This tool automates the deployment and replacement of session hosts in an Azure Virtual Desktop host pool.
The best practice for AVD recommends replacing the session hosts instead of maintaining them, the AVD Session Host Replacer helps you manage the task of replacing old session hosts with new ones automatically.
| Deployment Type | Link |
|---|---|
| Azure Portal UI | |
| Command line (Bicep/ARM) |  |
There are two criteria for replacing a session host,
- Image Version: Is there a new image version available? If so, we create a new session host with the new image version. This can be from Marketplace or Gallery Image Definition.
- Session Host VM Age: If the session host is older than a certain age, default is 45 days, we create a new session host and drain the old one.
The core of an AVD Session Host Replacer is an Azure Function App built using PowerShell, the function is triggered every hour to check each session host against the above criteria.
To deploy new session hosts, the function uses an ARM Template that is stored as a Template Spec at deployment time.
When deleting an old session host, the function will check if it has existing sessions and,
- Place the session host drain mode.
- Send a notification to all sessions.
- Add a tag to the session host with a timestamp
- Delete the session host once there are no sessions or the grace period has passed.
- Delete VM
- Remove from Host Pool
- (If Entra Joined) Delete device from Entra ID
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