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Azure Virtual Desktop Hybrid extends cloud-native desktop virtualization to existing on-premises infrastructure. The Azure Virtual Desktop service remains in Azure while applications and desktops are hosted on any on-premises hypervisor or physical (bare-metal) Windows Server.
Important
Azure Virtual Desktop Hybrid is currently in Public Preview and is only supported with validation host pools. If you deploy a production host pool then you will need to redeploy once Azure Virtual Desktop Hybrid is Generally Available. See the Supplemental Terms of Use for Microsoft Azure Previews for legal terms that apply to Azure features that are in preview or otherwise not yet released into general availability.
Key Capabilities
Cloud-managed service: Microsoft hosts and manages the Azure Virtual Desktop service in Azure. You control and maintain the on-premises session hosts.
Leverage existing infrastructure: Use your current datacenter resources to host virtual desktops and remote apps.
Broad hypervisor support: Platform-agnostic—you can run Azure Virtual Desktop session hosts on any on-premises hypervisor that supports Windows virtual machines.
Bare-metal server support: Remotely connect to Windows Server bare-metal servers configured as Azure Virtual Desktop session hosts.
Supported Operating Systems & Licensing
Azure Virtual Desktop Hybrid supports the following operating systems. Licensing consists of user entitlement and Azure Virtual Desktop Hybrid service licensing.
Important
The Azure Virtual Desktop Hybrid license is not required during Public Preview. This section will be updated with more details on the Azure Virtual Desktop Hybrid license when they are available.
Operating System support & User Entitlement
Users must be licensed for a supported operating system to access Azure Virtual Desktop Hybrid.
| Operating System | Licensing method | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Windows Server 2025 Windows Server 2022 Windows Server 2019 Windows Server 2016 |
Remote Desktop Services (RDS) Client Access License (CAL) with Software Assurance (per-user or per-device) RDS User Subscription Licenses. |
Supported on virtual machines and physical servers |
| Windows 11 Enterprise Windows 10 Enterprise |
Microsoft 365 E3, E5, A3, A5, F3, Business Premium, Student Use Benefit Windows Enterprise E3, E5 Windows Education A3, A5 Windows VDA per user Per-user access pricing by enrolling an Azure subscription. (External commercial purposes only) |
Only supported on virtual machines. Physical PCs are not supported |
| Windows 11 Enterprise multi-session Windows 10 Enterprise multi-session |
Not supported on Azure Virtual Desktop Hybrid. | Not Supported |
Session Host Deployment & Power Management
Azure Virtual Desktop Hybrid does not provision or manage virtual machine state therefore the following capabilities are not supported:
Session Host Power Management functions are not exposed in the Azure portal.
Auto-Scale is not supported.
Start VM on Connect is not supported.
Session Host Configuration is not supported.
Organizations are responsible for deploying and managing their chosen on-premises hosting platform using hypervisor tools, scripts, partner solutions, or other tools.