Azure Local AVD session hosts not visible

Question

Azure Local AVD session hosts not visible

Bollapu vishnu Vardhan reddy3 160

Hello Team,

I am trying to deploy AVD in azure local as a POC and below is my brief

My Session Hosts will be part of my onprem private domain(abc.local) that i have created locally and are joined to the domain.

My users are in entra ID (xyz.net) and will be accessing the AVD systems and i have given the assignment.

both the above domains are not connected in any sort

I am not able to view the system in the Remote Desktop.

As per below i have the flexibility to joining my session hosts to my onprem domain as well

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-desktop/prerequisites?tabs=portal

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-desktop/authentication#hybrid-identity
User's image
but as per below, my session host and the users who access they desktops should also be in the same domain

User's image

so does that mean that Azure local only supported identity for AVD, I should have an onprem AD which is in connect with my entra ID or else you will not be able to use AVD in Azure Local.

Satish Mada 350 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-08-21T12:26:40.11+00:00
Hi Bollapu vishnu Vardhan reddy3,

To set up Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) with users in Entra ID while your session hosts are in your on-premises domain (abc.local), you'll need to manage the identity connection between these domains.

Key points :

Domains Are Isolated: Your on-premises domain (abc.local) and Entra ID (xyz.net) are currently not connected. This means there’s no trust relationship or synchronization between them, which is necessary for AVD functionality.

Authentication Requirements: AVD requires that the identities used for accessing the session hosts are properly authenticated. Generally, AVD supports Hybrid Azure AD Join for scenarios where session hosts are on a local domain and users are in Azure AD.

Session Host Domain Requirement: The guidance you mentioned implies that for users in Entra ID to access session hosts, either the session hosts also need to be part of Azure AD or a hybrid identity solution must be established.

Recommendations :

Consider Hybrid Identity:

Implement Azure AD Connect to synchronize users from your on-premises Active Directory to Azure Active Directory (Entra ID). This creates a trust relationship.

Join Session Hosts to Azure AD:

You could also join the session hosts to Azure AD directly, which might bypass the need for an on-premises domain connection.

Enable Hybrid Azure AD Join:

If you need to keep your on-premises domain, consider enabling Hybrid Azure AD Join for your on-premise Active Directory, which allows devices to be recognized by both domains.

Accessing AVD: Ensure that the users have been assigned the appropriate AVD resources in the Azure portal after establishing the identity connection.

Finally, yes, you need to establish some form of identity connection, typically through Azure AD Connect or configuring your session hosts for hybrid join, to make AVD operational with your current setup. Without this connection, AVD’s authentication requirements won’t be met, preventing users in Entra ID from accessing the session hosts directly.

Please refer to Azure Virtual Desktop on Azure Local Overview
Hybrid Identity documentation for AVD
Satish Mada 350 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-08-25T11:04:08.2966667+00:00

Hi Bollapu vishnu Vardhan reddy3,

Just checking in to see if you had a chance to review the response provided by me.

Feel free to reach out if you have any further queries.

1 answer

Your answer

Satish Mada 350 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-08-25T11:04:08.2966667+00:00

Hi Bollapu vishnu Vardhan reddy3,

Just checking in to see if you had a chance to review the response provided by me.

Feel free to reach out if you have any further queries.

Answer 1

Hello Bollapu vishnu Vardhan reddy3,

Welcome to the Microsoft Q&A and thank you for posting your questions here.

I understand that you are having issues with Azure Local AVD session hosts not visible.

In your explanation, this configuration is unsupported because the AVD service broker can only authenticate users against Entra ID and must be able to resolve those identities to session hosts registered in a trusted directory.

The only viable solution is to establish hybrid identity using Entra ID Connect to synchronize your on-premises Active Directory with Entra ID, creating a single trusted identity source. This requires first ensuring a reliable Site-to-Site VPN or ExpressRoute connection is in place between your on-prem network and the Azure VNet hosting your session hosts, with the VNet's DNS settings configured to use your on-prem domain controllers for name resolution - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-network/virtual-networks-name-resolution-for-vms-and-role-instances

You must then install and configure Entra ID Connect on a server in your abc.local domain, specifically synchronizing the Organizational Units containing both your users and the session host computer objects - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/entra/identity/hybrid/connect/how-to-connect-install-custom

Once synchronized, you must assign users access using these synchronized identities via the Virtual Machine User Login role in IAM for the host pool or specific VMs. - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/role-based-access-control/role-assignments-portal) and

It is critical to understand that this architecture introduces a dependency on your on-premises infrastructure for authentication; any disruption in network connectivity or the Entra ID Connect service will impact user sign-ins. For a proof-of-concept, this is the required path, but for production, consider the long-term resilience and management overhead of maintaining this hybrid identity dependency.

I hope this is helpful! Do not hesitate to let me know if you have any other questions or clarifications.

Please don't forget to close up the thread here by upvoting and accept it as an answer if it is helpful.

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Azure Local AVD session hosts not visible

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