{"id":8545,"date":"2021-06-13T13:31:02","date_gmt":"2021-06-13T13:31:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.cloudthat.com\/?p=8545"},"modified":"2024-06-25T11:07:51","modified_gmt":"2024-06-25T11:07:51","slug":"step-by-step-guide-for-software-deployment-to-amazon-workspaces","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.cloudthat.com\/resources\/blog\/step-by-step-guide-for-software-deployment-to-amazon-workspaces","title":{"rendered":"Step-by-Step Guide for Software Deployment to Amazon WorkSpaces"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Businesses globally are finding flexible ways of enabling their workforce to work from remote locations, using remote technologies for business continuity. This has led to a significant rise in the virtual desktop infrastructure issue as a large number of users connect to their systems simultaneously.<\/p>\n<p>The possible reasons could be related to one or more issues as mentioned below:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Performance:<\/strong> they have not been placed under the demand of higher CPU thresholds and graphics requirements<\/li>\n<li><strong>Bandwidth:<\/strong> network connectivity factoring the download speed<\/li>\n<li><strong>Scaling:<\/strong> they cannot scale on-demand and provisioning the capacity is time-consuming and requires more resources<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>AWS offers a virtual desktop solution that enables you to provision workspaces on the spot for all the users with security. Amazon WorkSpaces is also known as Desktop-as-a-service, and it is the same as your office computer and functionality from the office computers. You can create Windows or Linux desktop configuration which will have all the software and application that your team uses in office and access to your file systems as well.<\/p>\n<p>In this post, I have demonstrated the steps involved in the deployment of software on WorkSpaces using Systems Manager.<\/p>\n<p>Here I am deploying a notepad++ application on a Windows 10 client.<\/p>\n<p>Note: The WorkSpaces service is not available in all the AWS region so chose the region where the service is available.<\/p>\n<h2><strong><span lang=\"EN-US\">How to deploy notepad++ to Amazon workspace using AWS System manager?<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li>Sign-in into the AWS console chose Amazon <strong>WorkSpaces<\/strong>, and then click <strong>Get Started Now<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>On the Get Started with Workspaces window, select <strong>Quick Setup<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Under <strong>Bundles<\/strong>, chose <strong>Standard Windows 10 Free tier eligible.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Under the <strong>User Details<\/strong>, enter the Username for your workspace, email address and the name and continue to <strong>Launch Workspaces.<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/content.cloudthat.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/WS1.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-8546\" src=\"https:\/\/content.cloudthat.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/WS1.png\" alt=\"Amazon Workspaces\" width=\"626\" height=\"105\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>The launch process will take approximately 15-20 min to complete. You will receive a confirmation email to the given email address in step 4, and this email includes the profile activation link and the registration code for your workspace.<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/content.cloudthat.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/WS2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-8547\" src=\"https:\/\/content.cloudthat.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/WS2.png\" alt=\"Amazon Workspaces\" width=\"813\" height=\"347\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/content.cloudthat.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/WS3.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-8548\" src=\"https:\/\/content.cloudthat.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/WS3.png\" alt=\"Amazon Workspaces\" width=\"494\" height=\"222\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/content.cloudthat.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/WS31.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-8549\" src=\"https:\/\/content.cloudthat.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/WS31.png\" alt=\"Amazon Workspaces\" width=\"494\" height=\"222\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Click on the profile activation link, enter a password for your profile and select <strong>Update user<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>After setting up the credentials, you will be redirected to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/clients.amazonworkspaces.com\/\">https:\/\/clients.amazonworkspaces.com<\/a> where you can check the connection status, download client devices.<\/li>\n<li>Now, you can download the client device and set up the Amazon WorkSpaces.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2><strong>How to create an activation that enables you to centrally manage your WorkSpaces and EC2 instances?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li>In the <strong>System Manager<\/strong> console, under <strong>Node Management<\/strong>, select <strong>Hybrid Activations<\/strong>. Then choose to\u00a0<strong>Create an Activation<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Under the <strong>Activation Settings<\/strong>, enter a description for your activation, the number of instances to manage, and the IAM role which allows the communication between SSM agent and the managed instances and enter an optional default instance name<\/li>\n<li>After entering all these settings choose to\u00a0<strong>Create Activation<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/content.cloudthat.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/WS4.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-8550\" src=\"https:\/\/content.cloudthat.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/WS4.png\" alt=\"Amazon Workspaces\" width=\"356\" height=\"344\" \/><\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li>When the activation is successful, ensure that the activation code and activation ID is copied. You need them in the next step.<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/content.cloudthat.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/WS5.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-8551\" src=\"https:\/\/content.cloudthat.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/WS5.png\" alt=\"Amazon Workspaces\" width=\"624\" height=\"101\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Now, launch your WorkSpaces client application you downloaded from <a href=\"https:\/\/clients.amazonworkspaces.com\/\">https:\/\/clients.amazonworkspaces.com<\/a> and Register it.<\/li>\n<li>Then, enter your username and password of WorkSpaces and click on Sign In<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/content.cloudthat.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/WS6.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-8552\" src=\"https:\/\/content.cloudthat.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/WS6.png\" alt=\"Amazon Workspaces\" width=\"382\" height=\"307\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Your AWS WorkSpaces will be launched in few seconds<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/content.cloudthat.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/WS7.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-8553\" src=\"https:\/\/content.cloudthat.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/WS7.png\" alt=\"Amazon Workspaces\" width=\"431\" height=\"323\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2><strong>Activate the SSM Agent on the WorkSpaces server:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li>Open PowerShell and run as an administrator from your WorkSpaces client application<\/li>\n<li>Copy and paste the following commands, but replace the activation code, activation ID and AWS Region which you have copied in the System manager Hybrid Activation process. Press <strong><strong>Enter<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<pre class=\"lang:default decode:true \">$code = \"activation-code\"\r\n$id = \"activation-id\"\r\n$region = \"region\"\r\n$dir = $env:TEMP + \"\\ssm\"\r\nNew-Item -ItemType directory -Path $dir -Force\r\ncd $dir\r\n(New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadFile(\"https:\/\/amazon-ssm-$region.s3.amazonaws.com\/latest\/windows_amd64\/AmazonSSMAgentSetup.exe\", $dir + \"\\AmazonSSMAgentSetup.exe\")\r\nStart-Process .\\AmazonSSMAgentSetup.exe -ArgumentList @(\"\/q\", \"\/log\", \"install.log\", \"CODE=$code\", \"ID=$id\", \"REGION=$region\") -Wait\r\nGet-Content ($env:ProgramData + \"\\Amazon\\SSM\\InstanceData\\registration\")\r\nGet-Service -Name \"AmazonSSMAgent\"\r\n<\/pre>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/content.cloudthat.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/WS8.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-8554\" src=\"https:\/\/content.cloudthat.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/WS8.png\" alt=\"Amazon Workspaces\" width=\"425\" height=\"305\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>The WorkSpaces is now a managed instance. It is displayed with the prefix \u201cmi\u201d in Systems Manager.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Let us run the command using system manager to install the Notepad++ application:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li>On the <strong>System Manager<\/strong> console, choose <strong>Run Command <\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Then, select the <strong>AWS-RunPowerShellScript<\/strong> document<\/li>\n<li>Under commands, enter the below commands\n<pre class=\"lang:default decode:true \">Write-Host \"Downloading $packageName\"\r\n        $webClient = New-Object System.Net.WebClient\r\n        $webClient.DownloadFile($package.url,$destinationPath)\r\n        }\r\n        }\r\n    foreach ($package in $packages) {\r\n        $packageName = $package.title\r\n        $fileName = Split-Path $package.url -Leaf\r\n        $destinationPath = $package.Destination + \"\\\" + $fileName\r\n        $Arguments = $package.Arguments\r\n        Write-Output \"Installing $packageName\"\r\n    Invoke-Expression -Command \"$destinationPath $Arguments\"\r\n    }\r\n}\r\nInstall-Npp<\/pre>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/content.cloudthat.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/WS9.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-8556\" src=\"https:\/\/content.cloudthat.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/WS9.png\" alt=\"Command Parameters\" width=\"471\" height=\"241\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Let the\u00a0Working Directory\u00a0and\u00a0Execution Timeout\u00a0fields take their default values, and then select\u00a0<strong>Choose instances manually<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Leave other fields at their default values, and then choose\u00a0<strong>Run<\/strong>.<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/content.cloudthat.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/WS10.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-8557\" src=\"https:\/\/content.cloudthat.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/WS10.png\" alt=\"Amazon Workspaces\" width=\"511\" height=\"251\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/content.cloudthat.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/WS11.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-8558\" src=\"https:\/\/content.cloudthat.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/WS11.png\" alt=\"Amazon Workspaces\" width=\"515\" height=\"145\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Once the status becomes Success, Verify NodePad++ is installed on your\u00a0 Workspace<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/content.cloudthat.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/WS12.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-8559\" src=\"https:\/\/content.cloudthat.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/WS12.png\" alt=\"Amazon Workspaces\" width=\"517\" height=\"144\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/content.cloudthat.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/WS13.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-8560\" src=\"https:\/\/content.cloudthat.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/WS13.png\" alt=\"Amazon Workspaces\" width=\"368\" height=\"312\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Now you can control the WorkSpaces environment with the help of the System Manager which makes it easier to execute the commands in a centralized panel. When setting up the WorkSpaces, you will have the option of AlwaysOn which will be for full-time flat fee use or the AutoStop option which gets charged only when the instance is running.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>This solution of WorkSpaces and System manager will help you to deploy software resources your teams need. And it helps to overcome the technical challenges in managing multiple virtual desktop environments such as patching the OS, monitoring and many others. It is crucial to make your team have everything they need to help your business to be productive and successful.<\/p>\n<p>Learn more about <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.cloudthat.com\/amazon-workspaces-transforming-traditional-it-environments\/?utm_source=blog-website&amp;utm-medium=text-link&amp;utm_campaign=amazon-workspaces-transforming-traditional-it-environments\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Amazon WorkSpaces: Transforming Traditional IT Environments here<\/strong>.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":228,"featured_media":8574,"parent":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","blog_category":[3606,3607],"user_email":"rekhas@cloudthat.com","published_by":"324","primary-authors":"","secondary-authors":"","acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cloudthat.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog\/8545"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cloudthat.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cloudthat.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/blog"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cloudthat.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/228"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cloudthat.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8545"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.cloudthat.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog\/8545\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45806,"href":"https:\/\/www.cloudthat.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog\/8545\/revisions\/45806"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cloudthat.com\/resources\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cloudthat.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"blog_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cloudthat.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog_category?post=8545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}