Amazon WorkSpaces quick setup

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Before you begin
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Instructions
3
Good to know
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Before you begin

  • Amazon WorkSpaces allows you to choose a virtual desktop based on Microsoft Windows, Amazon Linux 2, or Ubuntu Desktop operating systems in a variety of underlying CPU, graphics, memory, and storage configurations to fit your use case. You can even bring your own Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise license for use on Amazon WorkSpaces. 

    A WorkSpace is a cloud-based virtual desktop within Amazon WorkSpaces that collects and provides an organization’s content, resources, and tools in a secure, fully managed solution.

    Amazon WorkSpaces helps businesses: 

    • Enable a remote and hybrid workforce 
    • Accelerate time to productivity for new users
    • Avoid infrastructure overprovisioning with pay-as-you-go hourly billing
    • Empower developers to quickly build, test, and deploy code across multiple environments
    • Create virtual learning environments

  • Amazon WorkSpaces Quick Setup is a do-it-yourself (DIY) virtual desktop deployment tool that lets you launch WorkSpaces in a few minutes.

    It is designed to easily deploy WorkSpaces by automating the following setup tasks:

    • Creating an entity, called AWS Identity and access Management (IAM) role, to assign specific permissions to users. This allows trusted identities to perform actions within AWS. WorkSpaces creates a new IAM role for you (named workspaces_DefaultRole). You can customize this IAM role later, if needed. 
    • Creating a secure, isolated, virtual private cloud (VPC), which allows you to launch your WorkSpaces in a logically isolated virtual network, hosted remotely by AWS. If you already have your own AWS VPC and want to use it instead, make sure it meets the requirements noted in Configure a VPC for WorkSpaces. 
    • Setting up a directory in the VPC, called the Simple Active Directory (AD), to store user and WorkSpaces information. A Simple AD is compatible with Microsoft Active Directory and hosted on AWS.
    • Creating specified AWS accounts and adding them to the directory. The first AWS account created by quick setup is your admin AWS account. You cannot update this AWS account from the WorkSpaces Console. Do not share the information for this account with anyone else. 
    • Creating WorkSpaces. Each WorkSpace receives a public IP address to allow internet access. The default mode is AlwaysOn, which allows users to immediately access a WorkSpace anytime they log in. The running mode of a WorkSpace determines its immediate availability and how you pay for it (monthly or hourly). You can choose between the AlwaysOn and AutoStop (see Manage the WorkSpace running mode for details).
    • Sending invitation emails to the specified users. Users then log in to their account using the instructions provided in their invitation email.
  1. You should have an AWS account. If you do not have an AWS account, you can create one. End users (employees, contractors, etc.) do not need an AWS account to connect and use WorkSpaces.
  2.  Select from the following AWS Regions to deploy WorkSpaces:
    • US East (N. Virginia)
    • US West (Oregon)
    • Europe (Ireland)
    • Asia Pacific (Singapore)
    • Asia Pacific (Sydney)
    • Asia Pacific (Tokyo)

Read more about WorkSpaces pricing by AWS Region. 

Instructions

1. Open the WorkSpaces console at https://console.aws.amazon.com/workspaces/. 

2. Choose Quick setup.

*Note: If you do not see the quick setup button, there are two possible reasons

  • You have already launched a WorkSpace in this Region, or

  • You are not using one of the Regions that support quick setup.
    In this case, either change the AWS Region using the dropdown in the upper right corner of the console screen or, if you need to launch a virtual desktop in a Region without quick setup, see Launch a virtual desktop using WorkSpaces.

3. The console will prompt you to Create users. Enter the Username, First Name, Last Name, and Email. Then choose Next.

*Note Users complete their profiles by specifying a password

If this is your first time using WorkSpaces, we recommend creating an end user profile for yourself for testing purposes.

4. When you launch a WorkSpace, select a bundle that best fits your use case. You will also choose which streaming protocol you prefer for your end users. WorkSpaces supports two streaming protocols: PC over IP (PCoIP) and WorkSpaces Streaming Protocol (WSP). To decide which protocol works best for your use case, see protocols for Amazon WorkSpaces. 

5. Review your information. Then choose Create WorkSpace

Note:  It will take approximately 20 minutes for your newly created WorkSpace to become available. To monitor progress, follow the steps. 

  • Choose Directories on the left navigation pane. You will see a directory being created with an initial status of REQUESTED.  It will change to CREATING. Once the directory is created, it will show as ACTIVE.

  • Choose WorkSpaces in the left navigation pane to monitor the progress of the WorkSpace launch process. The initial status of the WorkSpace will show as PENDING. When the launch is complete, the status will change to AVAILABLE, and an invitation email will automatically be sent to the email address that you specified for each user. If your users do not receive their invitation emails, see Send an invitation email.

  1. If you have not set up credentials for the user already, open the invitation email (received on the email address entered in step 1) and follow the directions. 

    *Note: Passwords are case sensitive and must be between 8 and 64 characters in length. 

    Passwords must contain at least one character from each of the following categories: lowercase letters (a-z), uppercase letters (A-Z), numbers (0-9), and one of the following special characters ~!@#$%^&*_-+=`|\(){}[]:;"'<>,.?/.

  2. End users can access their WorkSpace using their browser or the WorkSpaces client application for their endpoint device. Each client has different requirements to connect to the WorkSpace. Review requirements for each client. 

  3. When prompted, download one of the client applications or launch Web Access.  You cannot use a web browser (Web Access) to connect to Amazon Linux WorkSpaces (see details).

  4. Using the client or Web Access, enter the registration code from the invitation email, and choose Register.

  5. When prompted to sign in, enter the sign-in credentials, and then click Sign In. After you sign in, the client displays the WorkSpace desktop.

You can continue to customize the WorkSpace that you just created. For example, you can install a software or perform various administrative tasks for your WorkSpaces and your WorkSpaces directory. For more information, see the following documentation. 

Read more about WorkSpaces Clients and Peripheral Device Support in the Amazon WorkSpaces User Guide.

Good to know

Beginning August 1, 2023, you can use your own Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise licenses with Amazon WorkSpaces through a "bring your own license" (BYOL) model. You can choose from a variety of instance types and operating systems including Microsoft Windows, Amazon Linux 2, and Ubuntu Desktop. 

Related resources:

Simple AD is made available to you free of charge to use with WorkSpaces. If there are no WorkSpaces being used with your Simple AD for 30 consecutive days, this directory will be automatically deregistered for use with Amazon WorkSpaces, and you will be charged for this directory as per the AWS Directory Service pricing terms. To avoid AWS Directory Service charges, make sure to delete empty directories (see Delete the directory for your WorkSpaces). If you delete your Simple AD, you can always create a new one when you want to start using WorkSpaces again.

To create additional WorkSpaces, do one of the following:

1. If you want to continue using the VPC and the Simple AD that were created by quick setup, you can add WorkSpaces for additional users by following the steps in the Step 2 Create a WorkSpace section of the Launch a WorkSpace Using Simple AD tutorial.

2. If you need to use another directory type or an existing Active Directory, see the appropriate tutorial in Launch a virtual desktop using WorkSpaces.

If you are finished with the WorkSpace that you created for this tutorial, you can delete it. For more information, see Delete a WorkSpace. To avoid AWS Directory Service charges, make sure to delete empty directories (see Delete the directory for your WorkSpaces).