AVD Hybrid - What you need to get started

AVD Hybrid was just released into public preview.

This new hybrid capability for Azure Virtual Desktop allows administrators to use existing on-premises infrastructure to run AVD session hosts. In contrast to Azure Local, AVD Hybrid session hosts are not limited to a specific hypervisor platform and can run on existing environments such as VMware, Hyper-V or Proxmox.

In this article, we will walk through several possible scenarios, the technical requirements, onboarding your first AVD Hybrid session host and finally some ideas and configurations that I tested myself.

What is AVD Hybrid?

AVD Hybrid is a new way to run Azure Virtual Desktop session hosts on existing on-premises infrastructure without requiring Azure Local.

This works by utilizing the Azure Arc agent together with a newly introduced Azure Arc extension for Azure Virtual Desktop. The extension allows an on-premises virtual machine or physical machine to be onboarded directly into an AVD host pool.

The session hosts themselves continue running on your existing infrastructure and hypervisor platform, while the Azure Virtual Desktop control plane securely connects users without requiring traditional Remote Desktop infrastructure components such as RD Broker, RD Gateway or RD Web Access servers.

Why would you use AVD Hybrid?

AVD Hybrid opens several interesting possibilities for organizations that already have existing virtualization infrastructure but still want to leverage the Azure Virtual Desktop platform.

One of the biggest advantages is that existing investments in on-premises infrastructure can continue to be utilized. Organizations running VMware, Hyper-V, Proxmox or other hypervisor platforms can onboard existing environments into Azure Virtual Desktop without moving the actual compute workloads into Azure.

This can be useful in several scenarios, for example:

• Existing virtualization clusters with available capacity
• Low-latency applications that need to stay on-premises
• Gradual cloud adoption strategies
• GPU workloads running on local hardware
• Regulatory or data residency requirements

A particularly interesting use case is the SMB market. Many smaller organizations still rely on a limited number of on-premises virtual machines because parts of their workload cannot easily migrate to Azure. In these environments, Azure Local is often financially difficult to justify, which traditionally leaves Remote Desktop Services as the most realistic option.

AVD Hybrid introduces an interesting middle ground where organizations can continue running workloads on existing infrastructure while still leveraging the Azure Virtual Desktop platform and modern remote access experience.

Another major advantage is the simplification of traditional Remote Desktop Services infrastructure. Components such as RD Broker, RD Gateway and RD Web Access are no longer required, while users still benefit from the Azure Virtual Desktop experience and Microsoft-managed control plane.

Requirements and Limitations

Before onboarding your first AVD Hybrid session host, there are several requirements and limitations to keep in mind.

• Azure subscription (used for host pool and azure arc)
• Network connectivity to AVD and Arc endpoints
• The session hosts must be Hybrid Microsoft Entra joined.
• RDS Session host role (in case of Windows Server session hosts)

Suported platforms:

AVD Hybrid is platform agnostic and supports running session hosts on existing on-premises hypervisors such as VMware, Hyper-V, Proxmox and other on-premises platforms.

Microsoft’s support boundary is limited to the virtual machine and Azure Virtual Desktop connectivity itself.

Current limitations:

• Session hosts running in Azure, AWS, GCP or Alibaba Cloud are unsupported
• Pooled and Personal host pools are supported
• Session Host Configuration is currently unsupported
• Windows 10/11 Enterprise Multi-Session is unsupported
• Power management and scaling features are currently unsupported for Hybrid session hosts

Supported operating systems include:

• Windows 10/11 Enterprise
• Windows Server 2016/2019/2022/2025

For the full and most up-to-date compatibility list, see the official Microsoft documentation.

Windows client operating systems are only supported as virtual machines. Windows Server session hosts are supported both physically and virtually.

Licensing:

Windows Server session hosts require:

• RDS CALs (per user or per device)
• Software Assurance or a subscription equivalent
• An active RDS Licensing Server

Windows Enterprise session hosts require an eligible Microsoft 365, Windows Enterprise or Windows VDA license.

At the time of writing, Microsoft has not yet finalized the licensing model for AVD Hybrid itself. During the Public Preview there are currently no additional costs associated with the AVD Hybrid service. After General Availability, a dedicated AVD Hybrid license will likely be required for continued use.