With the rise of remote work and digital learning, government, educational, and nonprofit institutions have increasingly turned to virtual desktop solutions like Amazon WorkSpaces. Deploying virtual desktop solutions on a large scale can significantly reduce administrative challenges and save time. In this article, you will discover how to implement Amazon WorkSpaces with minimal engineering effort using a PowerShell script.
Automation of Amazon WorkSpaces streamlines the process of provisioning new WorkSpaces for your Active Directory users. By executing this script, you can efficiently deploy dozens or even thousands of WorkSpaces in a straightforward and guided manner. You have the option to utilize either AWS-provided bundles or custom bundles, which serve as template operating systems to provision WorkSpaces for your users.
This article will guide you through the following:
- Understanding and validating the prerequisites needed to run the PowerShell script
- Executing the script and navigating through the guided prompts
- Deploying Amazon WorkSpaces at scale
- Reviewing a log of deployments to verify successful execution
Prerequisites
Before getting started, ensure you meet the following conditions:
- An Active Directory setup that includes a group designated for deploying Amazon WorkSpaces:
- Active Directory on Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) instances
- AWS Directory Service for Microsoft Active Directory
- An on-premises Active Directory environment
- A Directory or AD Connector registered in WorkSpaces. Ensure that the subnets associated with the directory or AD connector have enough available IP addresses for your WorkSpaces deployment.
- Run the script from a system that is joined to the Active Directory Domain being queried for user and group information. This can be an Amazon EC2 instance, a WorkSpaces instance, or a domain-joined local computer.
- An AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) user or role with permissions to query the Directory Services, WorkSpaces Bundles, and the authority to create WorkSpaces. If you’re using an AWS IAM user, configure your PowerShell session to utilize your AWS IAM credentials.
- The Active Directory module for Windows PowerShell installed on the system executing the script.
- The AWS Tools for PowerShell installed on the system executing the script.
Walk-through
Download and save the script to a location on the system configured to meet the prerequisites. Execute the script by typing “.FILENAME.PS1” where FILENAME is the name of the downloaded file to initiate the guided process.
The script will prompt you for the path to save the log file output during WorkSpaces creation. You can provide a path or accept the default option, and if the path does not exist, it will create the folder for you.
This script requires an Active Directory group name as input, and it will display the properties of the specified group. For instance, if you input “VDI,” which contains four users, the script will provision a WorkSpace for each enabled user in that group.
Next, the script will prompt you to specify the region where the WorkSpaces will be deployed. A list of supported regions will be displayed.
After selecting a region, the script queries your AWS account for available Directories to which users can be deployed. You will need to input the DirectoryId corresponding to the directory that the WorkSpaces will join.
The script then retrieves and displays a list of available bundles, including custom bundles owned by your AWS account. You can select a custom bundle for deployment by entering the WorkSpaces BundleId.
The script will create a WorkSpace for each user in the specified Active Directory group. If any WorkSpaces already exist or if there are errors, the output will be logged on the screen and in the log file at the specified location.
Finally, let’s check the log file, which can be found at the path you designated (for example, C:temp). This file is in CSV format, making it easy to import into external tools for filtering. The log will indicate if any users, such as “scripteduser1,” already had existing WorkSpaces and were skipped, while also confirming the creation of new WorkSpaces. For more insights on this topic, you might be interested in another related blog post here.
Summary
In this article, you used PowerShell and a deployment script to provision WorkSpaces for all members of an Active Directory group in a guided manner. You also reviewed the log file output for valuable information regarding the automated WorkSpaces deployment. For additional authoritative insights, refer to this article which provides expert guidance on the subject. Moreover, consider checking this excellent resource for further information.
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