RDS IP Virtualisation On Azure

Robert Milner 21 Reputation points
2019-12-05T12:08:19.337+00:00

I am trying to get RDS IP virtualisation working on Azure, but a key part of RDS IP virtualisation is that you need to have a DHCP Server running in order for the RDS host to obtain another IP address for when the user logs onto the Server. And that is where I am stuck at the moment, in that you cannot currently run a DHCP Server in Azure - has anyone else had any experience of this and is there a workaround to not get an IP address from DHCP but to perhaps use a local pool of IP's?

Azure Virtual Machines
Azure Virtual Machines
An Azure service that is used to provision Windows and Linux virtual machines.
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  1. Prrudram-MSFT 21,876 Reputation points
    2023-05-04T06:04:32.1+00:00

    Hello @Robert Milner

    Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Q&A platform.

    It's true that running a DHCP server in Azure is not supported. Similar thread that has been answered before on Q&A https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/284695/rds-ip-virtualisation-azure

    However, there are a few workarounds that you can consider.

    One option is to use a local pool of IP addresses instead of obtaining an IP address from DHCP. This can be done by configuring a static IP address pool on the RDS host. You can then configure the RDS host to assign IP addresses from this pool to clients as they connect.

    Another option is to use a third-party DHCP server that is hosted outside of Azure. You can then configure the RDS host to obtain IP addresses from this DHCP server. It's worth noting that using a local pool of IP addresses or a third-party DHCP server may require additional configuration and management compared to using Azure's built-in DHCP service. However, it can be a viable workaround if you need to enable RDS IP virtualization in Azure.

    Others who had similar issue: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/1237910/rds-ip-virtualisation

    Please accept answer and upvote if the above information is helpful for the benefit of the community.

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  1. Robert Milner 5 Reputation points
    2023-05-04T08:18:40.2166667+00:00

    Thanks, but I asked this question like over 2 years ago, so it obviously isn't relevant to me anymore. I think I just went back to the client saying that we cannot migrate their RDS Servers into Azure as they were currently set up, and we rearchitected the RDS environment using AVD (or WVD as it was called back then!)

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  2. Sedat SALMAN 13,070 Reputation points
    2023-05-02T12:29:57.9866667+00:00

    ref: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/windows-server/remote/remote-desktop-ip-virtualization

    Instead of using DHCP, you can assign either a static IP address range or individual static IP addresses in the registry on the Remote Desktop Session Host (RD Session Host) server.

    ref: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/it-pro/windows-server-2008-r2-and-2008/ee382306(v=ws.10)

    One possible workaround is to use a Network Interface (NIC) with multiple IP configurations. Once you've assigned multiple IP addresses to your VM, you can configure your RDS host to use these IP addresses for IP virtualization

    • In the VM's properties, click on "Networking" in the left-hand menu. > VM's Network Interface (NIC).
    • "Settings" > "IP configurations." > Click on "Add" to create a new IP configuration.
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