How to Configure Users and Published Resources for Monitoring?

To configure the users and applications / desktops that the simulator has to launch, click on the icon against USERS AND PUBLISHED RESOURCES  in Figure 1.

Figure 1 : The Microsoft AVD Logon Simulator Test configuration page

Figure 2 will then appear.

Figure 2 : Configuring the users and published resources to be launched

Using Figure 2, you can easily configure multiple resources that you want the simulator to launch and also the valid user credentials for accessing each resource. For this, follow the steps below:

1. Specify the credentials of the user is authorized to access the applications/desktops via the AVD Web Client in the Username and Password text boxes. Confirm the password by retyping it in the Confirm Password text box.

2. Is 2FA enabled?: Two-factor authentication (2FA), often referred to as two-step verification, is a security process in which the user provides two authentication factors to verify they are who they say they are. If Microsoft AVD is enabled with two-factor authentication, then to authenticate the specified User login, Microsoft AVD will require an additional layer of security other than the Password you have provided. This is why, if Microsoft AVD is enabled with two-factor authentication, you will have to set the Is 2FA enabled? flag to Yes. On the other hand, if Microsoft AVD is not enabled with two-factor authentication, by default, this flag is set to No. Note that only TOTP - based dynamic 2FA is supported for user authentication. If dynamic 2FA (TOTP) is used for user authentication, then, you may need to specify the secret key obtained while registering the logon simulation endpoint device as a TOTP device against the text box that appears when you set this flag to Yes. Once the device is registered, during every simulation, the logon simulator will automatically generate the TOTP code based on the specified secret key. To know how to register the Logon simulation endpoint device and obtain the secret key for generating TOTP automatically, refer to Generating Secret Key for TOTP based User Authentication.

3. Then, provide the name of a resource to be launched in the Published resources text box. The resource can be an application /desktop. When providing application / desktop names, make sure you provide the same name using which the applications / desktops are displayed in the AVD web console. Also, make sure you provide the same name using which the applications / desktops are displayed in the AVD Web Client. Also, ensure that the user you specify is authorized to launch all the applications/desktops configured in the Published resources. To provide a comma-separated list of Published resources, click on the icon against Published Resources in Figure 2. Figure 3 will then appear.

   Note:

   You can configure a comma-separated list of Published resources only if the resources belong to the same domain. On the other hand, if you want to launch resources that belong to different domains, then, ensure that you configure each resource separately by clicking the Add more published resources button.

   The resources can be specified either in lower case or upper case or a combination of both.

   

   Figure 3 : Configuring the published resources

   In Figure 3, specify the following:

   • Folder Name: If the simulator is simulating accesses to AVD environment via the AVD Web Client, then the All Resources page of the console will list the folders/groups that contain the resources (i.e., applications/desktops) that are available for access. The application/desktop that the simulator should launch may be in any of these folders/groups. By default, this is set to none if you are launching a unique application/desktop from the All Resources page. On the other hand, if the application / desktop to be launched is available in multiple folders of the All Resources page, then you must specify the exact Folder Name within which that application / desktop is present.

     Note:

     The Folder Name is not case-sensitive.

   • Application/Desktop Name: Specify the exact name of the Application/Desktop to be launched. When providing the application/desktop name, make sure you provide the same name using which that application/desktop is displayed in the AVD web console.

     Note:

     The Application/Desktop Name is not case-sensitive.

   Finally, click the Add More button in Figure 3 to add more applications/desktops to be launched. If you wish to clear the contents that you have specified in Figure 3, click the Clear button. If you do not want to add any more applications/desktops, click the Update button to save the changes and exit Figure 3. You will then return to Figure 2 where you can proceed to provide other details that are required for simulation.

4. Using Figure 2, you can easily configure multiple resources that you want the simulator to launch and also the valid user credentials for accessing each resource. For this, follow the steps below:

   • Specify the domain in which the resource (that is to be launched) is stored in the Resource domain text box. Specify the credentials of the user who is authorized to access the Resource domain in the Resource username, Resource password, and Confirm password text boxes. In case the target Microsoft AVD environment is SSO enabled (single sign-on), then, specify none against the Resource domain, Resource username, Resource password and Confirm password text boxes.

   • Is disclaimer enabled?: Some high-security Microsoft AVD environments may have been configured to display a ‘disclaimer’, whenever a user attempts to login to a server/desktop in the environment. Such disclaimers typically include statements that delimit the scope of access, uphold confidentiality or protect copyright laws, and mitigate the risk of virus infections or data losses that may be caused by unauthorized access. If such a disclaimer is enabled for your environment, then set this flag to Yes. In this case, the simulator will accept the disclaimer and proceed with the simulation. If no such disclaimer has been configured for your environment, set this flag to No.

   If you do not want to configure any more resources for launching, then click the Update button in Figure 2 to save the changes. To add another resource for launching, click the Add more published resources button. This will add an empty record. Here, specify the names of more Published resources, and then use the Resource domain, Resource username, Resource password, and Confirm password parameters to provide the credentials of a user who is authorized to access the domain where the resource is stored.

5. In addition, if you want to simulate accesses of another user launching an application / desktop, click the Add more users button in Figure 2. This will add an empty record using which you can specify the details of the new user and resources.

6. At any given point in time, you can exclude/delete a user/resource from the simulation by clicking the ‘encircled minus’ button corresponding to that resource in the Figure 2.

7. You can also clear all the configured resources and their launch details at one shot, by clicking the Clear button.