Introduction
This article details the process of deploying a configuring a GPU WVD Session Host. I will cover the resize of a VM to a NV6 Series Azure VM Size and the use of pre-build custom script extensions to simplify the driver install to Windows Virtual Desktop.
Getting Started:
- Resize the VM or choose the NV6 VM size on first deployment.
2. Select the Extensions section within the VM panel and click Add
3. Select the Nvidia GPU Driver Extension
4. Follow the steps to install the NVIDIA GPU Driver Extension
5. Once Deployment is complete, you will see the Deployment succeeded.
6. You can now see the driver installed in programs & features and Device Manager.
Appling Group Policy Settings
Ether create a group policy on your Active Directory or use a Local group policy editor.
Step 1. Set the following to Enabled.
Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Remote Desktop Services > Remote Desktop Session Host > Remote Desktop Session Environment > “Use hardware graphics adapters for all Remote Desktop Services sessions”
Step 2. Set the following to Enabled.
Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Remote Desktop Services > Remote Desktop Session Host > Remote Desktop Session Environment > “Configure H.264/AVC hardware encoding for Remote Desktop Connections”
Step 3. Reboot to apply.
Step 4. Check Task Manager.
You can now see the GPU is now showing in the Task Manager.
Using the Nvidia-SMI.exe tool, we can see that card is in use.
You can also view the details of the GPU using dxdiag the DirectX Diagnostic Tool.
Summary
This article shows you how to configure a Azure NV6 VM ready for GPU use in Windows Virtual Desktop. Using the “NVIDIA GPU Driver Extension”, does simplify and speed up the process of delivering the drivers and the overall configuration to enable GPU ready Windows Virtual Desktop Session Hosts.
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