Assigning Scaling Plan Permissions in Azure Virtual Desktop

AZ-140 Last updated

Plan, implement, and manage networking for Azure Virtual Desktop

Short answer

A Assigning the Azure Virtual Desktop service principal the Owner role for Sub1 meets the goal by providing the necessary permissions for autoscaling management.

Question

Note: This section contains one or more sets of questions with the same scenario and problem. Each question presents a unique solution to the problem. You must determine whether the solution meets the stated goals. More than one solution in the set might solve the problem. It is also possible that none of the solutions in the set solve the problem. After you answer a question in this section, you will NOT be able to return. As a result, these questions do not appear on the Review Screen. You have an Azure subscription named Sub1 that contains the resources shown in the following table. You have a user named Admin1 that is assigned the Desktop Virtualization Contributor role for Sub1. You need to ensure that Admin1 can assign Scaling1 to Pool1. Solution: You assign the Azure Virtual Desktop service principal the Owner role for Sub1. Does this meet the goal? - Exhibit: Assigning Scaling Plan Permissions in Azure Virtual Desktop

  1. Yes Correct Answer
  2. No

Key Takeaways

The core test is whether you know that the AVD service principal needs specific high-level permissions (Owner) on the subscription to manage session hosts for autoscaling, which is often overlooked compared to standard contributor roles.

This question evaluates the prerequisites for assigning a scaling plan to an AVD host pool, specifically focusing on the RBAC permissions required by the Azure Virtual Desktop service principal. The correct solution involves granting the Owner role to ensure proper access.

Common mistake: Many candidates select 'No' because they assume the existing Desktop Virtualization Contributor role assigned to Admin1 is sufficient, failing to realize that the *service principal* itself requires elevated permissions to perform the assignment or management actions effectively.

Expert Analysis

Why the Answer Is Correct

The solution meets the goal because assigning the Azure Virtual Desktop service principal the Owner role for the subscription provides the necessary permissions for the platform to manage the power state and resources of the session hosts. According to Microsoft documentation, you must grant Azure Virtual Desktop access to manage the power state of your session host VMs, which requires Microsoft.Authorization/roleAssignments/write permission on the subscriptions. The Owner role fulfills this requirement.

Why the Other Options Are Wrong

Selecting 'No' is incorrect because while Admin1 has the Desktop Virtualization Contributor role, the critical missing piece for autoscaling functionality is the service principal's ability to interact with the underlying infrastructure. Without the Owner role (or equivalent permissions like Contributor on the resource group containing the VMs), the service principal cannot effectively manage the hosts as required by the scaling plan.

Community Comment Notes

Community consensus strongly supports 'Yes', with many users citing the official Microsoft Learn documentation on autoscaling prerequisites. One user noted, "You must grant Azure Virtual Desktop access to manage the power state of your session host VMs," highlighting the specific permission need. Another user pointed out that the Desktop Virtualization Contributor role alone doesn't address the service principal's requirements, reinforcing why the additional Owner role assignment is the correct step.

Official Reference

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-desktop/autoscale-create-assign-scaling-plan?tabs=portal%2Cintune&pivots=power-management

Exam Strategy

Always distinguish between the permissions required for a user (Admin1) and those required for the platform's service principal. For AVD features like autoscaling, check if the service principal needs elevated subscription-level permissions to manage the underlying VMs.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does the service principal need the Owner role?

The service principal requires permissions to manage the power state and resources of session host VMs, which the Owner role provides at the subscription level.

Is Desktop Virtualization Contributor enough for Admin1?

Admin1 has this role, but the question focuses on enabling the service principal's capabilities for autoscaling, which requires additional permissions.

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Community Votes

A
75%
B
25%

75% of anonymous learners picked answer A. Votes are pick records left by other test-takers — they are not the verified answer.

Discussion 4 contributions

Compiled from public community threads and reader submissions, lightly edited for clarity. Handles and vote tallies are shown as recorded.

From public community threads 4

  1. sKostas 👍 5 Answered A
    Yes, it does. It is in the Prerequisites. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-desktop/autoscale-create-assign-scaling-plan?tabs=portal%2Cintune&pivots=power-management
  2. jeff1988 👍 2 Answered B
    B. No Assigning the Azure Virtual Desktop service principal the Owner role for Sub1 does not directly address the requirement for Admin1 to assign Scaling1 to Pool1. The Desktop Virtualization Contributor role already provides sufficient permissions for managing Azure Virtual Desktop resources, including scaling plans. Therefore, the solution does not meet the goal.
  3. zuzmo483 👍 1 Answered A
    https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-desktop/autoscale-create-assign-scaling-plan?tabs=portal%2Cintune&pivots=power-management "You must grant Azure Virtual Desktop access to manage the power state of your session host VMs. You must have the Microsoft.Authorization/roleAssignments/write permission on your subscriptions in order to assign the role-based access control (RBAC) role for the Azure Virtual Desktop service principal on those subscriptions. This is part of User Access Administrator and Owner built in roles."
  4. lukiduc9625 👍 1
    Strange question... I suppose that is something wrong in question text: there is mentioned that Admin1 already is assigned Desktop Virtualization Contributor role for Sub1 and it is sufficient to assigning Scaling1 to Pool1 (and much more). It isn't necessary to implement any additional "solution"

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