AskAresh

This is part one of a two-part series on Windows 365 Cloud Apps. In this post, we’ll walk through what Cloud Apps are and how to create the provisioning policy with PowerShell. In part two, we’ll publish the apps themselves. I’ll also include the PowerShell script that uses Azure/Graph REST APIs.

What is Windows 365 Cloud Apps?

Windows 365 Cloud Apps let you give users access to specific apps streamed from a Cloud PC—without handing out a full desktop to everyone. Under the hood, Cloud Apps run on Windows 365 Frontline Cloud PCs in Shared mode. That licensing model is designed for shift or part-time staff: many users can be assigned, but only one active session per license at a time.

Think of it as “just-the-apps” VDI: Outlook, Word, your line-of-business app—delivered from the cloud—with the management simplicity of Windows 365 and Intune.

Why customers care: You streamline app delivery, lower overhead, and modernize VDI without building and babysitting a big remote desktop estate.

Cloud Apps vs AVD Published Apps vs “Traditional” VDI Published Apps

Mental model:

If you need elastic host pools or platform primitives, choose AVD.

• If you’re tied to on-prem or specific vendor features, you might keep traditional VDI, but expect more ops work.
• If you like the “managed Cloud PC” experience and want app-only access, choose Cloud Apps.
• If you like the “managed Cloud PC” experience and want app-only access, choose Cloud Apps.

PowerShell: create the policy via REST/Graph

• Auth: Provide $TenantId, $ClientId, $ClientSecret from your app registration. Grant/admin-consent the scopes listed above. If you are not aware of how to create the app registration, you can follow here – How to register an app in Microsoft Entra ID – Microsoft identity platform | Microsoft Learn
• Image: Set $ImageType (e.g., "gallery") and $ImageId for your chosen image.
• Region: $RegionName (e.g., australiaeast or "automatic").
• Assignment:
  • $GroupId: Entra group whose members should see the Cloud Apps.
  • $ServicePlanId: the Frontline size (e.g., FL 2vCPU/8GB/128GB in the example).
  • $AllotmentCount: how many concurrent sessions you want available for this policy.
  • $AllotmentDisplayName: a friendly label that shows up with the assignment.
• Verification/Polling: The script dumps the policy with assignments and can optionally poll for provisioned Cloud PCs tied to the policy.
• Get-or-Create a Cloud Apps provisioning policy (userExperienceType = cloudApp, provisioningType = sharedByEntraGroup, Azure AD Join in a specified region).
• Assigns the policy to an Entra group with service plan, capacity (allotment), and a friendly label

Required permissions (app registration – admin consent):

• CloudPC.ReadWrite.All (and CloudPC.Read.All)
• DeviceManagementServiceConfig.ReadWrite.All (for policy config)

<#
Create (or reuse) a Windows 365 "Cloud Apps" provisioning policy, assign an Entra group
with size + capacity + label, then verify assignment (via $expand=assignments) and optionally
poll for provisioned Cloud PCs. Uses Microsoft Graph beta.

Key note: /assignments endpoint returns 404 by design; use $expand=assignments. See MS docs.
#>

# ==========================
# 0) CONFIG — EDIT THESE
# ==========================
$TenantId     = "<Copy/Paste Tenant ID>"
$ClientId     = "<Copy/Paste Client ID>"
$ClientSecret = "<Copy/Paste ClientSecret ID>"

# Policy
$DisplayName  = "Cloud-Apps-Prov-4"
$Description  = "Cloud Apps Prov Policy - Frontline"
$EnableSSO    = $true
$RegionName   = "australiaeast"   # or "automatic"
$Locale       = "en-AU"
$Language     = "en-AU"

# Image (gallery)
$ImageType    = "gallery"
$ImageId      = "microsoftwindowsdesktop_windows-ent-cpc_win11-24H2-ent-cpc-m365"

# Assignment
$GroupId              = "b582705d-48be-4e4b-baac-90e5b50ebdf2"   # Entra ID Group
$ServicePlanId        = "057efbfe-a95d-4263-acb0-12b4a31fed8d"   # FL 2vCPU/8GB/128GB
$AllotmentCount       = 1
$AllotmentDisplayName = "CP-FL-Shared-CloudApp-1"

# Optional provisioning poll
$VerifyDesiredCount   = $AllotmentCount
$VerifyMaxTries       = 30
$VerifyDelaySec       = 30

# ==========================
# Helpers
# ==========================
function New-GraphUri {
  param(
    [Parameter(Mandatory)][string]$Path,        # e.g. "/beta/deviceManagement/virtualEndpoint/provisioningPolicies"
    [hashtable]$Query
  )
  $cleanPath = '/' + ($Path -replace '^\s*/+','' -replace '\s+$','')
  $b = [System.UriBuilder]::new("https","graph.microsoft.com")
  $b.Path = $cleanPath
  if ($Query -and $Query.Count -gt 0) {
    Add-Type -AssemblyName System.Web -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Out-Null
    $nvc = [System.Web.HttpUtility]::ParseQueryString([string]::Empty)
    foreach ($k in $Query.Keys) { $nvc.Add($k, [string]$Query[$k]) }
    $b.Query = $nvc.ToString()
  } else { $b.Query = "" }
  return $b.Uri.AbsoluteUri
}

function Invoke-Graph {
  param(
    [Parameter(Mandatory)][ValidateSet('GET','POST','PATCH','DELETE','PUT')][string]$Method,
    [Parameter(Mandatory)][string]$Uri,
    [hashtable]$Headers,
    $Body
  )
  try {
    if ($PSBoundParameters.ContainsKey('Body')) {
      return Invoke-RestMethod -Method $Method -Uri $Uri -Headers $Headers -Body ($Body | ConvertTo-Json -Depth 20)
    } else {
      return Invoke-RestMethod -Method $Method -Uri $Uri -Headers $Headers
    }
  } catch {
    Write-Warning "HTTP $Method $Uri failed: $($_.Exception.Message)"
    try {
      $resp = $_.Exception.Response
      if ($resp -and $resp.GetResponseStream()) {
        $reader = New-Object IO.StreamReader($resp.GetResponseStream())
        $text   = $reader.ReadToEnd()
        Write-Host "Response body:" -ForegroundColor DarkYellow
        Write-Host $text
      }
    } catch {}
    throw
  }
}

# ==========================
# 1) AUTH — Client Credentials
# ==========================
$TokenEndpoint = "https://login.microsoftonline.com/$TenantId/oauth2/v2.0/token"
$tokenForm = @{
  client_id     = $ClientId
  client_secret = $ClientSecret
  scope         = "https://graph.microsoft.com/.default"
  grant_type    = "client_credentials"
}
$auth = Invoke-RestMethod -Method Post -Uri $TokenEndpoint -Body $tokenForm -ContentType 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded'
if (-not $auth.access_token) { throw "No access_token returned. Ensure CloudPC.ReadWrite.All (+ CloudPC.Read.All) are admin-consented." }

$Headers = @{
  Authorization = "Bearer $($auth.access_token)"
  "Content-Type" = "application/json"
  "Prefer"       = "include-unknown-enum-members"
}

# Base paths
$PoliciesPath = "/beta/deviceManagement/virtualEndpoint/provisioningPolicies"
$CloudPcsPath = "/beta/deviceManagement/virtualEndpoint/cloudPCs"

# ==========================
# 2) Ensure (Get-or-Create) the policy
# ==========================
$escapedName = $DisplayName.Replace("'","''")
$findUri     = New-GraphUri -Path $PoliciesPath -Query @{ '$filter' = "displayName eq '$escapedName'" }

Write-Host "Finding policy by name: $DisplayName" -ForegroundColor Cyan
try { $existing = Invoke-Graph -Method GET -Uri $findUri -Headers $Headers }
catch { Write-Warning "Name lookup failed; proceeding to create."; $existing = $null }

if ($existing -and $existing.value -and $existing.value.Count -gt 0) {
  $policy   = $existing.value | Select-Object -First 1
  $policyId = $policy.id
  Write-Host "Using existing policy '$DisplayName' (id: $policyId)" -ForegroundColor Yellow
} else {
  $createBody = @{
    "@odata.type"           = "#microsoft.graph.cloudPcProvisioningPolicy"
    displayName             = $DisplayName
    description             = $Description
    enableSingleSignOn      = $EnableSSO
    imageType               = $ImageType
    imageId                 = $ImageId
    managedBy               = "windows365"
    microsoftManagedDesktop = @{
      "@odata.type" = "microsoft.graph.microsoftManagedDesktop"
      managedType   = "notManaged"
    }
    windowsSetting          = @{
      "@odata.type" = "microsoft.graph.cloudPcWindowsSetting"
      locale        = $Locale
    }
    windowsSettings         = @{
      "@odata.type" = "microsoft.graph.cloudPcWindowsSettings"
      language      = $Language
    }
    userExperienceType      = "cloudApp"
    provisioningType        = "sharedByEntraGroup"
    domainJoinConfigurations = @(
      @{
        "@odata.type"  = "microsoft.graph.cloudPcDomainJoinConfiguration"
        domainJoinType = "azureADJoin"
        type           = "azureADJoin"
        regionName     = $RegionName
      }
    )
  }

  $createUri = New-GraphUri -Path $PoliciesPath
  Write-Host "Creating policy '$DisplayName'..." -ForegroundColor Cyan
  $policy   = Invoke-Graph -Method POST -Uri $createUri -Headers $Headers -Body $createBody
  $policyId = $policy.id
  if (-not $policyId) { throw "Create succeeded but no policy id returned." }
  Write-Host "Created policy id: $policyId" -ForegroundColor Green
}

# ==========================
# 3) Assign — group + size + capacity + label
# ==========================
$assignUri = New-GraphUri -Path ($PoliciesPath + "/$policyId/assign")

Write-Host "Clearing existing assignments..." -ForegroundColor DarkGray
Invoke-Graph -Method POST -Uri $assignUri -Headers $Headers -Body @{ assignments = @() } | Out-Null

$assignBody = @{
  assignments = @(
    @{
      target = @{
        "@odata.type"          = "#microsoft.graph.cloudPcManagementGroupAssignmentTarget"
        groupId                = $GroupId
        servicePlanId          = $ServicePlanId
        allotmentLicensesCount = $AllotmentCount
        allotmentDisplayName   = $AllotmentDisplayName
      }
    }
  )
}
Write-Host "Assigning policy to group $GroupId (plan $ServicePlanId, count $AllotmentCount)..." -ForegroundColor Cyan
Invoke-Graph -Method POST -Uri $assignUri -Headers $Headers -Body $assignBody | Out-Null
Write-Host "Assignment submitted." -ForegroundColor Green

# ==========================
# 4) Verify — read policy with $expand=assignments (RETRY)
# ==========================
$expandUri = New-GraphUri -Path ($PoliciesPath + "/$policyId") -Query @{ '$expand' = 'assignments' }
Write-Host "Reading back policy + assignments via $expand..." -ForegroundColor Cyan

$verify = $null
for ($try=1; $try -le 12; $try++) {
  try {
    $verify = Invoke-Graph -Method GET -Uri $expandUri -Headers $Headers
    if ($verify.assignments -and $verify.assignments.Count -gt 0) { break }
    Write-Host "Assignments not materialized yet (attempt $try). Waiting 3s..." -ForegroundColor Yellow
  } catch {
    Write-Warning "Expand read attempt $try failed; retrying in 3s..."
  }
  Start-Sleep -Seconds 3
}
if (-not $verify) { throw "Failed to read policy with assignments after retries." }

$verify | ConvertTo-Json -Depth 20 | Write-Output

# Sanity: confirm the expected assignment
$expected = $verify.assignments | Where-Object {
  $_.target.groupId -eq $GroupId -and
  $_.target.servicePlanId -eq $ServicePlanId -and
  $_.target.allotmentLicensesCount -eq $AllotmentCount -and
  ($_.target.allotmentDisplayName -eq $AllotmentDisplayName -or -not $AllotmentDisplayName)
}
if ($expected) {
  Write-Host "✅ Assignment present with expected group, plan, and count." -ForegroundColor Green
} else {
  Write-Warning "Assignment not found with expected fields. See dump above."
}

# ==========================
# 5) (Optional) Poll for provisioned Cloud PCs for this policy
# ==========================
if ($VerifyDesiredCount -gt 0) {
  $cloudPcsUri = New-GraphUri -Path $CloudPcsPath -Query @{ '$filter' = "provisioningPolicyId eq '$policyId'" }
  for ($i = 1; $i -le $VerifyMaxTries; $i++) {
    try {
      $cloudPcs   = Invoke-Graph -Method GET -Uri $cloudPcsUri -Headers $Headers
      $pcsForPlan = $cloudPcs.value | Where-Object { $_.servicePlanId -eq $ServicePlanId -or -not $_.psobject.Properties.Name.Contains('servicePlanId') }
      $count      = ($pcsForPlan | Measure-Object).Count
      if ($count -ge $VerifyDesiredCount) {
        Write-Host "Provisioned Cloud PCs for policy: $count (target $VerifyDesiredCount) ✅" -ForegroundColor Green
        $pcsForPlan | ConvertTo-Json -Depth 10 | Write-Output
        break
      } else {
        Write-Host "Provisioned Cloud PCs for policy: $count (waiting for $VerifyDesiredCount) … attempt $i/$VerifyMaxTries" -ForegroundColor Yellow
      }
    } catch {
      Write-Warning "Provisioning check failed on attempt ${i}: $($_.Exception.Message)"
    }
    Start-Sleep -Seconds $VerifyDelaySec
  }
}

GitHub Link – avdwin365mem/W365-CloudApp-Prov-Policy at main · askaresh/avdwin365mem

Provisioning Policy Details – UI

Policy

Overview

Tips, gotchas, and troubleshooting

• App discovery: Ensure the app has a Start menu shortcut on the image. That’s how Cloud Apps gets its list.
• Security baselines: If your tenant enforces restrictions on PowerShell in the image at discovery time, discovery can fail.
• MSIX/Appx: Discovery is expanding—classic installers show up first; some Appx/MSIX apps (e.g., newer Teams) may not appear yet.
• Concurrency math: Active sessions for the policy are capped by assigned Frontline license count on that policy.
• Schema drift: These are beta endpoints. If you hit a property/enum change, the script’s warnings will surface the response body—update the field names accordingly.

What’s next (Part 2)

We’ll move to All Cloud Apps to publish the discovered apps, tweak display name/description/command line/icon index, confirm they appear in Windows App, and cover unpublish/reset workflows—with your screenshots.

I hope you find this helpful information for creating a Cloud App using PowerShell. If I have missed any steps or details, I will be happy to update the post.

Thanks,
Aresh Sarkari

Tags: Cloud PC, Microsoft, MS Graph API, MSIntune, PowerShell, W365, Windows 365 Cloud Apps, Windows 365 Cloud PC