Nerdio Manager Installation Guide

This section guides you through the process of installing Nerdio Manager in your Azure subscription and initializing Nerdio Manager.

By following these steps, you are registering an Enterprise Application in your own Azure tenant, in a subscription that you select, and into a new resource group. Once the install is complete, you gain access to a URL and are able to sign in to the Nerdio Manager web application.

Nerdio Manager is installed and billed through the Azure Marketplace.

The installation process can be broken down into the following phases:

  • Confirm you meet the prerequisites before you start installing Nerdio Manager.

  • Install the Nerdio Manager application from the Azure Marketplace listing.

  • Initialize the installation by running an Azure PowerShell script.

  • Register your installation with our licensing servers and configure the Nerdio Manager settings.

Companion Video

Prerequisites

Note: Sign in to your Azure portal as a Global Administrator before starting the install process.

  • You must be a subscription owner of an Azure subscription where you need to install the Nerdio Manager from the Azure Marketplace.

  • The Azure subscription must be able to deploy Azure SQL, App Service, Key Vault, Application Insights, and Automation Account in the Azure region you select during the install process.

  • You must have a virtual network and a subnet available to deploy AVD session host VMs. You are prompted to select this virtual network and subnet during the configuration phase.

  • You must have a Windows Active Directory or Entra Domain Services deployment accessible from the virtual network where AVD session host VMs are deployed. The custom default DNS server setting specified on the virtual network subnet must point to an AD-aware DNS server.

  • If using Windows Active Directory, Active Directory must be synchronized with Entra ID.

  • You need an Active Directory user account with rights to join and unjoin VMs from the domain. This user account must be able to create computer objects in at least one OU in the AD domain and be able to disable these computer objects.

  • You need an SMB file storage location for FSLogix Profile containers. This SMB share can be on a file server VM, Azure Files, Azure NetApp Files, or any other location accessible via a UNC path (for example, \\server.domain.local\share\profiles). The server name must be in FQDN format.

    • When using a file share, it must be located in Azure in the same region as the AVD session host's VMs.

    • If you don't have a file storage location available, this step can be skipped during installation, and Nerdio Manager can create Azure Files or NetApp Files after the installation.

  • The Microsoft Desktop Virtualization resource provider must be registered in your Azure subscription.

Install Nerdio Manager from the Azure Marketplace

Nerdio Manager is installed from the Azure Marketplace.

To install Nerdio Manager:

  1. In the Azure Marketplace, search for Nerdio Manager for Enterprise.

  2. Select Create > NME Plan to start the installation process.

  3. Enter the following information:

    • Subscription: From the drop-down list, select the subscription where you want to install Nerdio Manager.

    • Resource Group: Select Create new to create a new resource group.

    • Region: From the drop-down list, select the region closest to you or where the majority of your administrators are located.

      Note: This region is where the Nerdio Manager web application is located, and does not determine the location of the AVD hosts.

  4. Once you have entered all the desired information, select Next: Review + create.

  5. Review your selections and select Create.

    Note: A confirmation window displays informing you that the deployment is in progress. The deployment usually takes about 10 minutes.

  6. When the deployment is complete, select Go to resource group.

  7. Locate and select the App service.

  8. Select Browse or select the URL to navigate to your installation of Nerdio Manager.

Initialize Nerdio Manager

When Nerdio Manager for Enterprise is deployed to your Azure subscription, the following steps must be performed to initialize your installation of Nerdio Manager.

Note: If you wish to use Entra ID app registration or Split Identity, skip to To initialize Nerdio Manager (Entra ID app registration or Split Identity): .

To initialize Nerdio Manager (Typical):

  1. Sign in to the Nerdio Manager web application as the Global Administrator and the subscription Owner.

  2. Select the copy button to copy the command.

  3. Select Launch Azure Cloud Shell.

  4. If required, select PowerShell (not Bash) and create a storage account for the shell history.

  5. Paste the PowerShell command and press Enter.

    Note: Several commands flash by. The script should take about 10 minutes to run.

  6. When the script completes, you are returned to the prompt. The message Deployment completed successfully is displayed.

  7. Select the URL in the confirmation message. Alternatively, return to the open tab in the browser and refresh the page. You are now ready for the next phase of the installation process - Configure Nerdio Manager Settings.

To initialize Nerdio Manager (Entra ID app registration or Split Identity):

  1. Sign in to the Nerdio Manager web application as the Global Administrator and the subscription Owner.

  2. Select Show advanced.

  3. For Entra ID app registration:

    • Use existing Entra ID app registration: Select this option.

    • App ID: Type the App ID.

    • App Secret: Type the App secret.

    • Service Principal ID: Type the service principal ID.

  4. For Split Identity:

    • Split Identity: Select this option.

    • Identity Tenant ID: Type the identity tenant ID.

  5. Select Download script (Az).

  6. From your local machine, locate and run the downloaded script.

  7. Select the URL in the confirmation message. Alternatively, return to the open tab in the browser and refresh the page. You are now ready for the next phase of the installation process.

Configure Nerdio Manager Settings

Nerdio Manager is now installed. The next step is to configure various application settings.

When you navigate to the URL, you see a window similar to this:

Nerdio Manager registration and configuration

You already provided some settings in the previous steps. Those settings are checked off, which indicates they are completed. The settings that need your attention are unchecked. As you complete a setting, the system automatically checks off that setting.

Note: You do not have to provide the settings all at once. You can safely return to this page at any point. Your settings are retained and you won't need to enter the settings again. This page is displayed every time your return to the URL of the app service until all the steps have been completed.

To configure the Nerdio Manager settings:

  1. In the Feature set section, select your desired feature set:

    • AVD

    • Intune & Windows 365

    Note: You can set up AVD only or both feature sets at the same time.

  2. In the Nerdio Manager registration section:

    • Select Click to register.

    • Enter your registration information.

    • Once you have entered all your registration information, select Register.

  3. In the Network section:

    • Select none selected.

    • Subnet: From the drop-down list, select the subnet.

    • Select OK.

  4. In the Resource Group section:

    Tip: By default, the same resource group contains both the Nerdio Manager resources (for example, app services) and the AVD session host VMs. It is recommended that you create a new resource group in the Azure portal and use it for the AVD session host VMs.

    • Select the resource group name.

    • Resource Group: From the drop-down list, select the destination resource group.

    • Select OK.

  5. In the Directory section:

    Note: The Active Directory, Entra Domain Services, or native Entra ID user account must have permission to create computer objects in the domain. Nerdio Manager uses these credentials when joining computers to the domain.

    In addition, when using Active Directory, the user account needs some extra permissions to join Azure Files shares to the directory.

    • Select none selected.

    • Enter your Active Directory, Entra Domain Services, or native Entra ID information.

    • Once you have entered all the desired information, select OK.

  6. In the File storage section:

    Note: You can provide your FSLogix file storage information or a UNC path to an existing file share accessible from the VNet. If you don't have a file share ready, select the option to skip this step.

    • Select none selected.

    • Skip this step for now: Select this option to skip this step and configure the file storage later.

    • FSLogix: Select the FSLogix version. Default is the latest version.

    • Use Cloud Cache: Select this option to enable FSLogix Cloud Cache in the host pools, and the session hosts within those host pools, that use this FSLogix profile.

      Tip: For performance reasons, it is strongly recommended that you use Premium SSD and Ephemeral OS disks when Cloud Cache is enabled. Standard SSD disks might be sufficient in very small environments or for testing scenarios.

      Note: See the following Microsoft document for more information about FSLogix Cloud Cache.

      Cloud Cache allows you to specify multiple profile storage locations. It asynchronously replicates the profiles and makes the profiles available in multiple storage locations at the same time. So, if one of the locations is not available, the session host automatically fails over to one of the alternate locations.

    • Configure session hosts registry for Entra ID joined storage: Select this option to enable Entra ID Kerberos functionality and Entra ID account credentials loading.

      Note: For more information, see Configure the session hosts | Microsoft Learn.

    • FSLogix Profiles path: From the drop-down list, select an Azure Files share or Azure NetApp Files volumes. Alternatively, type in a UNC path.

      Note: You can specify up to 4 paths. In addition, use the arrows to change the order of the paths. The profiles are created in all of these locations.

    • Once you have entered all the desired information, select OK.

  7. Optionally, in the Windows 365 & Intune integration section:

    • Select Disabled.

    • Review the prerequisites.

    • Enable the required configuration features.

    • Select OK.

  8. Next to User cost attribution, select Enable.

Note: For details on enabling Windows 365 in Nerdio Manager, see Windows 365 - Enable and Configure Cloud PCs.

To complete the installation process:

  1. Once you have configured all the settings noted above, select Done.

  2. Select the link of the tenant that is provided.

  3. Sign in, review, and then accept the consent.

  4. Navigate back to Nerdio Manager and select I have granted admin consent.

  5. Select OK.

    Note: If there are any errors, please repeat the consent steps. It sometimes takes several minutes. You can retry it a few times until the consents are validated.

The installation is now complete, and you are ready to start using Nerdio Manager.