Guidelines for Deploying Terminal Server
Windows Server 2003 Terminal Server requires that you install a license server before the terminal server can function. A license server is a computer on which Terminal Server Licensing is installed. Using the following step-by-step guidelines and recommended resources, you can deploy Terminal Server and ensure that Terminal Server Licensing is correctly installed.
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1. Planning Your Terminal Server Deployment
The following information can help you successfully deploy Terminal Server:
| • | Technical Overview of Terminal Services: This white paper gives you an overview of Terminal Services including what is new for Windows Server 2003. |
| • | Windows Server 2003 Terminal Server Licensing Issues and Requirements for Deployment: Terminal Server Licensing is an essential and required part of any correct deployment of Windows Server 2003 Terminal Server. This comprehensive article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base provides information about the licensing changes in Windows Server 2003 and explains what those changes mean to you. |
| • | Windows Server 2003 Terminal Server Licensing: This white paper introduces Terminal Server Licensing, the client license management service for the Windows Server 2003 family. |
| • | Windows Server 2003 Terminal Server Capacity and Scaling: A terminal server is capable of serving many simultaneous users; however depending on the users, applications and server hardware; the scalability of a terminal server can vary. This white paper gives you basic information on how you can plan, test and optimize the terminal server based on the computing capacity that is just right for your organization. |
2. Installing Your Terminal Server
To install Terminal Server on a computer running Windows Server 2003:
1. | Click Start, click Control Panel, and then double-click Add or Remove Programs. |
2. | Click Add/Remove Windows Components. |
3. | In the dialog box, select Terminal Server. |
4. | Follow the instructions in the Windows Components Wizard. |
For more complex installations, see Hosting Applications with Terminal Server.
3. Installing Your License Server
It is required that at least one Windows Server 2003 license server be present in your Windows Server 2003 Terminal Server environment. For small deployments, it is acceptable to install both the Terminal Server and the Terminal Server Licensing service on the same physical computer. However, for larger deployments we suggest that Terminal Server Licensing be installed on a separate server.
To install Terminal Server Licensing:
1. | Click Start, click Control Panel, and then double-click Add or Remove Programs. |
2. | Click Add/Remove Windows Components. |
3. | In the dialog box, select Terminal Server Licensing. |
4. | Follow the instructions in the Windows Components Wizard. |
After Terminal Server Licensing is installed, the server becomes a license server and you are asked whether you want to activate the license server. It is highly recommended that you activate the license server. A Terminal Server running on Windows Server 2003 operates for 120 days before the terminal server must discover an activated license server.
Important: If you do not activate the license server within 120 days, your Terminal Server will no longer operate.
4. Activating Terminal Server Licensing
A license server is not considered operational until it is activated. If you do not activate the license server as a part of the installation itself (highly recommended), you can activate it later.
To activate Terminal Server Licensing:
1. | On the computer running Terminal Server License Server, click Start, Programs, Administrative Tools, Terminal Server Licensing. |
2. | If the License Server has not been activated, in the console tree, right-click the Terminal Server License Server you want to activate. |
3. | Click Activate Server to start the Activation Wizard. |
4. | In the Activation method list, select Automatic connection (recommended), and then click Next. |
5. | Follow the instructions in the wizard. |
5. Deciding What Type of Client Access License (CAL) to Purchase
When you have completed all the preceding tasks, Windows Server 2003 Terminal Server can operate in two licensing modes: Per Device (default factory setting) and Per User. By default, Terminal Server Licensing is configured in Per Device mode.
A Per Device CAL gives each client computer or device the right to access a terminal server that is running Windows Server 2003. If you install Per Device CALs on your license server, you need to ensure that the licensing mode on Terminal Server is set to Per Device.
Using Per User licensing, one user can access a terminal server from an unlimited number of devices and only one CAL is needed instead of a CAL for each device. If you purchase and install Per User CALs on your license server, you must set the licensing mode on to Per User.
Note: Per User Licensing is not monitored by Terminal Server. This means that when you install Per User CALs, do not expect the number of available Per User CALs to be monitored.
For more information about Per User versus Per Device CALs, see Choosing the Licensing Mode.
6. Purchasing Terminal Server CALs
Each device or user must have a valid CAL for connection to terminal server. You must purchase and install Terminal Server CALs on the computer running Terminal Server Licensing. Before purchasing CALs, understand that Windows Server 2003 gives you Per User or Per Device for the type of CAL.
To purchase Terminal Server CALs, contact your preferred Microsoft Software Advisor as follows:
| • | In the United States, call (800) 426-9400 or visit the Microsoft Licensing Program Reseller Web site. |
| • | In Canada, call the Microsoft Resource Centre at (877) 568-2495. |
| • | If you are outside the United States or Canada, please review the Worldwide Microsoft Licensing Web sites or contact your local Microsoft subsidiary on the Microsoft Worldwide Home Web site. |
For more information about the significance of Terminal Server CALs, see the Knowledge Base article, The Function of Terminal Server CALs in Windows Server 2003.
7. Installing Terminal Server CALs
Terminal Server Licensing is of no value unless it has Terminal Server CAL tokens—an electronic representation of a Terminal Server CAL—which it can issue to various terminal servers. The terminal servers, in turn, can pass the tokens to the client devices connected to those terminal servers. After you purchase the appropriate type and quantity of Terminal Server CALs, you need to install them on the computer running Terminal Server Licensing.
To install CALs:
1. | On the computer running Terminal Server Licensing, click Start, Programs, Administrative Tools, Terminal Server Licensing. |
2. | Select the license server in the right pane, and then on the Action menu, Install, Licenses. |
3. | Follow the steps in the wizard for a successful installation of the CALs. |
8. Making Sure That Your Terminal Server Can Detect the License Server
It is essential that a Windows Server 2003 Terminal Server is able to detect a computer running Terminal Server Licensing on Windows Server 2003 for correct operation within your computing network.
Important: A Microsoft Windows 2000 license server cannot provide licenses to a Windows Server 2003 Terminal Server. However, a Windows Server 2003 license server can provide licenses to both Windows Server 2003 and Windows 2000 Terminal Server and, therefore, can support a mixed environment consisting of both Windows 2000 Terminal Server and Windows Server 2003 Terminal Server.
Although Terminal Server attempts to detect a license server automatically, you may want to explicitly specify the license server your Terminal Server connects to. We strongly recommend that you follow the directions in the Knowledge Base article, How to Override the License Server Discovery Process in Windows Server, which explains how to configure a Terminal Server to access a specific license server. This procedure requires modifying a registry key to ensure that the terminal server detects the license server.
Caution: Incorrectly editing the registry may severely damage your system. Before making changes to the registry, you should back up any valued data on the computer.
Important: Even if you install the Terminal Server and Terminal Server Licensing on the same computer, the servers may not detect each other. In this situation, be sure to follow the directions in the Knowledge Base article, How to Override the License Server Discovery Process in Windows Server.
9. Matching Terminal Server Mode with Types of CALs Purchased
To check and set the licensing mode of a Terminal Server:
1. | On the Terminal Server computer, click Start, Programs, Administrative Tools, Terminal Services Configuration. |
2. | Click Server Settings in the left pane. |
3. | Double-click Licensing in the right pane. |
4. | For Licensing Mode, select the mode for this Terminal Server. |
10. Managing CALs When in Steady Operations
When Windows Server 2003 Terminal Server is working properly, you can ensure that all the correct types of Terminal Server CALs are available to users and computers in your environment. To do this, refer to the following important facts about Terminal Server CAL management in Windows Server 2003 Terminal Server:
| • | You can use Terminal Server Licensing to monitor licenses. To get this tool, click Start, Programs, Administrative Tools, and then Terminal Server Licensing on the computer running Terminal Server Licensing. |
| • | Managing Per User Licensing is currently not supported. This means that when you install per User CALs on your license server, you cannot monitor how many per User CALs are available at any time. |
| • | Temporary licenses are issued on first connection to a terminal server in Per Device mode. The first time a device connects to a terminal server, it is issued a temporary license, which is valid for 90 days. This behavior is by design so that devices do not accidentally use up a CAL when mistakenly connecting to a terminal server. The next time the client connects to a terminal server, it is allocated a permanent Terminal Server CAL token, which the device stores for later connections. This behavior is valid only for terminal servers in Per Device mode. |
| • | It is not possible to recall issued permanent licenses immediately. Terminal Server issues permanent licenses to various devices, which are valid for from 52 to 89 days. It is currently not possible for a client to give up an issued license immediately and explicitly. The only way to recover a license from a client is to ensure that the client does not connect to the Terminal Server within the next 89 days. After that period, the license issued to the client expires, the license is reclaimed by the License Server, and it becomes available for distribution to another client. |
| • | You must call Microsoft Clearinghouse to move licenses from one computer to another and to get the keypacks that go with the new server ID. Each activated license server is unique and is identified with a certificate provided during activation. Simply moving the licensing database from one computer to another does not complete the process. You actually need to reinstall licenses on the new computer as a part of moving the licenses. For the correct local phone number to call the Microsoft Clearinghouse, use Terminal Server Licensing. |
| • | You must call Microsoft Clearinghouse to install and move the existing Windows 2000 Licenses to a Windows Server 2003 license server. A license server that runs on Windows Server 2003 supports both Windows Server 2003 and Windows 2000 Terminal Server licenses. However, if you upgrade or migrate your Windows 2000 license server, you need to reinstall the Windows 2000 Terminal Server CALs on the Windows Server 2003 license server. For reinstallation, you need to call the Microsoft Clearinghouse to get the license keypacks that go with the new server ID. |
| • | You can configure your terminal servers so that you have greater control over how the license server issues licenses. You can then control which terminal servers take licenses from a specific license server. |
11. When to Call Product Support
If you have followed the previous steps in this roadmap, you are most likely operating a successful and stable computing environment based on Terminal Server. However, if an unexpected issue occurs, the following resources can help:
| • | The Terminal Services Technology Center contains a wide range of information about Terminal Services. | ||||||
| • | For product issues, visit the Terminal Services support center and Terminal Services Community Center. | ||||||
| • | Your reseller can help you locate your License Purchase Agreement number or Authorization number(s) to install key packages. | ||||||
| • | Microsoft Clearinghouse (1-888-571-2048) provides assistance for the following tasks related to Terminal Services:
Call during weekday business hours and be sure to have your License Purchase Agreement information with you. | ||||||
| • | Microsoft Help and Support provides cost-per-call support for all other issues. |