Q: Can I use Windows Intune in a Virtual Desktop Infrastructure environment?

A: Windows Intune is the Microsoft desktop management Software as a Service (SaaS) offering, which means all the server components run in Microsoft data centers, with no infrastructure needed at a company’s data center. The only requirement for Intune is a small client installed on the desktop OS.

Windows Intune is supported in virtual environments. It runs in virtual instances (such as XP Mode or just another client OS) on a physical desktop OS and is also supported for client OSs running in a data center virtual environment, which is common with Virtual Desktop Infrastructure environments.

Remember that you can’t run Windows Intune on any server OS, so you can’t install it on Hyper-V, nor can you use it on session-based virtualization products such as Remote Desktop Session Host (RDSH--formally known as Terminal Services).

There is a scenario where Windows Intune isn’t supported in a Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) environment. Some VDI solutions leverage a single gold image, which is the master client OS image. When a user connects, new virtual machines (VMs) are created from this gold image, then, when the user logs off, the image is deleted.

Essentially the VDI client OSs are constantly being created and deleted, which is known as "dynamic VDI." Normally, the Windows Intune client enrolls with the Windows Intune cloud-based service. With a dynamic VDI solution, every time a new client VM is created, a new Intune client enrolls. Because these new clients aren’t deleted from Intune, they’re not unenrolled, making licensing and management very difficult.

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