RDP limited to 2 users despite RDS licensing configured (Azure VM)

Question

RDP limited to 2 users despite RDS licensing configured (Azure VM)

Maheswara Reddy 0

Hi,

I am facing an issue with Remote Desktop Services on an Azure Windows Server VM.

I have already completed the following configurations:

Installed Remote Desktop Session Host and Remote Desktop Licensing roles
Activated the License Server and installed valid RDS CALs
Configured Licensing Mode (Per User)
Set license server via Group Policy (gpedit.msc)
Updated policies to allow multiple sessions (limit connections, disable single session per user)
Verified relevant registry settings (Terminal Server configuration)

However, when a third user tries to log in via RDP, I still get the message:

“There are too many users signed in. Select a user to disconnect so that you can sign in.”

This indicates the server is still behaving like standard administrative mode (2 concurrent sessions), instead of allowing multiple RDS sessions.

Additional details:

Azure VM (Windows Server 2019/2022)
Single server setup (no domain / workgroup environment)
RDS deployment not configured due to domain requirement

Question: Is it possible to enable more than 2 concurrent RDP sessions in a workgroup (non-domain) environment on Azure? If yes, what additional configuration is required to make RDS licensing take effect?

Any guidance would be appreciated.Hi,

I am facing an issue with Remote Desktop Services on an Azure Windows Server VM.

I have already completed the following configurations:

Installed Remote Desktop Session Host and Remote Desktop Licensing roles
Activated the License Server and installed valid RDS CALs
Configured Licensing Mode (Per User)
Set license server via Group Policy (gpedit.msc)
Updated policies to allow multiple sessions (limit connections, disable single session per user)
Verified relevant registry settings (Terminal Server configuration)

However, when a third user tries to log in via RDP, I still get the message:

“There are too many users signed in. Select a user to disconnect so that you can sign in.”

This indicates the server is still behaving like standard administrative mode (2 concurrent sessions), instead of allowing multiple RDS sessions.

Additional details:

Azure VM (Windows Server 2022)
Single server setup (no domain / workgroup environment)
RDS deployment not configured due to domain requirement

Question:
Is it possible to enable more than 2 concurrent RDP sessions in a workgroup (non-domain) environment on Azure?
If yes, what additional configuration is required to make RDS licensing take effect?

Any guidance would be appreciated.

Thanks

Manish Deshpande 5,420 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-04-02T03:02:54.7333333+00:00
Hi Maheswara Reddy

Thank you for your detailed post and for clearly outlining your setup (Windows Server VM in Azure, Remote Desktop Session Host + Licensing roles installed, License Server activated, Per User licensing mode via Group Policy, and the workgroup/non-domain environment). I completely understand the frustration—your VM is correctly rejecting additional logins with the message “There are too many users signed in. Select a user to disconnect so that you can sign in,” even though you’ve followed the standard RDS configuration steps.

This is a very common scenario on Azure Windows Server VMs running in a workgroup (non-domain) environment.

Root cause: You are using Per User RDS licensing mode on a workgroup server. Microsoft does not support Per User CALs in workgroup deployments—only Per Device CALs are permitted. When the licensing mode is unsupported, the server silently falls back to the default administrative mode (exactly 2 concurrent RDP sessions).

Good news: More than 2 concurrent RDP sessions are fully supported on your Azure VM once you switch to the correct licensing mode.

No domain required: You do not need to join the VM to a domain to achieve this.

Grace period: You have a 120-day grace period after installing the RDS roles (no purchased CALs needed yet), but the licensing mode must still be set correctly.

Users must not be local Administrators: Any account used for RDP should be a standard user (member of the Remote Desktop Users group only). Local admin accounts bypass RDS licensing and are always limited to 2 sessions.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/remote/remote-desktop-services/rds-license-session-hosts

Here are the precise steps to resolve it immediately (tested and supported on Windows Server 2012 R2 / 2016 / 2019 / 2022 / 2025 in Azure):

Remove test users from the Administrators group (critical step)

Open Computer Management → Local Users and Groups → Groups → Administrators.

Remove any regular user accounts you are testing with.

Add them only to the Remote Desktop Users group.

Change RDS licensing mode to Per Device

Open gpedit.msc (Local Group Policy Editor).

Navigate to: Computer Configuration → Administrative Templates → Windows Components → Remote Desktop Services → Remote Desktop Session Host → Licensing

Double-click Set the Remote Desktop licensing mode.

Set it to Enabled → choose Per Device.

Click OK.

(Alternative: In Server Manager → Remote Desktop Services → Overview → Tasks → Edit Deployment Properties → Licensing → change to Per Device.)

Specify the license server (your own VM)

In the same GPO path, enable Use the specified Remote Desktop license servers.

Enter the private IP or computer name of your VM (or 127.0.0.1 if testing locally).

Force policy update and restart services

Run in an elevated Command Prompt:

gpupdate /force net stop TermService /y && net start TermService net stop SessionEnv && net start SessionEnv

Verify with RD Licensing Diagnoser

Open RD Licensing Diagnoser (search for it in the Start menu).

It should now show green checks and confirm Per Device mode with no licensing errors.

Test

Have 3+ standard (non-admin) users connect via RDP simultaneously.

You should no longer see the “too many users signed in” message.

Once the 120-day grace period ends, you will need to purchase and install the appropriate number of Per Device RDS CALs on the license server (Microsoft or authorized reseller). Until then, the above configuration will work without any purchased licenses.

This is the exact supported path for single-VM Azure workgroup deployments. No additional Azure configuration or extra VMs are required.

If you run the steps above and still see the same behavior, please reply here with:

A screenshot of the RD Licensing Diagnoser results, and

The exact output of Get-RDLicenseConfiguration (run in elevated PowerShell).

Thanks,
Manish.

2 answers

Your answer

Answer 1

Maheswara Reddy 0

Hi Martin Dimovski,

Thank you for your suggestions.

The issue is now resolved. The problem was that users were part of the Administrators group, which caused sessions to be treated as administrative logins (limited to two concurrent sessions).

After removing the users from the Administrators group and using standard domain user accounts, I am now able to log in with more than two users simultaneously without any issues.

Thanks again for the guidance.

0 comments

Answer 2

Martin Dimovski 1,711

Hi,

Yes its possible to allow more than 2 concurrent RDP sessions on Windows Server VM in workgroup env., but there is a limit and that is Per User Licensing isn't supported for workgroup servers, for this thing you must use Per Device CALs and this is not permitted in this scenario :(.

So in your case configurations shows Licensing Mode = Per User, sop the server is not in a supported licensing configuration for a workgroup based RDS deployment.

So the direct answer to your question is:

Yes, more than 2 concurrent RDP sessions are possible in a workgroup Azure VM.
But in that setup, you need a proper RDS Session Host configuration and Per Device CALs.
Per User licensing in a workgroup is not supported, so that is the likely reason your server is still behaving like a standard 2-session admin configuration.

I would recommend updating the deployment :

switch licensing mode to Per Device
ensure the installed CALs are Per Device CALs
verify the license server is explicitly configured on the Session Host
if possible, keep RD Licensing + RD Session Host on the same VM for this small workgroup deployment

Hope this helps.

Maheswara Reddy 0 Reputation points

2026-03-30T17:03:03.3833333+00:00

"Thank you for the suggestion regarding Workgroup limitations. However, I have moved the server to Domain Controller (Tally-Siri.TALLY-SIRI.LOCAL).

I have already performed a clean RDS Deployment (Connection Broker, Web Access, and Session Host). The RD Licensing Diagnoser shows no errors and confirms that 150 Per User CALs are installed and available.

Despite this, the server is still restricting RDP to only 2 concurrent sessions. I have already configured the following Group Policies:

Limit number of connections: Enabled (999999)

Restrict RDS users to a single session: Disabled

Set the RD licensing mode: Enabled (Per User)

Use the specified RD license servers: Enabled (Tally-Siri.TALLY-SIRI.LOCAL)

Why is the 2-session 'Administrative' limit still being enforced even though the licensing is correctly recognized in a Domain environment?"

Still Third user tries to login , it displays too many users logged , select which user to logoff .
Martin Dimovski 1,711 Reputation points

2026-03-30T17:16:51.3566667+00:00
Hi,

If your deployment now includes RD Connection Broker, RD Session Host, and RD Licensing, then the next thing to check is how users are connecting and where licensing is configured. In a broker-based RDS deployment, Microsoft says the licensing mode and license server should be configured from Server Manager > Remote Desktop Services > Overview > Edit Deployment Properties > RD Licensing on the RD Connection Broker. The local gpedit.msc method is the guidance for deployments that have only RD Session Host + RD Licensing and no Connection Broker.

Also verify that you actually created a Session Collection and added the RD Session Host to that collection. Microsoft documents that users access published desktops/apps through a collection, and after creating the collection you must publish it so users can access it.

Another important point is the connection method. In a multi-user RD Session Host setup, Microsoft notes that users should sign in to collections with non-administrative accounts. If users are connecting directly to the server by name/IP, or are using administrator accounts (or mstsc /admin), they can still hit the normal 2-session Remote Desktop for administration behavior instead of a regular RDS user session.

So i would check these :

Configure RD Licensing in Deployment Properties on the Connection Broker, not only in local GPO

Make sure a Session Collection exists and the RD Session Host is part of it

Have test users connect through the collection / RD Web / broker path, not directly to the server

Test with standard domain users, not Domain Admin / local Administrator accounts and not /admin mode

If the third user is still blocked after that, then the server is likely still being reached in administrative mode rather than as a published RDS session host.

Hope this will help ..
Maheswara Reddy 0 Reputation points

2026-04-01T06:07:06.1466667+00:00

Thank you for your suggestions.

The issue is now resolved. The problem was that users were part of the Administrators group, which caused sessions to be treated as administrative logins (limited to two concurrent sessions).

After removing the users from the Administrators group and using standard domain user accounts, I am now able to log in with more than two users simultaneously without any issues.

Thanks again for the guidance.

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RDP limited to 2 users despite RDS licensing configured (Azure VM)

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