Before you begin
- A connected Azure subscription (set up during initial Atlas AVD setup)
- A resource group for the pool (you can also create one from the wizard); the pool is deployed to that resource group's region
- An existing virtual network and subnet with line-of-sight to your identity provider, or let the wizard create a new VNet, subnet, and network security group
- Entra users or groups to assign, with licensing that entitles them to AVD
- The host pool provisioning permission (an administrator can grant it)
- To have the wizard create role assignments, the Atlas app registration needs Role Based Access Control Administrator (the setup script grants it, limited to the AVD roles Atlas assigns) or Owner on the subscription or resource group
1. Open Host Pools and start the wizard
Go to Host Pools in the sidebar (under Workspace). When a tenant has no host pools yet, the page shows a short walkthrough with four steps: Welcome, Concepts, Prerequisites, and Deploy. It explains what a host pool is and previews the six wizard steps. Use Next and Back to move through it, or Skip walkthrough to collapse it to a compact No Host Pools Yet card (the choice is remembered per tenant, and Show walkthrough brings it back).
Click Create Host Pool, either on the last walkthrough step or in the page header. The button appears only if you hold the provisioning permission. The Deploy Host Pool wizard opens in place, with a step bar across the top and a Deployment Summary panel on the right that fills in as you go.
Your progress is saved automatically as a draft for you and the current tenant, so you can step away and pick up where you left off. Use Clear draft to start over.
2. Basics: pick the resource group and name the pool
Step 1 of 6. Choose the resource group, or create one with the + button. The pool is deployed to the resource group's region, shown under the field. Enter the host pool name (3–64 letters, numbers, hyphens, or underscores) and, optionally, a friendly name: a display name with spaces that Atlas shows on dashboards and reports.
3. Basics: choose the application type and Pooled or Personal
Still on Basics, pick the application type: Full Desktop gives users a complete Windows desktop, Published Apps gives them only the applications you publish.
Then choose the host pool type. Pooled shares session hosts across many users, load-balanced for cost efficiency; Personal gives each user a dedicated session host. Personal pools also ask for an assignment type: Automatic assigns a host on the user's first sign-in, Direct lets admins assign users to specific hosts. Personal pools show an Assigned User column in the session-host table. Click Next.
Next stays disabled until the current step is complete, and a short message under it says what is still missing.
4. Access: add users and groups
Step 2 of 6. Search for and add the Entra users and groups who will use the pool. Each one shows the roles they'll be given (Desktop Virtualization User and Virtual Machine User Login). You can also skip this and add people later from the pool's settings.
5. Networking: connect the pool to a network
Step 3 of 6. Turn on Use Existing VNet to pick a VNet and subnet you already have, or leave it off and Atlas creates a new VNet, subnet, and network security group from the address prefixes shown. Optionally deploy a NAT gateway for a static outbound IP, and set custom DNS servers under Advanced Networking (leave it empty to use Azure's default DNS).
The NAT gateway is the main ongoing cost of an empty pool. Turn it off if you don't need a static outbound IP or you're using an existing outbound path.
6. Security & Roles: let your users sign in
Step 4 of 6. Deploy Role Assignments gives the selected users and groups access to the pool. Atlas first checks that its app registration can create role assignments and shows the result. If it can't, you can continue without them and assign roles manually after deployment.
7. Monitoring: send diagnostics and register with a workspace
Step 5 of 6. Deploy Diagnostic Settings sends host pool logs to a Log Analytics workspace for AVD Insights. Atlas defaults to the workspace it created for your deployment, and you can choose another. Register with AVD Workspace adds the pool's application group to an AVD workspace so users see the desktop in the Windows App and Remote Desktop client. Pick a workspace, or create a new one from this step.
8. Review & Deploy: check names and cost, then deploy
Step 6 of 6. Review & Deploy lists every resource that will be created and the names Atlas generated from the host pool name. Adjust any of them now, because Azure resource names can't be changed after the pool is created. The Estimated Azure cost card shows the fixed monthly charge for an empty pool (mostly the NAT gateway, if you deployed one) and the usage-based charges. Tick the acknowledgement, then click Deploy Host Pool.
The wizard creates the host pool and its supporting resources, not VMs. You add session hosts next, from the pool's page. Cost estimates cover Azure commercial pricing only, not GCC High.
9. Watch the deployment
Atlas deploys each resource in order (network security group, virtual network, public IP, NAT gateway, host pool, application group, workspace registration, role assignments and diagnostic settings) and shows the status of each as it goes. Deployment typically takes 2–5 minutes.
10. Open your new host pool
When every resource is provisioned, the What's next panel offers Go to this Host Pool, View Resource Group, Manage Host Pools, and Deploy Another Host Pool. Click Go to this Host Pool. The pool's page shows its name, resource group, region and type, with Create Host in the header and the pool's metrics and Session Hosts table below. It's empty until you add hosts.
11. Add your first session hosts
On the pool's page, click Create Host. The Deploy Session Host page steps through Configure, Verify Quota, and Provision. In Configure, choose the image (for example Windows 11 Enterprise multi-session) and image version, the VM size, a name prefix (use # for the running number), and the number of VMs. The Deployment summary shows the cost per hour before you click Create.
Start with one or two hosts. Atlas Compass can scale the pool up and down on a schedule later (see Scaling Configuration).
12. Watch your session hosts come online
Atlas creates the VMs and registers them with the pool. The new hosts appear in the Session Hosts table with the status Creating. When they report Available, users you assigned can sign in from the Windows App.