Implementing Remote Desktop Services User Profile Disks in Windows Server 2022

Introduction

User Profile Disks (UPD) is a feature of Remote Desktop Services (RDS) in Windows Server 2012 (and higher) that allows each user to have a separate, virtualized disk attached to their session. The contents of the disk are made available to the user regardless of which RDS server they connect to within a farm. This provides a consistent and reliable user experience, as well as simplifying the process of managing user profiles.

UPDs are implemented as VHDX files, and are attached to the user’s session when they log in. The VHDX file is then unmounted and detached from the session when the user logs out. When a user logs back in, their UPD is attached to their session once again.

Creating a UPD

To create a UPD, you must first create a blank VHDX file. This can be done using the Disk Management snap-in, or by using the New-VHD cmdlet in PowerShell. Once the VHDX file has been created, it must be attached to a session, and then formatted with a file system. This can be done using the Diskpart utility, or by using the Format-Volume cmdlet in PowerShell.

Configuring UPD Settings

Once a UPD has been created, there are a few settings that can be configured to optimize its performance. These settings can be found in the RDS Client Settings GPO, under the “User Profile Disk” node.

• The “Enable user profile disk” setting should be set to “Enabled”. This setting enables UPDs for all users that connect to the RDS farm.

• The “Maximum size of user profile disk” setting determines the maximum size of the UPD. This setting should be set to a value that is appropriate for the users that will be using UPDs.

• The “Do not allow passwords to be stored on user profile disks” setting prevents passwords from being stored on UPDs. This setting should be set to “Enabled” to prevent passwords from being stored in an insecure location.

Mapping a Network Drive to a UPD

It is often useful to map a network drive to a UPD. This can be done using the New-PSDrive cmdlet in PowerShell. For example, to map a network drive to the UPD of the user “contosouser1”, the following command could be used:

New-PSDrive -Name "U" -PSProvider "FileSystem" -Root "\contosouser1profile.vhdx"

Conclusion

UPDs are a valuable feature of RDS that can simplify the process of managing user profiles. By creating a UPD for each user, you can provide a consistent and reliable user experience, as well as reducing the amount of storage required for user profiles.

In Windows Server 2022, you can now implement user profile disks (UPDs) to roaming user profiles in a Remote Desktop Services (RDS) deployment. This allows users to have a consistent experience when they roam between RDS-connected computers.

To implement UPDs in an RDS deployment, you need to:

Configure the RDS deployment to use UPDs.

Create and assign UPDs to users.

Configure the RDS deployment to use UPDs

To configure an RDS deployment to use UPDs, you need to:

Enable the Use user profile disks group policy setting.

Configure the RDS deployment to use a shared folder for UPDs.

Enable the Use user profile disks group policy setting

You can use the Group Policy Management Console to enable the Use user profile disks group policy setting. The setting is located in the following location:

Computer ConfigurationPoliciesAdministrative TemplatesWindows ComponentsRemote Desktop ServicesRemote Desktop Session HostUser Profile Disks

When you enable this setting, you can also specify the location of the shared folder that will be used for UPDs.

Configure the RDS deployment to use a shared folder for UPDs

To use a shared folder for UPDs, you need to:

Create a shared folder on an RDS server.

Configure the RDS deployment to use the shared folder.

Create a shared folder on an RDS server

To create a shared folder on an RDS server, you need to:

Open the Server Manager console.

Click on the File and Storage Services role.

Click on Shares.

Click on Tasks and select New Share.

Configure the RDS deployment to use the shared folder

To configure the RDS deployment to use the shared folder, you need to:

Open the Remote Desktop Session Host Configuration console.

Click on the Profiles tab.

Click on Configure user profile disks.

Select the Enable user profile disks check box.

Specify the location of the shared folder in the User profile disk path box.

Click Apply and then click OK.

Assign UPDs to users

To assign UPDs to users, you need to:

Open the Remote Desktop Session Host Configuration console.

Click on the Profiles tab.

Click on Configure user profile disks.

Click on the User Profiles tab.

Click on New.

Specify the name of the user in the User name box.

Click Browse and select the user account in the Active Directory Users and Computers console.

Click OK.

Click Apply and then click OK.

The user will now be assigned a UPD.

Implementing Remote Desktop Services User Profile Disks in Windows Server 2022

User Profile Disks (UPD) provide a method of storing user and application data on a single virtual disk that is separate from the operating system disk. This allows the user data to be persisted across sessions and allows the profile to be Roamed to different machines.

In order to implement UPDs in Windows Server 2022, you will need to install the Remote Desktop Services role. Once the role has been installed, you will then need to create a new UPD by going to the “User Profile Disks” section in the “Remote Desktop Services” section of Server Manager.

Once you have created the new UPD, you will need to assign it to a user account. This can be done by going to the “User Accounts” section in Server Manager and selecting the user account that you want to assign the UPD to.

Once the UPD has been assigned to a user account, you will need to configure the UPD settings. The most important setting to configure is the “Profile Path” setting. This setting should be set to the path of the user’s profile directory on the UPD.

After the UPD has been created and assigned to a user account, you will need to configure the user’s profile to use the UPD. This can be done by editing the user’s registry hive and adding the following values:

“UserProfileDisk”=”UPD Path”

“UserProfileDiskEnabled”=dword:00000001

Once these values have been added to the registry, the user’s profile will be redirected to the UPD.

If you want to redirect the user’s entire profile to the UPD, you can also add the following value to the registry:

“UserProfileDiskMountPath”=”UPD Path”

After the user’s profile has been redirected to the UPD, you will need to configure the applications that the user will be using to use the UPD. This can be done by editing the application’s registry hive and adding the following values:

“UserProfileDisk”=”UPD Path”

“UserProfileDiskEnabled”=dword:00000001

After the application has been configured to use the UPD, the user will be able to Roam their profile and data to different machines.