desktop applications, here are instructions on how to give a user access to an app group:

1. Go to Azure Virtual Desktop -> Application Groups
2. Select the DAG or RemoteApp -> Click on the Assignments tab
3. Add the desired users/groups

How to set up the application group

1. Navigate to Azure Virtual Desktop Host Pool -> Manage – Application Groups -> Add
2. Under Application Group type, select Remote App (RAIL)
3. Give your application group a name
4. Click on the Applications tab

5. Click on ‘Add applications’

Note: Application source will depend on the app you want to publish. The Start menu will offer you some of Windows’ built-in apps, but in most cases, we will use the File path. In this example, I will configure the Powershell Console to act as the medium for utilizing the NA Ruby script.

6. Application path – C:WindowsSystem32WindowsPowerShellv1.0powershell.exe
7. The Icon Path will be the same as the Application path (in this example).
8. To get the Powershell console to open in the custom (Ruby script) directory, click ‘Yes’ to the Require command line.
9. In the command line, hit enter.
10. –noexit -command “Set-Location C:rubyNARubyScript“
11. Click ‘Save’

Note: You can repeat these steps for any other applications that you want to add to the app group.

12. When you’re done with adding apps, switch to the Assignments.

13. On the Assignments tab, add target users/groups if they are already pre-created. If not, you can always do it later.

14. Switch to the Workspace tab
15. Select ‘Yes’ to Register Application group
16. In our case, we already had the DAG registered to a workspace, so this application group has to be registered to the same workspace (you can have only one workspace per host pool).
17. If you need to add tags, add them now. Otherwise, you can review and create this application group.

You are ready to interact with your published app!

How to Install Azure Virtual Desktop Applications Summary

App groups are a great way to provide your employees with customized access to their usual workplace apps. In this article, we covered how to install Azure Virtual Desktop applications, set up an app group, and how to assign users to those groups. As always, if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out!