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Connecting to Resources

This guide covers how to connect to the resources available in the ACX Lab through the Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) login experience, plus Azure portal access for AKS Arc and management tasks.

Connecting through Azure Virtual Desktop

Azure Virtual Desktop is the supported login experience for the ACX Lab. Use it to reach your lab desktop and access the tools needed for VM work, scripts, and day-to-day administration.

Steps

  1. Go to https://windows.cloud.microsoft or open the Windows app
  2. Sign in with your @adaptivecloudlab.com account
  3. Launch the ACX-AVD-DVM for a Azure Local Session Host, or ACX-AVD-DVM-Cloud for an Azure VM Session Host
  4. When the session opens, use the lab desktop to access your assigned resources and tools
  5. If prompted for credentials inside the session, use:
  6. Username: AC\youralias
  7. Password: Your on-prem AD password

Connecting to Azure Local Disconnected (ALDO)

Azure Local Disconnected (ALDO) access is available from inside an ACX Azure Virtual Desktop session. You must have AVD Session Host Access before you can reach the ALDO portal.

Prerequisite

Request or confirm AVD Session Host Access before connecting. If you do not see an ACX AVD desktop or app group after signing in, request access first and wait for provisioning to complete.

Steps

  1. Go to https://windows.cloud.microsoft or open the Windows app
  2. Sign in with your @adaptivecloudlab.com account
  3. Launch the ACX-AVD-DVM for an Azure Local Session Host
  4. When the session opens, open Microsoft Edge
  5. Browse to https://portal.aldo.adaptivecloudlab.com
  6. Sign in with your AdaptiveCloudLab.com credentials
  7. After sign-in completes, you will be in the ALDO Portal

!!! tip "Use AVD as the entry point" The ALDO portal is intended to be accessed from the ACX AVD session host path. Start with AVD, then open Edge inside the session and browse to the ALDO portal.

Connecting to Windows VMs

  1. Open the Azure portal from your AVD session and switch to the ACX Lab tenant.
  2. Navigate to Virtual machines and select your VM.
  3. Use the VM's private IP or name with the Remote Desktop client from inside AVD.
  4. Enter your credentials:
    • Username: AC\youralias
    • Password: Your on-prem AD password (from your registration email)

!!! note "If the VM is not responding" Check that the VM is running and that you are using the correct AD credentials. If the issue persists, contact the ACX Lab team.

Connecting to AKS Arc Clusters

AKS Arc clusters in the lab are Azure Arc-enabled, so you can manage them from the Azure portal or via kubectl from your AVD session.

Option A: Azure Portal

  1. Navigate to Kubernetes services in the Azure portal (ACX Lab tenant)
  2. Select your AKS Arc cluster
  3. Use the built-in Kubernetes resources blade to view workloads, services, and pods

Option B: kubectl with Azure AD

# Install the connectedk8s Azure CLI extension if not already installed
az extension add --name connectedk8s

# Log in to Azure with your Microsoft account
az login --tenant adaptivecloudlab.com

# Start the proxy connection for your cluster
az connectedk8s proxy -n Toronto-aksArc -g <resource-group>

In a separate terminal:

kubectl get nodes
kubectl get namespaces
kubectl -n <your-namespace> get pods

!!! info "Available AKS Arc Clusters" The ACX Lab has three AKS Arc clusters at the Toronto site:

- **Toronto-aksArc** — General-purpose Kubernetes workloads
- **tor-aksvi** — GPU-enabled cluster (NVIDIA A16) for AI/ML
- **tor-azcpe-aksarc1** — Edge/CPE workloads

Your namespace is provisioned with per-user RBAC on each cluster you have access to.

!!! warning "Namespace restrictions" You are only authorized to deploy workloads in your assigned namespace. Attempting to create resources in other namespaces will result in an RBAC permission denied error. See AKS Permission Denied if you hit issues.

Option C: Arc Run Command

  1. In the Azure portal, go to your AKS Arc cluster
  2. Navigate to Run command under the Kubernetes resources section
  3. Enter your kubectl command and click Run
  4. View the output in the portal

!!! note "Run Command timeout" Arc Run Command has a default timeout of 120 seconds. For long-running operations, use the kubectl proxy method instead.

Connecting to Linux VMs

  1. Open your Linux VM in the Azure portal from your AVD session.
  2. Copy the VM's private IP address.
  3. Use SSH from the AVD desktop:
ssh youralias@<vm-private-ip>

Use your AD password when prompted. For key-based auth, upload your public key through the Azure portal:

  1. Go to your VM → Reset password blade
  2. Select Reset SSH public key
  3. Paste your public key

Connection Quick Reference

Resource Type Method Credentials
Windows VM Remote Desktop from AVD AC\youralias + AD password
Linux VM SSH from AVD youralias + AD password
AKS Arc cluster kubectl proxy or portal Azure AD (your @microsoft.com account)
AVD session Azure Virtual Desktop client or browser @adaptivecloudlab.com account
ALDO portal Microsoft Edge inside AVD session AdaptiveCloudLab.com credentials