Understanding Troubleshooting Considerations for Specific Terminal Server Licensing Environments
Applies To: Windows Server 2000, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2
To ensure that license server discovery works as expected, review the following configuration requirements and considerations, and verify that the requirements have been met for your environment.
Windows 2000 domain: Windows 2000 terminal servers and Windows 2000 license servers
Windows 2000 domain: Windows 2000 terminal servers and Windows Server 2003 license servers
Windows Server 2003 domain: Windows 2000 terminal servers and Windows 2000 license servers
Windows Server 2003 domain: Windows 2000 terminal servers and Windows Server 2003 license servers
Windows Server 2003 domain: Windows Server 2003 terminal servers and Windows Server 2003 license servers
Down level Windows clients, thin clients, and Macintosh clients
Important
The following two configurations will not function because a Windows 2000 license server cannot issue CALs to terminal servers running Windows Server 2003 operating systems:
Windows 2000 domain: Windows Server 2003 terminal servers and Windows 2000 license servers
Windows Server 2003 domain: Windows Server 2003 terminal servers and Windows 2000 license servers
Therefore, if you have an environment that includes Windows Server 2003 terminal servers, you must install a Windows Server 2003 license server. For more information, see Verify that Terminal Server Licensing is correctly installed on the license server.
Windows 2000 domain: Windows 2000 terminal servers and Windows 2000 license servers
In this environment, you must install Terminal Server Licensing on a domain controller. Although you do not need to explicitly specify a license server, it is recommended that you do so. For more information, see Set a preferred license server.
If the license server and the terminal server are not already running Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 (SP4), install this service pack on both computers. To download SP4, see Windows 2000 Service Packs (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=48213), on the Microsoft Web site.
Also on the license server, apply the hotfix described in article 837321, You cannot connect to a Windows 2000 Terminal server if your Windows Server 2003 Terminal Services license is expired (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=48215), on the Microsoft Web site.
On the terminal server, apply the hotfix described in article 829395, The Terminal server does not automatically shut down when the TSShutdn.exe command is invoked in Windows 2000 (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=48216), on the Microsoft Web site.
Terminal Server licenses that are issued by license servers running Windows 2000 Service Pack 3 or later have an expiration date. Licenses are either reissued or returned to the Terminal Server CAL pool at a random interval between 52 and 89 days. Note that this setting cannot be configured, and that licenses are renewed seven days before they expire. Any Terminal Server licenses that are issued by license servers running earlier versions of Windows 2000 do not have an expiration date. To return these licenses to the CAL pool, you must remove the license certificate from the clients, and then call the Microsoft Clearinghouse to recover the license. To remove the license certificates from the client, delete the following registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \Software\Microsoft\MSLicensing. Licenses for clients that do not have a registry are stored in the registry of the terminal server.
Warning
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.
Windows 2000 domain: Windows 2000 terminal servers and Windows Server 2003 license servers
You can install Terminal Server Licensing on a Windows Server 2003 domain controller or a Windows Server 2003 member server. If you install Terminal Server Licensing on a domain controller, you do not need to explicitly specify a license server for the terminal server to discover. However, it is recommended that you do this to help ensure that license server discovery works as expected. For information about how to do this, see Set a preferred license server.
If the terminal server is not already running Windows 2000 SP4, install this service pack. To download SP4, see Windows 2000 Service Packs (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=48213), on the Microsoft Web site.
If you have thin clients in this environment, on the Windows Server 2003 license server, apply the hotfix described in article 88450, Event ID 1004 is logged when a thin client tries to obtain a license (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=48217) on the Microsoft Web site.
If you have clients running Windows 2000 or Windows XP Professional in this environment, the license server issues a "free" Terminal Services CAL from its built-in pool to enable these clients to access the Windows 2000 terminal server. The use of this license is permitted under the Windows 2000 EULA. To issue these licenses, however, the license server must first be activated.
Note
For Windows Server 2003 terminal servers, there is no built-in pool of free licenses. You must install the appropriate number of CALs on the license server to enable all clients to connect to these terminal servers.
Windows 2003 domain: Windows 2000 terminal servers and Windows 2000 license servers
If the license server and the terminal server are not already running Windows 2000 SP4, install this service pack on both computers. To download SP4, see Windows 2000 Service Packs (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=48213), on the Microsoft Web site.
On the Windows 2000 license server, apply the hotfix described in article 837321, You cannot connect to a Windows 2000 Terminal server if your Windows Server 2003 Terminal Services license is expired (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=48215), on the Microsoft Web site.
On the Windows 2000 terminal server, apply the hotfix described in article 829395, The Terminal server does not automatically shut down when the TSShutdn.exe command is invoked in Windows 2000 (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=48216), on the Microsoft Web site.
Windows 2003 domain: Windows 2000 terminal servers and Windows Server 2003 license servers
If the terminal server is not already running Windows 2000 SP4, install this service pack. To download SP4, see Windows 2000 Service Packs (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=48213), on the Microsoft Web site.
If you have thin clients in this environment, on the Windows Server 2003 license server, apply the hotfix described in article 88450, Event ID 1004 is logged when a thin client tries to obtain a license (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=48217) on the Microsoft Web site.
If you have clients running Windows 2000 or Windows XP Professional in this environment, the license server issues a "free" Terminal Services CAL from its built-in pool to enable these clients to access the Windows 2000 terminal server. The use of this license is permitted under the Windows 2000 EULA. To issue these licenses, however, the license server must first be activated.
Note
For Windows Server 2003 terminal servers, there is no built-in pool of free licenses. You must install the appropriate number of CALs on the license server to enable all clients to connect to these terminal servers.
Windows 2003 domain: Windows Server 2003 terminal servers and Windows Server 2003 license servers
You can install Terminal Server Licensing on a Windows Server 2003 domain controller or a Windows Server 2003 member server. If you install Terminal Server Licensing on a domain controller, you do not need to explicitly specify a license server for the terminal server to discover. However, it is recommended that you do this to help ensure that license server discovery works as expected. For information about how to do this, see Set a preferred license server.
If you have thin clients in this environment, on the Windows Server 2003 license server, apply the hotfix described in article 88450, Event ID 1004 is logged when a thin client tries to obtain a license (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=48217) on the Microsoft Web site.
Down level Windows clients, thin clients, and Macintosh clients
In addition to supporting clients that run Windows Server 2003, Windows 2000, and Windows XP Professional, Windows Server 2003 Terminal Server and Windows 2000 Terminal Server support clients running the following platforms:
Windows XP Home Edition
Windows XP Embedded Edition
Windows Millennium Edition
Windows 98
Windows 95
Windows NT 4.0
Windows-based Terminal devices (embedded)
Macintosh
To connect to a terminal server, these clients must have Terminal Server CALs available. Therefore, you should Verify that the license server has a sufficient number of CALs for clients.