RD Licensing Migration: Preparing to Migrate
Applies To: Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2
This topic contains instructions for preparing for the migration of Remote Desktop Services client access licenses (RDS CALs).
Preparing to migrate Remote Desktop Services client access licenses (RDS CALs)
To prepare to migrate RDS CALs, see the following sections:
Permissions required to complete RD Licensing migration
Plan for dependencies
Prepare other computers (clients and servers) in the enterprise
Prepare your target server
Permissions required to complete RD Licensing migration
At a minimum, you must be a member of the Administrators group on the target (destination) license server to migrate TS CALs and RDS CALs to a Remote Desktop license server that is running Windows Server 2008 R2 by using the Manage RDS CALs Wizard in the RD Licensing Manager tool.
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the source license server to remove the TS CALs and RDS CALs from the source license server as required by the terms of the Microsoft Software License agreement.
Plan for dependencies
You can migrate TS CALs and RDS CALs at any time during the migration of the Remote Desktop Services deployment.
Prepare other computers (clients and servers) in the enterprise
During the migration of the RDS CALs, the source and target license servers will not be available to issue licenses. RD Session Host servers that have reached the 120-day grace period and cannot connect to a valid license server will not allow connections.
To ensure that service is not interrupted, configure RD Session Host to contact at least one valid Remote Desktop license server that will be operating during the migration. For more information, see Specify a License Server for an RD Session Host Server to Use.
The Remote Desktop license server should have enough RDS CALs available, of the correct type, to serve licenses for the quantity of connections expected during the migration. You can view the number and type of RDS CALs available on the license server by using the Licensing Diagnosis tool in Remote Desktop Session Host Configuration.
To display configuration information about a Remote Desktop license server, including the type and number of available RDS CALs on the license server, see Identify Possible Licensing Problems for the RD Session Host Server.
Prepare your target server
You can migrate the RDS CALs to an existing configured and activated Remote Desktop license server that is running Windows Server 2008 R2, or deploy a new license server.
To deploy a new Remote Desktop license server, see Checklist: Configure Remote Desktop Licensing.