Troubleshooting Remote Desktop Licensing Error Messages

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

Troubleshooting Licensing Error Messages

This topic lists licensing error messages that can appear on client computers, and it describes the causes of and solutions for these errors. Although these error messages appear on clients, they are frequently caused by problems with the Windows Server 2003 Terminal Server license server or the terminal server. Therefore, when you troubleshoot Terminal Server Licensing issues, it is useful to first determine whether there are server configuration issues or problems with network connectivity.

Important

The solutions in this topic are intended to be implemented by administrators. If you are not an administrator, contact your server administrator for assistance in resolving these error messages. If you are an administrator, to help prevent Terminal Server Licensing issues and to more efficiently diagnose issues, it is highly recommended that you see Guidelines for Deploying Terminal Server (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=34627), and Windows Server 2003 Terminal Server Licensing Issues and Requirements for Deployment (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=23444).

Which message are you getting?

  • The remote session was disconnected because the local computer's client access license could not be upgraded or renewed. Please contact the server administrator.

  • The remote computer disconnected the session because of an error in the licensing protocol. Please try connecting to the remote computer again or contact your server administrator.

  • The remote session was disconnected because there were network problems during the licensing protocol. Please try connecting to the remote computer again.

  • A licensing error occurred while the client was attempting to connect. (Licensing timed out.) Please try connecting to the remote computer again.

  • The remote session was disconnected because there are no Terminal Server client access licenses available for this computer. Please contact the server administrator.

  • The remote session was disconnected because there are no Terminal Server License Servers available to provide a license. Please contact the server administrator.

  • Because of a security error, the client could not connect to the terminal server. After making sure that you are logged on to the network, try connecting to the server again.

The remote session was disconnected because the local computer's client access license could not be upgraded or renewed. Please contact the server administrator.

Cause:  The Terminal Server licensing mode on the terminal server might be set to Per Device, while the license server might be configured to issue only Per User client access licenses (CALs). If this is the case, then the license server issues only temporary licenses that cannot be upgraded. When the temporary licenses are within several days of expiring, "Event ID 26, Source: Application Pop-up" appears in the application event log on the client. The event message indicates the number of days remaining before the temporary license expires. Similarly, "Event ID 1011, Source TermService" appears in the application event log on the terminal server.

Solution:  Change the Terminal Server licensing mode from Per Device to Per User.

Important

Per User CALs are not monitored by Terminal Server. This means that even though there is a Per User CAL in the license server database, the Per User CAL is not decremented when it is used. This does not remove administrators from End User License Agreement (EULA) requirements to have a valid terminal server CAL for each user. Failure to have a Per User CAL for each user, if Per Device CALs are not being used, is a violation of the EULA.

The following text is from the EULA for Windows Server 2003:

"Two different TS CALs are available to you: 'Device' and 'User.' Each TS Device CAL permits one Device (used by any User) to conduct Windows Sessions on any of your Servers. Each TS User CAL permits one User (using any Device) to conduct Windows Sessions on any of your Servers. You may use a mix of TS Device CALs and TS User CALs simultaneously with the Server Software in your environment. You can have a Terminal Server request Per User licenses or Per Device (default) but not both simultaneously."

See also:   Configure the Terminal Server Licensing mode

The remote computer disconnected the session because of an error in the licensing protocol. Please try connecting to the remote computer again or contact your server administrator.

Cause:  The terminal server might not be able to locate the license server.

Solution:  Perform the following steps:

  1. Verify that the license server is correctly installed.

  2. Verify that the Terminal Server Licensing service is running on the license server.

  3. Verify that the client, the terminal server, and the license server can communicate by ensuring that Domain Name System (DNS) is configured correctly on each computer. To do this, run the ping command from each computer to each computer using the IP address, FQDN, and the NetBIOS name. If any of the ping commands fail, verify the DNS configuration on the network.

  4. On the terminal server, set a preferred licensing server to connect to. You can do this by using the registry, a Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) script, or, in Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 1, you can use Group Policy settings or Terminal Server Configuration.

See also:   Install Terminal Server Licensing; Set preferred Terminal Server license servers; Terminal Server license server roles

Solution:  If the previous solution does not resolve this problem, create a backup of the MSLicensing registry key and its subkeys on the client, and then remove the original key and subkeys by doing the following:

  1. On the client, navigate to the following registry subkey: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MSLicensing.

  2. Click MSLicensing.

  3. On the Registry menu, click Export Registry File.

  4. In the File name box, type mslicensingbackup, and then click Save.

  5. If you need to restore this registry key in the future, double-click mslicensingbackup.reg.

  6. On the Edit menu, click Delete, and then click Yes to confirm the deletion of the MSLicensing registry subkey.

  7. Close Registry Editor, and then restart the computer.

When the client is restarted, the missing registry key is rebuilt.

To resolve this problem automatically, click the Fix this problem link. Then, click Run in the File Download dialog box.

Fix it

Fix this problem

Note

This wizard may be in English only; however, the automatic fix also works for other language versions of Windows.

Note

If you are not on the computer that has the problem, save the automatic fix to a flash drive or to a CD so that you can run it on the computer that has the problem. If you do not want to use the automatic fix, you can do it yourself by performing the steps in the procedure above.

Caution

Incorrectly editing the registry may severely damage your system. Before making changes to the registry, you should back up any valued data on the computer.

See also:  Removing Terminal Server Licenses From an RDP Client (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=38560)

The remote session was disconnected because there were network problems during the licensing protocol. Please try connecting to the remote computer again.

Cause:  The terminal server might not be able to locate the license server.

Solution:  Perform the following steps:

  1. Verify that the license server is correctly installed.

  2. Verify that the Terminal Server Licensing service is running on the license server.

  3. Verify that the client, the terminal server, and the license server can communicate by ensuring that Domain Name System (DNS) is configured correctly on each computer. To do this, run the ping command from each computer to each computer using the IP address, FQDN, and the NetBIOS name. If any of the ping commands fail, verify the DNS configuration on the network.

  4. On the terminal server, set a preferred licensing server to connect to. You can do this by using the registry, a Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) script, or, in Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 1, you can use Group Policy settings or Terminal Server Configuration.

See also:  Install Terminal Server Licensing; Set preferred Terminal Server license servers; Terminal Server license server roles

Cause:  The license server might be running Windows 2000, and it might be configured to prohibit anonymous connections, except by resources that have been explicitly granted access to the server.

Solution:  On the Windows 2000 license server, do one of the following:

Caution

Incorrectly editing the registry may severely damage your system. Before making changes to the registry, you should back up any valued data on the computer.

  • In the registry, navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa\RestrictAnonymous, and set the RestrictAnonymous registry key to a value of 1 or 0.

  • In Local Security Policies, open the appropriate policy and, in the console tree, navigate to Computer Configuration\Windows Settings\Security Settings\Local Policies\Security Options. Then, enable either Do not allow enumeration of SAM accounts and shares (equivalent to a RestrictAnonymous value of 1 or None) or Rely on default permissions (equivalent to a RestrictAnonymous value of 0).

Notes

  • If the license server is a member of an Active Directory domain and a conflicting security setting is configured for the license server in Group Policy, the Group Policy setting overrides the local security setting. In this case, to ensure that the security setting that you want to apply takes effect, configure the setting in Group Policy.

  • In Windows Server 2003, you cannot set RestrictAnonymous to a value of 2 to prohibit anonymous connections. If you need to prohibit anonymous users from being granted the same access that is granted to members of the Everyone group, you must use the new Everyone Network access: Let Everyone permissions apply to anonymous users setting in Local Security Policies.

Solution:  If the previous solution does not resolve this problem, create a backup of the MSLicensing registry key and its subkeys on the client, and then remove the original key and subkeys by doing the following:

  1. On the client, navigate to the following registry subkey: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MSLicensing.

  2. Click MSLicensing.

  3. On the Registry menu, click Export Registry File.

  4. In the File name box, type mslicensingbackup, and then click Save.

  5. If you need to restore this registry key in the future, double-click mslicensingbackup.reg.

  6. On the Edit menu, click Delete, and then click Yes to confirm the deletion of the MSLicensing registry subkey.

  7. Close Registry Editor, and then restart the computer.

When the client is restarted, the missing registry key is rebuilt.

To resolve this problem automatically, click the Fix this problem link. Then, click Run in the File Download dialog box.

Fix it

Fix this problem

Note

This wizard may be in English only; however, the automatic fix also works for other language versions of Windows.

Note

If you are not on the computer that has the problem, save the automatic fix to a flash drive or to a CD so that you can run it on the computer that has the problem. If you do not want to use the automatic fix, you can do it yourself by performing the steps in the procedure above.

Caution

Incorrectly editing the registry may severely damage your system. Before making changes to the registry, you should back up any valued data on the computer.

See Also:   How To Use the RestrictAnonymous Registry Value in Windows 2000 (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=38561)

A licensing error occurred while the client was attempting to connect. (Licensing timed out.) Please try connecting to the remote computer again.

Cause:  If you are using Internet Protocol security (IPsec) to help protect traffic over TCP between clients and terminal servers, then packet fragmentation might occur. As a result, some packets might not reach their destination, and client connections to terminal servers might fail.

Solution:  Configure IPsec to help protect traffic over UDP rather than over TCP.

See Also:   Define IPSec Policies

The remote session was disconnected because there are no Terminal Server client access licenses available for this computer. Please contact the server administrator.

Cause:  The license server might not have any remaining Per Device CALs to issue.

Solution:  Use Terminal Server Licensing to determine the number of CALs remaining on the license server. To open Terminal Server Licensing, click Start, Programs, Administrative Tools, and then point to Terminal Server Licensing. If the license server does not have any remaining CALs to issue to clients, purchase and install additional CALs as required.

See also:   Purchase client access licenses; Install Client Access Licenses; Purchasing and installing client access licenses on a Terminal Server license server

Cause:  The Terminal Server licensing mode on the terminal server might be set to Per Device, while the license server might have only Per User CALs. If this is the case, the license server issues only temporary licenses that cannot be upgraded. When the temporary licenses are within several days of expiring, "Event ID 26, Source: Application Pop-up" appears in the application event log on the client. The event message indicates the number of days remaining before the temporary license expires. Similarly, "Event ID 1011, Source TermService" appears in the application event log on the terminal server.

Solution:  Change the Terminal Server Licensing mode from Per Device to Per User.

Important

Per User CALs are not monitored by Terminal Server. This means that even though there is a Per User CAL in the license server database, the Per User CAL is not decremented when it is used. This does not remove administrators from End User License Agreement (EULA) requirements to have a valid terminal server CAL for each user. Failure to have a Per User CAL for each user, if Per Device CALs are not being used, is a violation of the EULA.

The following text is from the EULA for Windows Server 2003:

"Two different TS CALs are available to you: 'Device' and 'User.' Each TS Device CAL permits one Device (used by any User) to conduct Windows Sessions on any of your Servers. Each TS User CAL permits one User (using any Device) to conduct Windows Sessions on any of your Servers. You may use a mix of TS Device CALs and TS User CALs simultaneously with the Server Software in your environment. You can have a Terminal Server request Per User licenses or Per Device (default) but not both simultaneously."

See also:   Configure the Terminal Server Licensing mode

Cause:  The terminal server might not be able to locate the license server.

Solution:  Perform the following steps:

  1. Verify that the license server is correctly installed.

  2. Verify that the Terminal Server Licensing service is running on the license server.

  3. Verify that the client, the terminal server, and the license server can communicate by ensuring that Domain Name System (DNS) is configured correctly on each computer. To do this, run the ping command from each computer to each computer using the IP address, FQDN, and the NetBIOS name. If any of the ping commands fail, verify the DNS configuration on the network.

  4. On the terminal server, set a preferred licensing server to connect to. You can do this by using the registry, a Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) script, or, in Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 1, you can use Group Policy settings or Terminal Server Configuration.

See also:   Install Terminal Server Licensing; Set preferred Terminal Server license servers; Terminal Server license server roles

Solution:  If the previous solution does not resolve this problem, create a backup of the MSLicensing registry key and its subkeys on the client, and then remove the original key and subkeys by doing the following:

  1. On the client, navigate to the following registry subkey: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MSLicensing.

  2. Click MSLicensing.

  3. On the Registry menu, click Export Registry File.

  4. In the File name box, type mslicensingbackup, and then click Save.

    If you need to restore this registry key in the future, double-click mslicensingbackup.reg.

  5. On the Edit menu, click Delete, and then click Yes to confirm the deletion of the MSLicensing registry subkey.

  6. Close Registry Editor, and then restart the computer.

When the client is restarted, the missing registry key is rebuilt.

To resolve this problem automatically, click the Fix this problem link. Then, click Run in the File Download dialog box.

Fix it

Fix this problem

Note

This wizard may be in English only; however, the automatic fix also works for other language versions of Windows.

Note

If you are not on the computer that has the problem, save the automatic fix to a flash drive or to a CD so that you can run it on the computer that has the problem. If you do not want to use the automatic fix, you can do it yourself by performing the steps in the procedure above.

Caution

Incorrectly editing the registry may severely damage your system. Before making changes to the registry, you should back up any valued data on the computer.

See Also:   How To Use the RestrictAnonymous Registry Value in Windows 2000 (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=38561)

The remote session was disconnected because there are no Terminal Server license servers available to provide a license. Please contact the server administrator.

Cause:  The terminal server might not be able to locate the license server.

Solution:  Perform the following steps:

  1. Verify that the license server is correctly installed.

  2. Verify that the Terminal Server Licensing service is running on the license server.

  3. Verify that the client, the terminal server, and the license server can communicate by ensuring that Domain Name System (DNS) is configured correctly on each computer. To do this, run the ping command from each computer to each computer using the IP address, FQDN, and the NetBIOS name. If any of the ping commands fail, verify the DNS configuration on the network.

  4. On the terminal server, set a preferred licensing server to connect to. You can do this by using the registry, a Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) script, or, in Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 1, you can use Group Policy settings or Terminal Server Configuration.

See also:   Install Terminal Server Licensing; Set preferred Terminal Server license servers; Terminal Server license server roles

Cause:  The client might have exceeded its Terminal Server Licensing grace period, and a license server has not yet been installed or activated to issue the client a CAL.

Solution:  Install Terminal Server Licensing, activate the license server, and then install and purchase a sufficient number of CALs to support the clients in your organization.

See also:   Terminal Server Licensing grace period; Install Terminal Server Licensing; Activate a Terminal Server License Server; Purchase client access licenses; Install Client Access Licenses; Purchasing and installing client access licenses on a Terminal Server license server; Activating a Terminal Server license server

Because of a security error, the client could not connect to the terminal server. After making sure that you are logged on to the network, try connecting to the server again.

Cause:  If you upgraded a Windows NT domain to Windows 2000 or Windows Server 2003, then the certificate on the terminal server might be corrupt. As a result, Windows 2000 Terminal Services clients might be repeatedly denied access to the terminal server.

Solution:  On each terminal server and client, perform the following steps:

  1. On each terminal server, create a backup of the registry.

  2. Navigate to the following registry subkey: HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\TermServices\Parameters.

  3. On the Registry menu, click Export Registry File.

  4. In the File name box, type exported-parameters, and then click Save.

    If you need to restore this registry subkey in the future, double-click exported-parameters.reg.

  5. Under the Parameters registry subkey, right-click each of the following values:

    • Certificate

    • X509 Certificate

    • X509 Certificate ID

  6. Click Delete, and then click Yes to confirm the deletion.

  7. Close Registry Editor, and then restart each terminal server.

  8. On the client, create a backup of the MSLicensing registry key and its subkeys, and then remove the original key and subkeys by doing the following:

    • Navigate to the following registry subkey: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MSLicensing.

    • Click MSLicensing.

    • On the Registry menu, click Export Registry File.

    • In the File name box, type mslicensingbackup, and then click Save.

    • If you need to restore this registry key in the future, double-click mslicensingbackup.reg.

    • On the Edit menu, click Delete, and then click Yes to confirm the deletion of the MSLicensing registry subkey.

    • Close Registry Editor, and then restart the client computer.

Caution

Incorrectly editing the registry may severely damage your system. Before making changes to the registry, you should back up any valued data on the computer.

Solution:  If the client still cannot connect to the terminal server, perform the following variation of this procedure:

  1. Deactivate the license server.

  2. Reactivate the license server by using the Telephone connection method in the Terminal Server License Server Wizard.

    When you activate Terminal Server Licensing by using the Telephone option, Terminal Server Licensing uses a different certificate.

  3. On each terminal server, create a backup of the registry, and then delete the Certificate, X509 Certificate, and X509 Certificate ID registry keys, as described in the preceding procedure.

  4. Close Registry Editor, and then restart each terminal server.

  5. On the client, create a backup of the MSLicensing registry key and its subkeys on the client, and then remove the original key and subkeys as described in the preceding procedure.

  6. Close Registry Editor, and then restart the computer.

When the client is restarted, the missing registry key is rebuilt.

See also:   Deactivate a Terminal Server license server; Reactivate a Terminal Server license server

Cause:  Windows XP-based clients might be attempting to connect to a Windows 2000-based Terminal Services server in a low-bandwidth network environment, in which client sessions are encrypted. In this case, IP packet fragmentation can cause encrypted frames that are sent by a client to be decrypted incorrectly.

Solution:  Obtain the latest service pack for Windows 2000.

Cause:  The Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) encryption settings on the terminal server computer and the client might not be compatible. For example, the terminal server might be running 128-bit encryption with an encryption level set to High. When this occurs, "Event ID 50, Source: TermDD" appears in the system event log on the terminal server.

Solution:  Change the RDP encryption level on the terminal server to Medium or Low.

See also:   Because of a Security Error, the Client Could Not Connect to the Terminal Server (https://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;329896); Terminal Services Sessions Are Disconnected Because of a Decryption Error (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=38563); Terminal Services Client Cannot Connect to a Server Running 128-bit Encryption (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=38559); Configure authentication and encryption on the server