Note
The feature is in Public Preview.
Single-user personal desktop host pools provide each user with a dedicated, permanently assigned host VM. This host VM can be used only by the assigned user. Auto-scaling can be configured to keep desktops on during pre-defined working hours and automatically shut them off outside of those hours. Users can manually turn their desktops on and off using the "End-user" RBAC role.
Nerdio Manager allows you to perform auto-scaling on Nutanix personal host pools. This enables the following:
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Personal desktops can be automatically powered on and off based on a schedule, or powered off when there are no active or disconnected sessions.
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Auto-healing automatically attempts to repair "broken" session hosts by restarting them or running scripted actions against them (for example, re-installing the AVD agent). Deletion/recreation is not offered for personal hosts, since they carry user data.
To configure auto-scale for a Nutanix personal host pool:
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Navigate to Host Pools, select the Hybrid Host Pools tab, and locate the Nutanix personal host pool you wish to work with. From the more options menu, select Enable auto-scale. Alternatively, open the host pool and select Select host pool action > Enable auto-scale.
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Enter the following information:
UI Element
Type
Description
Auto-scale timezone
Drop-down list
Select the time zone for the auto-scale process.
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Under Hosts will be provisioned based on the template for pool, enter the following information:
UI Element
Type
Description
Name
Text field + drop-down list
Type the name for newly added hosts, and select whether to use a Prefix or a Pattern.
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Prefix can be used when creating multiple session hosts. The Prefix limit is 10 valid Windows computer name characters; a unique 4-character alphanumeric suffix is automatically appended (for example,
AVDHOST-s72h). Do not add a "-" to the Prefix. -
Pattern can be used to specify an advanced naming convention. Characters must be enclosed in
{}—#for sequential numbers,?for random alphanumeric characters (for example,AVDHOST{###}→AVDHOST000..AVDHOST999;AVDHOST-{???}→AVDHOST-d83, etc.).
Resource group
Drop-down list
Select the resource group for the Arc-connected machine resource.
Location
Drop-down list
Select the Azure region for the Arc resource.
Nutanix Prism Central
Drop-down list
Select the Prism Central instance.
Nutanix Network
Drop-down list
Select the Nutanix network.
Image
Drop-down list
Select a Nutanix VM template or a Nerdio desktop image to use as the golden image for new session hosts.
Use the "Staged" image version
Toggle
Toggle on to use the staged (not-yet-finalized) version of the selected image. Available only when a desktop image that has a staged version is selected.
CPU Sockets
Drop-down list
Select the CPU sockets for new session hosts.
Cores per Socket
Drop-down list
Select the cores per socket for new session hosts.
RAM (GB)
Drop-down list
Select the RAM for new session hosts.
Nutanix categories
Drop-down list (multi-select)
Optional. Assign Nutanix categories/tags to newly created hosts.
Add Secondary Data Disk
Toggle
Optional. Toggle on to assign a secondary data disk to newly created hosts.
Disk size
Number field + drop-down list
Required when Add Secondary Data Disk is on. Enter the size of the secondary data disk, and select the unit (MB, GB, or TB).
Storage container
Drop-down list
Required when Add Secondary Data Disk is on. Select the Nutanix storage container where the secondary data disk is placed. This field becomes available after you enter a disk size.
VM naming
Drop-down list
Select the naming mode for newly added hosts.
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Standard: use the next available name, regardless of previous usage.
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Reuse: always attempt to reuse names that have been used previously.
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Unique: never reuse names that have been used previously.
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Select the Default schedule or Alternative schedule tab, and enter the following information:
UI Element
Type
Description
Auto-scale mode
Drop-down list (disabled)
Fixed to Schedule-based. Nutanix personal host pools support only schedule-based auto-scaling.
Auto-scale profile
Drop-down list
Select a shared profile, or Custom to configure the settings below manually.
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Enter the following Working Hours information:
UI Element
Type
Description
Work days
Drop-down list (multi-select)
Select the days on which desktops should be powered on (for example, Monday - Friday).
Working hours
Drop-down lists (start and end, hour + minute)
Select the start and end times of the working hours window.
Power off aggressiveness
Drop-down list
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High: power off all VMs, including those with active or disconnected sessions, after sending a warning message first.
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Medium: power off only VMs without an active session.
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Low: only power off VMs with no active or disconnected sessions.
Power on timing
Drop-down list
Select Never, Once, or Continuously to control whether/how VMs are powered on at the start of working hours.
Power off timing
Drop-down list
Select Never, Once, or Continuously to control whether/how VMs are powered off at the end of working hours.
Include hosts without assigned user
Checkbox
Optional. Include unassigned desktops in the auto-scale process.
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Enter the following Auto-Grow information:
UI Element
Type
Description
Auto-grow
Toggle
Toggle on to enable auto-grow. Disabled by default.
Add a new host when the number of available (not assigned to a user) falls below
Number field + drop-down list
Type the threshold (up to 50), and select whether it is a number of Desktops or a % of total desktops. When the number of unassigned desktops falls below this threshold, a new host is added using the template above.
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Enter the following Auto-Shrink information:
Note
Auto-shrink requires Azure Monitoring for the host pool. Configure it in the host pool's Settings > Monitoring and Analytics.
UI Element
Type
Description
Auto-shrink
Toggle
Toggle on to enable auto-shrink. Disabled by default.
Delete VM if the user hasn't logged in for
Number field (days)
Type the number of days of inactivity (up to 999) after which the desktop is shut down and set to "Pending deletion".
Desktop will be set to "Pending deletion" state and deleted after
Drop-down list
Select the grace period before the desktop is permanently deleted: 24 hours, 3 days, 1 week, 2 weeks, or 1 month.
Exclude the groups or individual users
Toggle + user/group selector
Optional. Toggle on and select the security groups or users whose desktops are never removed by auto-shrink.
Exclude unassigned Desktops from Auto-shrink
Checkbox
Optional. Desktops that are not assigned to a user do not take part in auto-shrink. Use this with Auto-grow to keep a buffer of free unassigned desktops.
Scripted actions to run when a host is scheduled to shrink
Toggle + scripted action list
Optional. Select the scripted actions to run after a VM is marked for auto-shrink.
Notify users of scheduled deletion
Toggle
Optional. Email the assigned user when the inactivity period is exceeded and their desktop is scheduled for deletion. Configure the Message Subject (up to 255 characters) and Message text, using variables such as
%HOSTPOOL%,%HOSTNAME%,%HOST_IDLE_DAYS%,%SHRINK_DATE%, and%USER_NAME%, and select the Notifications frequency (Every 24 hours, Every 3 days, Every 5 days, Every 1 week, or Every 2 weeks). A final email is always sent 1 day before the scheduled deletion.Notify an additional email recipient when desktops are scheduled to be deleted
Toggle
Optional. Email an administrator or other recipient when a desktop is scheduled for deletion. Configure the Message Subject, Message text, Send notification emails to, and Send notification emails from fields.
Note
Email notifications must be enabled in Nerdio Manager's notification settings for the auto-shrink notifications to be sent.
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Enter the following Messaging information:
UI Element
Type
Description
Send a warning message to active users
Drop-down list
Select the number of minutes before powering off the desktop that the warning message should be sent (for example, 10 minutes).
Message content
Text field
Type the message to send to active users before powering off their desktop. For example: "Sorry for the interruption. This desktop will be powered off in 10 minutes. Please save your work and log out."
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Enter the following Auto-Heal Broken Hosts information:
Note
Auto-scale can automatically attempt to repair "broken" session hosts by restarting them or running scripted actions (for example, re-installing the AVD agent). Deleting/recreating the host is not offered here — personal hosts carry user data.
UI Element
Type
Description
Auto-heal broken hosts
Toggle
Toggle on to enable auto-heal. Disabled by default.
Sign of a broken host: AVD agent status
Drop-down list (multi-select)
Select the AVD agent status values (for example, Stale heartbeat (>2hrs)) that mark a session host as broken, and select whether the host Has no sessions, Has no active sessions, or Even has active sessions.
First action timeout
Number field (minutes)
Type the number of minutes to wait after a host is detected as broken before running the first recovery action.
Recovery actions
Drop-down list (multi-select)
Select one or more recovery actions to run, in order: Restart VM and/or scripted actions. Once the host leaves the broken state, the remaining actions do not run.
Timeout between recovery actions
Number field (minutes)
Type the number of minutes to wait after each recovery action before running the next one.
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Toggle Auto-scale On, and select Save.
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