Azure Insights: Virtual Desktop; DevOps Pipelines; Genome-Wide Analysis

Microsoft Azure pros discuss using Group Policy to manage Azure Virtual Desktop, setting up templates in DevOps Pipelines, and ways to accelerate genome-wide analysis.

Using Group Policy to manage Azure Virtual Desktop

An author on the Learn IT and DevOps blog discussed Azure Virtual Desktop, Microsoft's reimagined Windows Virtual Desktop. The offering allows users to centrally manage hosts configurations with Group Policy. The author shared how to manage WVD with Active Directory Group Policy. If users have Active Directory Domain Services they are able to control and manage configuration with Group Policy Objects.

To get started, users need to install Group Policy Management Console, login to WVD, and open the PowerShell console as an admin.

Once the console is installed, you can start managing the default GPOs with WVD or create new ones…If your WVD deployment is part of a Hybrid configuration where you have a local Active Directory forest with Azure AD Connect, you will need to manage the GPO from your local forest.

Setting up templates in DevOps Pipelines

Thomas Thornton shared thoughts on building Azure DevOps YAML pipelines. Over time, a YAML file can grow, creating challenges as users copy and paste the same task while changing variables. But fortunately, templates can help. Thornton creates templates to avoid duplication, reduce complexity, set a structure, and save time.