How to enable Clipboard redirection for only AVD Hostpool Admin

Question

Is there a way to only allow Admins or specific users have clipboard redirection enabled for them when they login to the session host.

I observed that from the Azure portal, once the "rdp properties" is set to allow or not allow clipboard redirection , from the portal, no GPO policies (to allow or not allow users use clipboard or not) works . So if clipboard is enabled/disabledon the portal, allowing clipboard redirection for domain admins from the GPO does not have any effect. Please advise

Answer 1

you will need to combine RDP property configuration and GPO settings.

In Azure Virtual Desktop, the redirectclipboard:i:value RDP property controls clipboard redirection. Setting this to 1 enables clipboard redirection, while 0 disables it​​​​. You can customize RDP properties for your host pool either through the Azure portal or using PowerShell with the -CustomRdpProperty parameter in the Update-AzWvdHostPool cmdlet​​.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-desktop/rdp-properties#:~:text=Clipboard%20redirection%20redirectclipboard%3Ai%3Avalue%20%E2%9C%94%20%E2%9C%94,1

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-desktop/configure-device-redirections#:~:text=,disables%20clipboard%20redirection

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-desktop/customize-rdp-properties

After setting the clipboard redirection in AVD, you can use Group Policy to allow or disallow clipboard redirection for specific users or groups.

Answer 2

Hello @Sedat SALMAN , thank you for jumping on this. What you described above is exactly what I have done. From the hostpool, the clipboard redirection is disabled and with GPO, I have enabled it and exempted some users but the hostpool configuration is taking precedence and clipboard is disabled for EVERYONE.

From the last document:https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-desktop/customize-rdp-properties you shared, it was mentioned "...If you also configure device redirection settings using Group Policy objects (GPOs), the settings in the GPOs will override the RDP properties you specify on the host pool." But this is not the case, it does not work as described here. The hostpool property is overriding the GPO.

Answer 3

as an alternative approach maybe you can create a script to generate custom RDP files for specific users with the redirectclipboard:i:1 property enabled.

$username = "AdminUser"
$hostpoolName = "MyHostpool"
$workspace = "MyWorkspace"
$rdpFile = "$env:USERPROFILE\Desktop\$username.rdp"

$rdpSettings = @{
    redirectclipboard:i:1
}

New-AzWvdRdpFile -RdpProperty $rdpSettings -HostPoolName $hostpoolName -WorkspaceName $workspace -UserName $username -Path $rdpFile

and distribute it

Answer 4

@feenix1 Thanks for posting your query on Microsoft Q&A.

Have you tried to enable clipboard redirection at the host pool level and then use GPO targeted at specific users to disable?

Currently, the way RDP properties work are:

• RDP File (aka, RDP properties in the host pool) request or don't request the redirection.
• GPO on VMs allow or deny if requested

So you should be able to:

• Host Pool > RDP Properties: Allow clipboard redirection
• GPO: Deny clipboard redirection - All users but specific users/admins

Let me know in the comments if you have any questions.