by Ray Davis
During this COVID-19 pandemic, I had to build 500 VDI desktops. I could only use dedicated machines because of how some software is licensed. I didn’t really care for this, but I had to do what was needed to provide remote support. This was my experience, in getting an automatic reboot with MCS Static (dedicated machines).
- Set the Delivery Group to the following.
- I set the peak hours to be 24/7.
- I specified that when the user logs off, it will shut down the machine.
- I will explain this in more depth below.
5. We have a disconnect timer set to 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, it will log the users off. Based on the value set for “when logged off-Shutdown” (shown above), it will kick-in to send the machine into a shutdown state.
6. In order to have machines power on automatically during peak hours, run the following command against the Static/Persistent Desktop Delivery Group. I had to set the CLI in each DG to make it seem that the machines are assigned and to turn back on. I found this command on George Spiers’ site. https://www.jgspiers.com/xendesktop-xenapp-power-management/Set-BrokerDesktopGroup -Name “test Desktop” -AutomaticPowerOnForAssignedDuringPeak $true
7. The command will tell the Catalog to turn the machines back on during the peak hour windows. Being that our peak hour windows are set for 24/7, I guess you can say it created a reboot schedule 12.
8. Here is an example of a Session that is in a Disconnected state.
9. Session time in the disconnected state (in 5 minutes it will log me off, and trigger a shutdown)
10. After the timer hits 5 minutes you can see what happens below.
11. In VMware the results, once the Disconnect time happens, or the user actually logs off.
12. VDA registered 30 seconds later.
13. Desktop Launched successfully. 7:41 pm
This is a quick and simple way to get reboot on Static-dedicated MSC machines.
