AVD Templates

Overview

Using this feature you can define a set (aka template) of applications. This set of applications can then be applied to a computer in a headless / unattended fashion using RealmJoin Client.

This is intended for creating golden images for Azure Virtual Desktop multi-session pooled hosts.

Creating and managing Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) templates is a complex task that requires expert knowledge, thorough planning, and precise configuration. While we fully support all RealmJoin-related topics described on this page, our ability to assist with broader AVD templating topics is limited. This includes—but is not limited to—general guidance on creating, customizing, deploying, and troubleshooting AVD templates.

Permissions

To enable the feature, you must define a custom role and assign the role to a group or user.

Copy the following definition and make sure to change the GroupID accordingly.

{
  "Rules": [
    {
      "Name": "Allow admins to access the templating feature",
      "Groups": [
        "<Group ID of Admin Group>"
      ],
      "Permissions": [
        "CanReadTemplateTable",
        "CanReadTemplateDetails",
        "CanEditTemplate",
        "CanDeleteTemplate",
        "CanChangeTemplatePackages",
        "CanChangeTemplateTokens"
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Managing templates

Creating a template

1. Click on the "templates" icon or open the Templates section by entering the url: https://portal.realmjoin.com/templates

Templates List

1. Select the icon (1), enter a meaningful name (2) and Click "Save" (3).

Create a template

Add Applications to a Template

1. Open the template by clicking on its name.

2. To add packages to the template, click the icon.

Add packages to a template - 1

1. Search for a package and hit the icon to add it to your template. The list represents all RealmJoin packages you have subscribed to in your environment.

2. Once you are done, click the Close button.

Add packages to a template - 2

Intune Packages can not be assigned using AVD templates.

Remove Applications from a Template

1. Open the template by clicking on its name.

2. If you want to remove applications, click on Unassign. If you want to define arguments overwriting those set on the package level, you can do so by clicking on Settings.

Remote packages from a template

Create a Token

To use the template via RealmJoin Client, you also need a token.

Please handle the token with care. If you think the token might have been leaked, revoke it by hitting the Revoke button next to the token.

1. Create a token, click on the Tokens tab.

2. Click the icon (1), enter a meaningful name (2) and click Save (3).

Create a token

Using a Template

AVD / Headless Provisioning

Collect the template ID and the token you want to use for deployment.

Find template ID and token

Run the following command from inside your system/VM you want to prepare as golden image:

1. Download RealmJoin: Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://gkrealmjoin.s3.amazonaws.com/win-release/RealmJoin.exe" -OutFile "C:\temp\RealmJoin.exe"

2. Install RealmJoin: Start-Process -FilePath "C:\temp\RealmJoin.exe" -ArgumentList "-install" -Wait

3. Run headless deployment. Make sure to enter your individual template ID and token: Start-Process -FilePath "C:\Program Files\RealmJoin\RealmJoinService.exe" -ArgumentList " -avdprovision <Template ID> <Template Token>"

Logging and Traces

For both, RealmJoin installation and headless deployment, you can add an additional argument -trace to extend logging. To check the status/logs during headless deployment, open and periodically refresh realmjoin.log which can be found under C:\Windows\Logs\