In this blog we are going to see how we can configure multimedia redirection in Windows 365 using the “AVD multimedia redirection extension. The multimedia redirection works only in MS edge and Chrome and only supports a handful of websites officially. The option to redirect all media contents from any website is in preview and can be enabled from the extension. Also, to support the redirection the client version needs to be Windows Desktop client, version 1.2.3916 or later.
Deploy and enable the extension.
The first step is to deploy the AVD Multimedia redirection extension using the MSI https://aka.ms/avdmmr/msi. The software doesn’t need any configuration during the installation.
Once deployed you need to enable the extension in MS edge and chrome. To enable the extension manually, open the browser and click on extensions–>enable extension.
You can also enable the extension using GPO. Follow the steps mentioned below to configure the extension via GPO.
To enable the extension via GPO, download the ADMX template for Edge and Chrome and configure the settings as mentioned below.
- Download the GPO policy template from https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/edge/business/download?form=MA13FJ
- Copy the amdx and adml files into C:\Windows\PolicyDefinitions.
- Open gpedit.msc and navigate to Computer Configuration –> Administrative templates –>Microsoft Edge –> Extensions
- Open the “Configure extension management settings” settings and click enabled.
- In the “Configure extension management settings” enter the below json.
- { “joeclbldhdmoijbaagobkhlpfjglcihd”: { “installation_mode”: “force_installed”, “update_url”: “https://edge.microsoft.com/extensionwebstorebase/v1/crx” } }
Verify the redirection functionality.
Navigate to your browser(Edge or chrome) and click on the redirection extension.
Open any website which is supportable like YouTube, Twitter, twitch etc. You will see the extension has a green play mark which indicates that the multimedia redirection is successful.
Redirection results
The HD videos play without buffering and without consuming all the W365 resources.
Below screenshot shows the W365 utilization before the redirection.
Screenshot taken after enabling the multimedia redirection
Definitely enabling multimedia redirection helps in a better video experience for end users inside W365.
VDI Tech Blogs 