how to manage cal licenses on a 2022 workgroup server

Question

got a refurb dell server and had to buy 2022 standard with 5 cals because that was the minimum os to do what i need. installed it as a stand alone workgroup to support lan file sharing, web server, and some other specialty apps, all that is fine. but then i thought; i paid for those 5 cals but where do i see them and what can i do with them? well, first i tried installing them like would be done on an AD server, that failed horribly with the installer telling me it couldn't finish the job and backing out all the changes. Then i found some more interesting web pages related to workgroups, this one seems authoritative... https://learn.microsoft.com/en-US/troubleshoot/windows-server/remote/set-up-remote-desktop-licensing-across-domains-forests-workgroups

and this one seemed to have more detailed procedure... https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/remote/remote-desktop-services/rds-install-cals?source=recommendations

using those two and some other pages i have found i have tried several different ways to install the licenses but keep ending up in places that say i need to be in an AD RDS group of some kind that of course i don't have. I actually did get the license server to activate, so that is something, but then it wouldn't accept my license key when it wanted it again for some reason.

the image below shows the server manager in the background showing the roles and services i have installed. that list doesn't show the rd license manager that is in it's tools menu and i opened on top of it... the server is activated and this is what it shows for license info which seems to say i have infinite license for windows server 2000, which makes no sense but is likely left over from some ancient default. reports shows nothing at all when i try to run them.... so first of all, for a workgroup, do i have all the right roles and services and other stuff installed, or am i missing something that isn't so obvious?? with a workgroup installation like this how do i see my 5 cals that i have paid for, and what do they really do for me???

Answer 1

Ok, well you started out by asking how to install RDS Cals which it looks like you do not have. You would only need RDS Cals to make an application server where you require more than two concurrent RDS connections. Windows Cals are honor system, there's nothing to install and not having them does not stop you from anything technically speaking. Something here could help you with the legalese side of things.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/UseTerms/Retail/WindowsServer2022/DatacenterAndStandard/UseTerms_Retail_WindowsServer2022_DatacenterAndStandard_English.htm

--please don't forget to upvote and Accept as answer if the reply is helpful--

Answer 2

May want to check with the seller what was actually purchased. More likely is they were windows Cals which do not get installed anywhere, just hang on to the documentation for record keeping and in case of audit.

A Windows Server CAL is a license that grants access Windows Server. CALs are used in conjunction with Microsoft Windows Server OS licenses to allow Users and/or Devices to access and utilize the services of that windows server

• User CALs allow a single user access to Windows Server from an unlimited number of devices
• Device CALs allow an unlimited number of users to access Windows Server from a single device
• CALs are licensed to access servers of the same level and below. (not forward compatible)

--please don't forget to upvote and Accept as answer if the reply is helpful--

Answer 3

Ok, I'm not aware of a Server 2022 license that comes with RDS Cals. Generally they offer server licenses with windows Cals. So I'd suggest reaching out to the seller for assistance.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/account-billing/contact-microsoft-store-support-4f615f2a-6bbd-fd69-6695-ae213d63eef0

If you do if fact have RDS Cals then you can follow along here to install them.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/remote/remote-desktop-services/rds-install-cals

--please don't forget to upvote and Accept as answer if the reply is helpful--

Answer 4

Ok, those are just windows Cals. You can purchase RDS Cals here.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/d/windows-remote-desktop-server-cal-2022/dg7gmgf0d7hx

--please don't forget to upvote and Accept as answer if the reply is helpful--

Answer 5

What you have are windows Cals. A Windows Server CAL is a license that grants access Windows Server. CALs are used in conjunction with Microsoft Windows Server OS licenses to allow Users and/or Devices to access and utilize the services of that windows server. There is no installation for windows Cals, just hang on to the documentation for record keeping and in case of audit.

• User CALs allow a single user access to Windows Server from an unlimited number of devices
• Device CALs allow an unlimited number of users to access Windows Server from a single device
• CALs are licensed to access servers of the same level and below. (not forward compatible)

--please don't forget to upvote and Accept as answer if the reply is helpful--