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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Locate the Nutanix personal host pool you wish to work with, and select its Auto-Scale tab.
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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 the Nutanix VM Template 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.
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.
VM naming
Drop-down list
Select the naming mode for newly added hosts.
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Re-use names: attempt to reuse previously-used names.
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Standard names: use the next available name.
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Unique names: always use a unique name.
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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 session host VMs' OS disks should be pre-staged (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.
Threshold
Unconfirmed — toggle collapsed in this capture
Set the number or percentage of available desktops below which a new host is added.
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Enter the following Auto-Shrink information:
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
Unconfirmed — toggle collapsed in this capture
Number of days of inactivity before the VM is flagged for deletion.
Desktop will be set to "Pending deletion" state and deleted after
Unconfirmed — toggle collapsed in this capture
Grace period before permanent deletion.
Exclude the following groups (or individual users) / Exclude unassigned Desktops from Auto-shrink
Unconfirmed — toggle collapsed in this capture
Optional exclusions from auto-shrink.
Scripted actions to run when a host is scheduled to shrink
Unconfirmed — toggle collapsed in this capture
Optional.
Notify user when their desktop is about to be deleted
Unconfirmed — toggle collapsed in this capture
Optional email notification, using the same
%HOSTPOOL%/%HOSTNAME%message variables as the generic flow. -
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.
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Toggle Auto-scale On, and select Save.
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