Azure Virtual Desktop – Multimedia redirection is now available in preview

If you are using Windows Virtual Desktop (aka WVD, aka Azure Virtual Desktop, aka AVD) you may have a need to provide multimedia redirection to your users, allowing the use of the local client capabilities to play multimedia content instead of running it on the WVD session.

Well, good new, you can now have multimedia redirection enabled (in preview).

To take advantage of this capability, you need to:

• use the Windows Desktop Client (available here https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=2068602 for Windows 64-bit or https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=2098960 for Windows 32-bit) in version 1.2.2222 or later
• enable the browser extension for multimedia using group policies managing the extension available under Administrative Templates\Microsoft Edge\Extension\Configure extension management settings or Administrative Templates\Google\Google Chrome Extension\Configure extension management settings
• Microsoft Edge multimedia redirection; this example allows only YouTube video, you can manage allowed/blocked hosts using the runtime_allowed_hosts and runtime_blocked_hosts parameters

{ “joeclbldhdmoijbaagobkhlpfjglcihd”: { “installation_mode”: “force_installed”, “runtime_allowed_hosts”: [ “*://*.youtube.com” ], “runtime_blocked_hosts”: [ “*://*” ], “update_url”: “https://edge.microsoft.com/extensionwebstorebase/v1/crx” } }

• Google Chrome multimedia redirection (you will need to have installed the Chrome ADMX files); this example allows only YouTube video, you can manage allowed/blocked hosts using the runtime_allowed_hosts and runtime_blocked_hosts parameters

{ “lfmemoeeciijgkjkgbgikoonlkabmlno”: { “installation_mode”: “force_installed”, “runtime_allowed_hosts”: [ “*://*.youtube.com” ], “runtime_blocked_hosts”: [ “*://*” ], “toolbar_pin”: “force_pinned”, “update_url”: “https://clients2.google.com/service/update2/crx” } }

• install the Multimedia Redirector service on the virtual machine, available at https://query.prod.cms.rt.microsoft.com/cms/api/am/binary/RWIzIk
• enable the virtual machine to be in the Insider group using the registry key
• Key: HKLM\Software\Microsoft\MSRDC\Policies
• Type: REG_SZ
• Name: ReleaseRing
• Data: Insider

You are ready to use multimedia redirection.

Known Issues

• It only works on the Windows Desktop client, not the web client
• Protected content (like Netflix) is not supported
• Resizing the video window is adjusting faster than the video content itself