AVD Management Using Visual Studio Code Instead of PowerShell ISE

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In this post, we will learn how to start AVD Management Using Visual Studio Code instead of PowerShell ISE. Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) supports only PowerShell core 7.0 or later. I have been extensively using PowerShell ISE (yes!).. but I still love GUI, and I don’t like coding.

Note! – This post mainly applies to the Windows Virtual Desktop spring 2020 release (a.k.a AVD). This Spring 2020 update uses the Azure Resource Manager (ARM) Windows Virtual Desktop objects.

Windows Virtual Desktop cmdlets (Az.DesktopVirtualization) currently only work with PowerShell Core. So, there is PowerShell ISE support! We need to find a way to get PowerShell ISE experience.

PowerShell commands are necessary with AVD’s new portal Experience, such as for personal desktop assignments in AVD v2, which can only be done using PowerShell Core.

Patch My PC
Index
Install Visual Studio Code for AVD Management
Configure PowerShell in Visual Studio Code for AVD
Results – AVD Management Using Visual Studio Code Instead of PowerShell ISE
AVD Management Using Visual Studio Code Instead of PowerShell ISE – Table 1
AVD Management Using Visual Studio Code Instead of PowerShell ISE - Fig.1
AVD Management Using Visual Studio Code Instead of PowerShell ISE – Fig.1

If you don’t want to install Visual Studio code to manage AVD, use the latest version of PowerShell Core.

AVD Management Using Visual Studio Code Instead of PowerShell ISE - Fig.2
AVD Management Using Visual Studio Code Instead of PowerShell ISE – Fig.2

Install Visual Studio Code for AVD Management

Now, you will need to install Visual Studio Code for AVD management.

  • Download the Visual Studio Code for Windows 10 from Microsoft (Direct download).
  • Double-click on the VSCodeUserSetup-x64-1.46.0.exe to start the installation.
  • Accept the license terms and click on the Next button.
AVD Management Using Visual Studio Code Instead of PowerShell ISE - Fig.3
AVD Management Using Visual Studio Code Instead of PowerShell ISE – Fig.3

Select the installation folder

C:\Users\Anoop C Nair\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code

Click on the Next button to continue

AVD Management Using Visual Studio Code Instead of PowerShell ISE - Fig.4
AVD Management Using Visual Studio Code Instead of PowerShell ISE – Fig.4

Setup will create a shortcut Visual Studio Code folder in the start menu folder.

You can opt out of creating a start menu folder.

Click on Next to continue.

AVD Management Using Visual Studio Code Instead of PowerShell ISE - Fig.5
AVD Management Using Visual Studio Code Instead of PowerShell ISE – Fig.5

Select the additional options in this window. I have added the following options.

Add the “Open with Code” action to the Windows Explorer file context menu

Add the “Open with Code” action to the Windows Explorer directory context menu

  • Register Code as an editor for supported file types
  • Add to PATH (requires shell restart)
  • Click on Next to continue
AVD Management Using Visual Studio Code Instead of PowerShell ISE - Fig.6
AVD Management Using Visual Studio Code Instead of PowerShell ISE – Fig.6

Installing the Microsoft Visual Studio Code (User).

AVD Management Using Visual Studio Code Instead of PowerShell ISE - Fig.7
AVD Management Using Visual Studio Code Instead of PowerShell ISE – Fig.7

Installation of Microsoft Visual Studio code completed.

  • Click on FINISH to launch the Visual Studio code app.
AVD Management Using Visual Studio Code Instead of PowerShell ISE - Fig.8
AVD Management Using Visual Studio Code Instead of PowerShell ISE – Fig.8

Configure PowerShell in Visual Studio Code for AVD

You will need to configure PowerShell in Visual Studio Code for AVD.

  1. Press Ctrl+P (Quick-Open) to launch the search option
  2. In Quick-Open, type ext install powershell, Press Enter.
  3. Select the Powershell Extension for Visual Studio Code (PowerShell Scripts in Visual Studio code).
  4. Click on the Install button to continue.
AVD Management Using Visual Studio Code Instead of PowerShell ISE - Fig.9
AVD Management Using Visual Studio Code Instead of PowerShell ISE – Fig.9
  • Run the Following Commands from the Terminal.
Install-Module -Name Microsoft.RDInfra.RDPowerShell

Install-Module -Name Az.DesktopVirtualization -RequiredVersion 2.1.0

Import-Module -Name Microsoft.RDInfra.RDPowerShell
AVD Management Using Visual Studio Code Instead of PowerShell ISE - Fig.10
AVD Management Using Visual Studio Code Instead of PowerShell ISE – Fig.10

Run the following commands to select the appropriate subscription.

Connect-AzAccount

Get-AzSubscription | Out-GridView -PassThru | Select-AzSubscription

Update-AzWvdHostPool -ResourceGroupName WVD-Resource-Group -Name HostPool -StartVMOnConnect:$True
AVD Management Using Visual Studio Code Instead of PowerShell ISE - Fig.11
AVD Management Using Visual Studio Code Instead of PowerShell ISE – Fig.11

Select PowerShell ISE, as shown in the screenshot below. (I can’t get this option from the latest version of VS Code?).

AVD Management Using Visual Studio Code Instead of PowerShell ISE - Fig.12
AVD Management Using Visual Studio Code Instead of PowerShell ISE – Fig.12
FunctionISE BindingVS Code Binding
Interrupt and break debuggerCtrl+BF6
Execute current line/highlighted textF8F8
List available snippetsCtrl+JCtrl+Alt+J
AVD Management Using Visual Studio Code Instead of PowerShell ISE – Table 2

Results – AVD Management Using Visual Studio Code Instead of PowerShell ISE

I can get a very similar experience as PowerShell ISE using VS code (Visual Studio Code). More details are below:

  • If you already imported the PowerShell modules on your Windows 10 device, you don’t have to import them again.
  • You can have the Terminal window on the left side.
  • You can now use the existing PS1 files using Visual Studio code.
AVD Management Using Visual Studio Code Instead of PowerShell ISE - Fig.13
AVD Management Using Visual Studio Code Instead of PowerShell ISE – Fig.13
  • The following are the sample PowerShell core commands you can try in VS code to manage AVD V2.
>Get-AzWvdSessionHost -HostPoolName $Hostpoolname -ResourceGroupName $ResourcegroupName | Format-List
>Get-AzWvdHostPool -ResourceGroupName $ResourcegroupName | Format-List
AVD Management Using Visual Studio Code Instead of PowerShell ISE - Fig.14
AVD Management Using Visual Studio Code Instead of PowerShell ISE – Fig.14

Resources

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Author

Anoop C Nair is Microsoft MVP! He is a Device Management Admin with more than 20 years of experience (calculation done in 2021) in IT. He is a Blogger, Speaker, and Local User Group HTMD Community leader. His primary focus is Device Management technologies like SCCM 2012, Current Branch, and Intune. He writes about ConfigMgr, Windows 11, Windows 10, Azure AD, Microsoft Intune, Windows 365, AVD, etc.

4 thoughts on “AVD Management Using Visual Studio Code Instead of PowerShell ISE”

  1. Hi, thanks for your article. Is it possible to use Visual Studio in WVD? Do I use the normal installation package or is there a special one?

    Reply

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