Need license for RDS (Remote Desktop Services) on 2019 server?

Takami Chiro 251 Reputation points
2023-07-07T23:22:38.18+00:00

HI everyone,

Hope you are all doing well! Hope you can help on this.

I just joined a new company. One of the projects is to upgrade the OS (2008) with Remote Desktop Services on it. I never setup RDS, but did research little on this. I would like to ask the following questions and hope you can help:

1.) Can I just simply upgrade the 2008 to 2012 then 2019 without reconfiguring the RDS?

2.) If 1 cannot be done, I am thinking to deploy a single windows 2019 server. This comes up with other few questions:

2a.) Do I need any extra licenses for the remote users? Currently there are around 20 users utilizing this service.

2b.) Do I need SQL express or "broker" for this 2019 server?

3.) Is there a "easy to follow" step by step instruction how to configure the RDS?

Thank you very much for your help in advance.

Takusan

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A family of Microsoft server operating systems that support enterprise-level management, data storage, applications, and communications.
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A Microsoft app that connects remotely to computers and to virtual apps and desktops.
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  1. Karlie Weng 19,126 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor
    2023-07-12T02:24:42.1066667+00:00

    Hello @Takami Chiro

    1. We need to reinstall and reconfigure the RDS role on the upgraded server.
    2. If the license server is separate, You might need to  check RDS CAL version compatibility first:

    License your RDS deployment with client access licenses (CALs) | Microsoft Learn

    If you have RDS CALs that were directly installed on the same server that is being upgraded from Windows Server 2008 to Windows Server 2019, you will need to acquire new RDS CALs for Windows Server 2019 to be compliant with licensing requirements.

    It is suggest to consult with a licensing specialist to ensure compliance and accurate information based on your specific licensing agreements.

    Here by ‘broker’ do you mean ‘Remote Desktop Connection Broker’ ? Remote Desktop Services roles | Microsoft Learn

    Best Regards

    Kalie


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