Pre-requisites for Using the Microsoft AVD Logon Simulator

Before attempting to use the simulator, make sure that the following pre-requisites are fulfilled:

Category Pre-requisites
Logon Simulator Agent / Simulation Endpoint

  • Client Emulation capability should be enabled on the eG license.

  • The logon simulator agent / external agent should be installed on a dedicated virtual machine or a physical server running Windows 2012/2016/2019/2022 or Windows 8/10/11 operating system. If the dedicated virtual machine is an Azure Virtual Machine, then the Azure VM should be obtained from Azure Compute Services.

    Note:

    Do not install the logon simulator agent / external agent on a Session Host that resides within a managed Microsoft AVD Host Pool component.

  • The logon simulator agent / external agent should only run an English version of Windows operating system.

    Note:

    If Multilingual User Interface pack is applied on the Windows operating system, then, ensure that the English language is chosen as the System locale.

  • The logon simulator agent / external agent should not be used to monitor any other component in the target environment.

  • Microsoft .Net 4.5 (or above) should pre-exist on the system hosting the logon simulator agent/external agent.

  • The simulator requires a dedicated Microsoft Azure user account with rights to launch applications/desktops.

    Note:

    Ensure that the name of the user account starts with the prefix "egavdls". For more information, refer Enable eG agents to logoff the disconnected user session

  • The simulator also requires a user account with local administrator rights on the simulation endpoint - i.e., on the system hosting the logon simulator agent. This user should be logged in at all times for the simulator to run continuously.

    Note:

    • The logon simulation will not work if the session is closed.
Environment
  • The simulator will only work with AVD Web Client.
  • The allocated desktop that is to be launched by simulation should be powered on and also should be a dedicated desktop.
Browser

Chrome browser v122 (and above) should be available on the dedicated endpoint.

Note:

In some environments where browsers are automatically updated to their latest versions, incompatibility is cited between the browser version and the Chrome drivers. This may sometimes lead to the nonstart of simulation. Therefore, ensure that the Chrome drivers are also updated whenever the browser is updated to the latest version.

Chrome is capable of automatically applying updates and upgrading itself to higher versions. Sometimes, when Chrome auto-upgrades, some drivers that the eG Logon Simulator Agent uses may suddenly be rendered incompatible with Chrome. This can cause problems in simulation. To avoid this, eG Enterprise Logon Simulator for Microsoft AVD, by default, prevents Chrome upgrades/updates (both automatic and manual) from being applied at the simulation endpoint.

However, whenever a new version of the eG agent with updated drivers is released, you will have to manually upgrade Chrome to ensure continued compatibility. In this case therefore, you will have to make sure that the simulation endpoint allows Chrome upgrades. To achieve this, before manually upgrading Chrome, follow the steps below:

  • Login to the eG agent host.
  • Open the Windows command prompt as Administrator.

  • Switch to the <EG_AGENT_INSTALL_DIR>\lib directory, and issue the following command:

    ChromeUpgradeHandler.exe enable

Note:

To ensure that all the pre-requisites of the Microsoft AVD Logon Simulator is fulfilled, you can execute the LogonSimulatorChecks.exe which is available in the <eG_INSTALL_DIR>\lib folder. This executable should be executed by a user with administrator privileges from the command prompt of the target agent host. If any pre-requisite has not been fulfilled, failure will be highlighted in Red (as shown by Figure 1).

Figure 1 : Setup script where a pre-requisite has failed

Use the pointers provided in Figure 1, just below the failed pre-requisite, to know how to fulfill that requirement. Then, rerun the LogonSimulatorChecks.exe to make sure that all pre-requisites are fulfilled, and then proceed.

If all pre-requisites are fulfilled, then Figure 2 will appear.

Figure 2 : All pre-requisites are fulfilled

the external agent that is used for configuring logon simulation. This has to be installed on a dedicated Azure VM obtained from Azure Compute Services.

Note