Update to 2.1

This is the first major version update of Schoolyear AVD. We have introduced versioning to accommodate updates that require larger architectural changes. You can learn more about our versioning policy here.

Version 2 is a substantial update with many new and exciting features. It is based on the feedback from our first users and our continued development efforts. We are proud to ship large improvements in the implementation, operations, image building and network architecture.

We understand that the number of changes may seem daunting, especially as you just finished your implementation. However, due to the many improvements, we believe performing this update will be much easier than your initial implementation.

Version 1 support

Version 1 will continue to be supported until its deprecation date September 1st 2026, as per our Versioning Policy. Supported versions will continue to receive security updates. However, feature updates are only available in the latest version.

Features

Add-on versioning

We have versioned our AVD Add-on. You will now see which version you are on, and you can pick which version you want during the installation. You can do the update in your own time, and you can have two add-ons with different versions installed at the same time.

Managed deployment template

In version 1 you had to manage the “Deployment Template” and every time an update was released, you had to manually redeploy each image. In some cases, you also had to edit this Deployment Template manually.

In version 2, you no longer have to manage this file. Schoolyear AVD now has a single deployment template that applies to all users, making updates to it automatic and instant.

This does, however, mean that you can no longer make adjustments to a custom deployment template. Instead, the customizations most users made to their template are now available as options in the AVD add-on.

The following adjustments can now be made from the AVD add-on:

• Virtual Machine size
• ChromeOS IP ranges
• Resource names
• Resource tags
• SSH public key for debugging

Overprovisioning

By default, Schoolyear AVD will deploy 2% (at least 5) more VMs than there are students in an exam. This has been shown to dramatically reduce deployment failures and speed up large (500+ VM) deployments considerably.

Static IP for outgoing traffic

Schoolyear AVD now utilizes a single VNet for all exams. All outgoing traffic from this VNet is routed through a single NAT gateway with a static public IP address. This means that any website students access during AVD-enabled exams will see this static IP as the source address. This is useful for applying IP-based whitelists in your exam applications.

License server peering

As mentioned, Schoolyear AVD now uses a single VNet for all exams. This simplifies license server peering.

In version 1, setting up a Private Endpoint Service with a load balancer was required. Now, a simple VNet peering is all that is needed to make the license server available during exams.

Simplified Add-on implementation

Deploying a new AVD implementation is now much simpler. You can set up a new deployment in a few steps when installing the new AVD add-on.

Implementation guide

Our updated implementation guide now includes all the necessary steps for a successful implementation. Previously, the guide focused only on installing the AVD add-on. Now, it provides more comprehensive guidance on preparing your organization to support the service.

Service controls

Our documentation now includes a list of service controls. This provides your service team with a guide for maintaining service operations.

Simplified image building

Feedback indicated that building images for Schoolyear AVD was too complex.

In this new version, we have significantly simplified the avdcli tool. The layer structure is simpler, and running the avdcli command no longer requires determining the correct parameters to use.

You can now copy and paste the required image building commands directly from the AVD add-on. These commands include all your deployment-specific parameters.

Automatic image replication

In version 1, large exam deployments were sometimes slowed by the bandwidth limits of Azure’s Image Galleries. Azure recommends at least one replica for every 50 concurrently deployed VMs. In practice, while this recommendation is generous, we have observed that more replicas lead to faster deployment times.

The updated avdcli tool automatically creates five replicas for each image, so you no longer need to manage this manually.

Experimental: MFA exception

By popular request, we have developed a guide on making an exception for Multi-Factor Authentication during exams. The feature is marked as experimental while it is being tested with selected customers.

Deprecations

In version 2, we have deprecated a few features. These features were either unused, misused, or could not be supported in the new architecture.

Images and the layer format

The format of the image layer folders has changed with the updated avdcli tool. While you can still use the tool to build version 1 images, building images for Schoolyear AVD 2 requires restructuring your image layers.

Your existing images are not compatible with version 2. This is because the deployment template is now managed by Schoolyear AVD.

We understand this change requires you to revisit and rebuild your images. We have taken steps to ensure compatibility for future updates, but these changes could not be applied retroactively to existing images.

See the update steps below for more information on converting your existing images.

Custom deployment templates

In version 2 you can no longer customize the deployment template. While the most common customizations are now available in the AVD add-on UI, it is no longer possible to change or add resources to the deployment.

Switching between regions

In version 1 you could switch between regions by changing the deployment region in the AVD add-on. Because version 2 uses a single VNet tied to a specific region, this is no longer possible.

Custom deletion time

In version 1 you could configure the time reserved for the deletion job of an exam. Because this option was confusing and simply unused, this is no longer configurable.

Schoolyear AVD now reserves 20 minutes for deletion jobs by default. This means that the quota for the exam is reserved until 20 minutes after the end of an exam.

Steps for updating

Updating from version 1 to version 2.1 involves the following steps:

1. Follow the Implementation Guide to install the new AVD add-on.
   • If you require a live update, you need to use a different subdomain than the one you are using for your current AVD add-on implementation. If you use the same subdomain as in version 1, your current AVD add-on will become unavailable once you change the DNS delegation. In that case, you can revert to version 1 by changing back the DNS delegation to its previous state.
   • You can use the same Azure Subscription for this new AVD add-on installation.
   • When asked for the name you want to give the Dynamic Group, you can use the name of the existing Dynamic Group you created for your current Schoolyear AVD implementation.
2. Convert your images to work with version 2
   • Follow the updated Custom Layer guide to restructure your existing layers.
   • Follow the updated Practical Guide to build your new images and configure Apps for them.
3. Uninstall version 1 by removing the following resources
   • Entra App Registration for version 1
   • Azure resource groups you created for version 1 (base resource group and image building resource group)
   • Schoolyear’s AVD add-on for version 1