Sometimes small changes make a big difference in day-to-day operations.
With a recent update to Nerdio Manager for Enterprise (7.6.x), exactly such an improvement has been introduced — an enhancement to the image creation process for Azure Virtual Desktop that makes operational workflows noticeably more flexible and practical.
It is now possible to decide whether applications and scripted actions are deployed to the source image VM or to the cloned image VM. While this might sound like a minor option at first, it has a significant impact on testing, image consistency, and operational agility.
Release Note
When creating or modifying an image, you now have the option to deploy applications and scripted actions to either the source image or the cloned image.
To understand why this is such a valuable addition, it helps to look at how the process worked before.
The Previous Image Creation Approach
For a long time, the image creation workflow in Nerdio followed a very strict pattern:
- A new Desktop Image VM is created based on the Microsoft Image Gallery
- A temporary cloned VM is created from this image
- Applications and scripted actions are installed on the cloned VM
- Sysprep is executed
- The image is stored in the Azure Compute Gallery
The result was clear:
The Desktop Image VM itself always remained in the original state of the Microsoft Image Gallery.
All customizations existed only on the temporary cloned VM.
From an operational perspective, this led to several challenges:
- The Desktop Image VM could hardly be used for testing
- Image validation required a dedicated test host pool
- Urgent or unplanned changes were unnecessarily complex
The New Possibility: Customizations Directly on the Source VM
With the new feature, the image workflow can now be designed much more flexibly:
- A new Desktop Image VM is created based on the Microsoft Image Gallery
- Applications and scripted actions are installed directly on this VM
- A temporary cloned VM is created afterward
- Sysprep is executed
- The image is stored in the Azure Compute Gallery
The key difference is simple but powerful:
The Desktop Image VM now reflects the exact state of the image stored in the Azure Compute Gallery — in other words, the same image that will later be used in production.
What This Improves in Daily Operations
This new option provides several very practical benefits:
✅ Easier Testing
The Desktop Image VM can be started and validated directly, without the immediate need for a separate test host pool.
✅ Consistency Between Source and Image
The source VM and the final image are identical. This reduces unexpected differences and simplifies troubleshooting.
✅ Faster Response in Emergency Scenarios
In real-world environments, urgent changes are unavoidable. With the new approach:
- Start the Desktop Image VM
- Apply the required change
- Create a new image
The image creation workflow itself can then be refined or optimized afterward.
✅ Greater Operational Flexibility
Whether for planned updates or unplanned incidents, this approach aligns much better with enterprise operational requirements.
Conclusion
This enhancement makes the image creation process in Nerdio Manager for Enterprise noticeably more practical and operationally sound.
The ability to apply customizations directly to the source image VM simplifies testing, increases flexibility, and significantly improves the handling of urgent changes.
For me personally, this is one of the most valuable improvements in recent updates — because it addresses a real operational challenge that many AVD environments have faced for years.