<UserAccount> Properties: Personal Virtual Desktop Tab

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Applies To: Windows Server 2008 R2

You can assign a user in Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) a specific virtual machine to use as a personal virtual desktop, which the user can then access by using RemoteApp and Desktop Connection.

The following are important considerations when assigning a personal virtual desktop to a user in AD DS:

  • The user and the virtual machine must both be members of an Active Directory domain.

  • A user can be assigned only one personal virtual desktop at a time.

  • A computer can be assigned as a personal virtual desktop to only one user at a time.

  • The functional level of your Active Directory domain must be at least Windows Server 2008.

  • You must use the Active Directory Users and Computers tool from Windows Server 2008 R2.

To make personal virtual desktops available to users, you must use the Remote Desktop Connection Manager tool on the Remote Desktop Connection Broker (RD Connection Broker) server. For more information, see the Remote Desktop Connection Manager Help in Windows Server 2008 R2.

Use the following procedure to assign a personal virtual desktop to a user in AD DS.

Membership in the Account Operators group, or equivalent, is the minimum required to configure the properties of most domain user accounts. In some cases, membership in the Domain Admins group, or equivalent, is the minimum required. Review details about using the appropriate accounts and group memberships at https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=83477.

To assign a personal virtual desktop to a user in AD DS

  1. Open Active Directory Users and Computers. To open Active Directory Users and Computers, log on to a computer where Active Directory Users and Computers has been installed (for example, on an Active Directory domain controller), click Start, click Run, type dsa.msc and then click OK.

  2. Locate the user account to which you want to assign a personal virtual desktop.

  3. Right-click the user account, and then click Properties.

  4. On the Personal Virtual Desktop tab, select the Assign a personal virtual desktop to this user check box.

  5. In the Computer Name box, type the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the computer to which you want to assign the user. To search for the name of the computer, click Browse, and then click Advanced to use the Select Computer dialog box to find the computer.

Important

The name of the virtual machine in the Hyper-V Manager tool must match the FQDN of the computer.

  1. Click OK to save your selections and close the Properties dialog box.

To remove an assignment, clear the Assign a personal virtual desktop to this user check box. You can also use the ADSI Edit tool to clear the value of the msTSPrimaryDesktop attribute in the properties of the user account.

Additional references