This article guides you through configuring Global Pools: creating a Global Pool, organizing host pools into Pool Groups, creating an Assignment Policy to distribute users automatically, and setting up a Failover Policy to redirect users between Pool Groups. For background on how Global Pools works, see the Global Pools feature overview.
Before you create a Global Pool, make sure the following are in place:
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Global Pools is enabled for your Nerdio Manager (NME) tenant. The feature is currently available in Public Preview.
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At least one Entra ID group to define who is eligible for the Global Pool.
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An Entra ID group to use in Assignment Policies.
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Standard Azure Virtual Desktop host pool prerequisites (workspace, resource group, identity/AD join method) for host pools you plan to create inside a Pool Group.
No additional preparatory work is required beyond the prerequisites above. If you plan to have Nerdio Manager auto-create the Entra ID groups attached to your host pools for you, ensure the account has the elevated Azure/Entra permissions noted in the feature overview; otherwise, pre-create the Entra ID groups you want to use before you begin.
Note
It is recommended for Nerdio Manager to create these Entra ID groups for you.
A Global Pool is the top-level container for Pool Groups and host pools. Create one before you create Pool Groups or Assignment Policies. Global Pools introduces a hierarchy above your existing host pools: each Global Pool contains one or more Pool Groups, each Pool Group contains one or more host pools, and each host pool contains its session hosts as usual. This section of the document details how to create a Global Pool.
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In Nerdio Manager, navigate to Cloud Desktops > Global Pools.
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Select New Global Pool.
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On the Basics step, enter a Name for the Global Pool.
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For Desktop experience, select the type of session this Global Pool will deliver:
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AVD multi-session desktop (pooled): delivers a full multi-session desktop
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AVD multi-session RemoteApp (pooled): delivers published RemoteApps instead of a full desktop
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For Tenant, select the identity tenant this Global Pool should use.
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For Entra ID group, select or create the group that defines who is eligible for this Global Pool.
Note
This Entra ID group only grants eligibility -- being a member doesn't by itself assign a user to a host pool. An Assignment Policy determines which Pool Group an eligible user will have access to.
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Select Next.
A Pool Group combines one or more host pools and defines how users are distributed across them.
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Open the Global Pool you created.
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Select New Pool Group.
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Enter a Name for the Pool Group.
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Select a Distribution Mode: Depth-first fills one host pool before moving to the next; Breadth-first spreads users evenly across host pools.
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Select Save.
You can create a single host pool or create multiple host pools at once within a Pool Group.
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Open the Pool Group.
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Select New host pool.
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For Number of host pools, enter how many host pools to create. Entering
1creates a single host pool; entering a number greater than1creates that many host pools in one batch. -
For Name, select Exact or Prefix:
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Exact: the host pool is created with the exact name you enter. Only available when Number of host pools is
1. -
Prefix: Nerdio Manager generates each host pool's name by appending a sequential number to the prefix you enter (for example, a prefix of
poolgeneratespool-001,pool-002, and so on). Required when Number of host pools is greater than1.
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Enter the Name (the exact name, or the prefix, depending on your selection above).
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Optionally, enter a Description.
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Select a Resource group.
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Select the Workspaces field and choose the workspace to associate with the new host pool(s).
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Optionally, for Entra ID group, start typing to search for and select an existing group. If you leave this field blank, Nerdio Manager creates one automatically.
Note
This Entra ID group is the assignment group Nerdio Manager uses to grant users access to the host pool and its published Desktops or RemoteApps. Auto-created groups are named
[hostPoolName]-entra-group. If you select an existing group instead, it must be empty, since the sync process may remove existing members.It is recommended to leave this field blank and have Nerdio Manager create these Entra ID groups for you. Auto-creation requires Entra ID group management permissions on the account.
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For User limit, enter the maximum number of users that can be assigned to the host pool (defaults to 1000). When creating multiple host pools at once, this limit applies individually to each host pool in the batch.
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Configure the remaining host pool settings the same way you would for a standalone host pool.
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Select Next.
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Review the list of host pool names that will be created, then select Create. Select Back instead if you need to change any settings.
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Repeat these steps to create additional host pools or batches, as needed.
An Assignment Policy automatically assigns or reassigns eligible users to a Pool Group, using either attribute-based conditions or a fixed percentage split.
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Open the Global Pool and select the Policies tab.
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Select New Assignment Policy.
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On the Basics step, enter a Name for the Assignment Policy. Select Next.
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On the Distribution step, for Distribution, select a distribution type:
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Attribute: assigns users to a Pool Group based on Entra ID properties you define as conditions.
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Percentage: allocates users from the Global Pool's Entra ID eligibility group across Pool Groups based on the percentages you set.
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The remaining steps depend on the Distribution type you selected.
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For each Pool Group listed (for example, Pool A), configure at least one condition under Conditions:
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Select a User Attribute to evaluate (an Entra ID property, for example Department).
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Select an Operator (for example, Equals).
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Enter the Value to match against.
Select Add condition to add further conditions to the same Pool Group. When a Pool Group has more than one condition, select and or Or to set how the conditions are combined.
Note
At least one condition is required for a Pool Group before you can submit the policy.
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Set a Priority for the Pool Group (a whole number). See Understanding policy priority below. Priority applies only to Attribute-type policies.
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Repeat the previous two steps for each additional Pool Group you want this policy to evaluate.
An Attribute policy item evaluates the condition(s) configured for a Pool Group: for each user in the Global Pool's eligibility group, Nerdio Manager checks the selected Entra ID User Attribute against the Value using the selected Operator. When a Pool Group has multiple conditions, Nerdio Manager combines them using the selected and/Or logic: with and, a user must match every condition; with Or, a user must match at least one. If a user satisfies the Pool Group's conditions, the user is assigned to that policy item's target Pool Group -- specifically, to an available host pool within that Pool Group, selected according to the Pool Group's Distribution Mode.
Priority only comes into play when a user matches the conditions for more than one Pool Group within an assignment policy. If a user matches only one Pool Group's conditions, that Pool Group applies and priority is irrelevant.
When a user matches the conditions for multiple Pool Groups, the Pool Group with the lowest numeric priority value wins. For example:
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Pool Group East: condition Department Equals "Finance", priority 10
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Pool Group West: condition Department Equals "Executives", priority 1
If a user matches both conditions, they're assigned to Pool Group West, because priority 1 is lower than priority 10.
With a Percentage distribution, Nerdio Manager allocates users from the Global Pool's Entra ID eligibility group across Pool Groups according to the percentages you set, rather than evaluating per-user attributes. Priority does not apply to Percentage-type policies.
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For each Pool Group listed (for example, Pool A), enter or drag the Percentage slider to set the share of eligible users to assign to that Pool Group.
Note
The percentages across all Pool Groups in the policy must add up to 100% before you can submit.
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Select Submit. New policies are disabled by default.
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When you're ready to apply the policy, activate it. Nerdio Manager syncs eligible users to their target Pool Groups automatically every 15 minutes once a policy is active, or select Sync now to apply changes on-demand.
A Failover Policy redirects users from one Pool Group to another — for example, during planned maintenance or an outage.
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Open the Global Pool and select the Policies tab.
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Select New Policy, then New Failover Policy.
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Enter a Name for the new policy.
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Select a Source Group and a Target Group.
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Select OK.
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New Failover Policies are disabled by default. When you're ready to fail over, activate the policy. Nerdio Manager reassigns users from the source Pool Group to the target Pool Group on the next sync.
Nerdio Manager synchronizes active policies automatically every 15 minutes.
This synchronization includes the following actions:
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Evaluates active policies
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Checks which users are eligible
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Finds users who should be processed and reassigned
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Applies Failover policies, if any are active
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Removes users from host pool Entra ID assignment groups, if necessary
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Assigns users to the new host pool Entra ID assignment groups, if necessary
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Rebalance users inside pool groups
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Validates Host Pool assignment access
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Deploys and updates RemoteApps to host pools
To have a synchronization engage on-demand instead of waiting for the next automatic sync:
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Open the Global Pool.
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Select Sync.
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Monitor progress under Tasks.
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