By Fredrik Brattstig @virtualbrat
8 March -24
IGEL has always offered a unique simplicity to customize how the operating system behaves and enables the possibility of configuring the user interface to adopt a work style following customers’ dynamic requirements.
There is a growing demand for easy access to Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop, so what is better than a purpose-built configuration supporting this need?!
In this short demo video, IGEL OS 12 is configured to automatically load the Azure Virtual Desktop client on system boot, and it is also configured to take the local user interface back to the login screen if a user logs out or disconnects its session. This makes the configuration ideal for environments where you have users roaming around. Still, it is also a good choice for ‘1 user = 1 device’ scenarios, as accessing the Azure Virtual Desktop session assigned is very simple. Let’s look at the video first, and I’ll explain the features that I have configured. There is also a new feature that will soon be released. Can you catch it?
The video shows IGEL OS 12 booting, and instead of showing the local desktop, it immediately launches the IGEL Azure Virtual Desktop App, downloaded from the IGEL APP Portal. As you can see, I customized the desktop wallpaper and reflected the same customization to the IGEL AVD client login greeter. The user login domain is specified as ‘virtualbrat.com’ to make it easy for the users; they don’t have to type their complete ’email address’ to log in, only the username.
Then, a new feature is seen during the login process, or rather, it is not seen! IGEL figured out an excellent way to hide the Microsoft EntraID login pages. This new feature enhances the user experience, with fewer screens flying by during the login process. With that said, we also added an error-catching mechanism, so if, for instance, the username/password, or if there is a Multi-Factor Authentication required to gain access, the screens will be shown to the user to allow completion of the login process. As my user logging in only has one single published desktop, it launches automatically when the login is successful and takes the user straight to the Azure Virtual Desktop Windows 11 desktop.
Then, as the user disconnects the session, IGEL OS returns to the login screen to allow another user to sign in to access their workspace.
The ‘IGEL Boot to AVD‘ is simply a configuration item in IGEL OS and can easily be adopted to any type of virtual session, or maybe you only look for a simple Web browser kiosk station, it’s as easy to make that happen!
That’s it for today, be safe out there!
/Fred
VirtualBrat 