Do I need CAL licenses for WDS?

Question

Hi All.

Pretty new to Windows server.

For Windows Deployment Services, do you need active directory for this function, and more importantly, would you need a CAL license for each device to be imaged using WDS?

Thanks.

Sean

Answer 1

Hi Sean Notley-Rumbens,

Thanks for reaching out to Microsoft Q&A.

Here are the Prerequisites for installing Windows Deployment Services

The following are requirements for installing this role, depending on whether you choose the default installation (both Deployment Server and Transport Server), or only the Transport Server role service.

Deployment Server and Transport Server	Transport Server
Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS). A Windows Deployment Services server must be a member of an Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) domain or a domain controller for an AD DS domain.The AD DS domain and forest versions are irrelevant; all domain and forest configurations support Windows Deployment Services.Expand tableNoteAD DS is not required if the WDS server is configured in Standalone mode.DHCP. You must have a working Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server with an active scope on the network because Windows Deployment Services uses PXE, which relies on DHCP for IP addressing.DNS. You must have a working Domain Name System (DNS) server on the network before you can run Windows Deployment Services.NTFS volume. The server running Windows Deployment Services requires an NTFS file system volume for the image store.Credentials. To install the role, you must be a member of the Local Administrators group on the server.To initialize the server, you must be a member of the Domain Admins group. NoteTo initialize the WDS server in Standalone mode, you need not be a member of the Domain Users group.For more information, see Required Permissions.	AD DS is not required if the WDS server is configured in Standalone mode.
Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS). A Windows Deployment Services server must be a member of an Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) domain or a domain controller for an AD DS domain.The AD DS domain and forest versions are irrelevant; all domain and forest configurations support Windows Deployment Services.Expand tableNoteAD DS is not required if the WDS server is configured in Standalone mode.AD DS is not required if the WDS server is configured in Standalone mode.DHCP. You must have a working Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server with an active scope on the network because Windows Deployment Services uses PXE, which relies on DHCP for IP addressing.DNS. You must have a working Domain Name System (DNS) server on the network before you can run Windows Deployment Services.NTFS volume. The server running Windows Deployment Services requires an NTFS file system volume for the image store.Credentials. To install the role, you must be a member of the Local Administrators group on the server.To initialize the server, you must be a member of the Domain Admins group. NoteTo initialize the WDS server in Standalone mode, you need not be a member of the Domain Users group.For more information, see Required Permissions.

Also, Microsoft requires that every user or device that uses a service hosted on Windows Server have a license, called a Client Access License. You need CALs to make any use out of Windows Server. All users/devices that connect to your domain are required to have a Client Access License (CAL). This is specific to the client machine

1- What type of CAL license should i buy? Ans- CALs (Client Access License) depends on your requirements, you may use per user CALs or per device CALs. You need to check which way is more comfortable to you. When you decide to use per user licensing then you need to buy as many CALs as you have users in your domain. This case is better to use in case of having more computers/devices than users in your environment. The second case, per device licensing is better if you have more users than computers/devices. Then each device should have CAL bought.

2- How many CAL license should i buy ? Ans- This is for example: You have 200 Windows 10 clients with 5 Server 2012 R2 DC's, you will need 200 CAL's. Soon you decide that you want to upgrade your 5 DC's to server 2016. Even though the clients are staying at Windows 10 and you have CAL's to talk to the 2012 o/s, you will need to purchase 200 new CAL's for the clients to talk to the 2016 DC's.

3- How to buy CAL license? Ans- Refer- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/94452/buy-windows-server-2019-license-understanding-cal.html

4- How to install CAL license? Ans- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/remote/remote-desktop-services/rds-install-cals https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-sg/000139151/windows-server-2008r2-and-2012-how-to-activate-a-remote-desktop-services-license-server-and-install-cals

Refer - https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/ie/en-US/611193b5-c10e-4be6-b3c1-ffa7057fb2dd/ad-usercomputer-licensecal?forum=winserverDS

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