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Does the RD Licencing server need the 3 NetBIOS ports in a Win 2008+ environment?

Anonymous
2024-08-08T12:36:59+00:00

Given that SMB can use tcp/445 exclusively post WinServ2008/Vista, and the licencing server is identified by DNS name, is NetBIOS needed?
The 3 NetBIOS ports are listed in all the articles I can find together with tcp/445. RPC ports make sense but the file transfer of the licence should be happy over tcp/445 [SMB2+] so what are the NetBIOS ports still doing there?

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  1. Anonymous
    2024-08-12T08:06:01+00:00

    Hi Rick Young,

    Yes, if you're confident that there are no old systems requesting Client Access Licenses (CALs) and your environment consists of workstations post-Vista and an RD Licensing Server later than 2008, it's generally safe to ignore the NetBIOS ports (137, 138, 139).

    Best Regards

    Zunhui

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  1. Anonymous
    2024-08-08T13:14:26+00:00

    Hi Rick Young,

    While SMB does work exclusively with tcp/445 after WinServ2008/Vista, some legacy applications and services that rely on NetBIOS still require NetBIOS. For backward compatibility with these legacy applications and services, the three NetBIOS ports (137, 138, and 139) are still required. Therefore, it is recommended to keep these ports open in your environment to ensure compatibility with legacy systems.

    You can refer to the following link:

    Direct host Server Message Block (SMB) over TCP/IP - Windows Server | Microsoft Learn

    Hope the above information is helpful to you.

    Best Regards

    Zunhui

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  2. Anonymous
    2024-08-08T13:38:12+00:00

    Thanks Zunhui,

    Sure, I get that for SMB in general, but if I'm sure there are no old systems requesting CALs is there any inhernet aspect of the RD Licensing server that needs it? We aren't talking any mythical application here - just a workstation requesting a CAL, If the workstation is post Vista and the RDSL server later than 2008, can I safely ignore 137/138/138?

    Regards

    Rick

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  3. Anonymous
    2024-08-12T12:23:12+00:00

    Perfect, thanks for the confirmation.

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