

- #Understanding windows terminal services how to#
- #Understanding windows terminal services full#
- #Understanding windows terminal services license#
#Understanding windows terminal services license#
You can combine both domain mode license servers and enterprise mode license servers on the same network, with domain mode license servers being selected first. The terminal server will verify it every hour once it’s found. If the enterprise license servers are not found, the terminal server will keep trying them every hour. The terminal server can then use the FQDN to contact its selected license server. This value contains the FQDN of the license server and is returned to the terminal server so that a server can be selected to be its current license server. When looking for a license server, the terminal server contacts its trusted domain controller to query Active Directory for its site configuration container (looking for the TS-Enterprise-License-Server object).

Remember that a site is defined as one or more well-connected networks.

Once a license server is selected, it will verify its availability once every two hours.Įnterprise mode also works only in a Windows 2000 Active Directory environment and on a domain controller, but the license server can be in a different domain if-and this is a big if-they are in the same Active Directory site. If no license servers are found, the terminal server will keep trying every 15 minutes. When looking for a license server, the terminal server will use its DNS server to find the domain controllers in the domain (using SRV records) and then query them to see whether they respond to a named pipe request called TermServLicensing. (They can be in different subnets and in different Active Directory sites.) Furthermore, your license server must be installed on a domain controller.

However, it will work only if your Windows 2000 terminal server and license server are in the same Windows 2000 Active Directory domain. Direct mode-Using the DefaultLicenseServer registry optionĭomain mode is probably the most common setting and is suitable for most networks.Enterprise mode-Querying Active Directory.Domain mode-Querying Windows 2000 domain controllers.Windows 2000 terminal server uses four ways to find a license server: If none of the previously catalogued servers responds, it will repeat the discovery process and keep trying if necessary. If its chosen license server doesn’t respond, it will select another from the list. Periodically, it will verify that its chosen license server is still available by using a standard TCP/IP ping. If none is found on loading, it keeps checking in the background. When loading, it attempts to find all the available license servers and keeps a record of them but chooses one to be its current license server.
#Understanding windows terminal services full#
If a temporary license, or no license, is presented, the terminal server attempts to find a license server so it can issue either a full license, if one is available, or a temporary license if the client previously had none.īut the terminal server doesn’t wait until clients connect to find a license server. When the client connects to a Windows 2000 terminal server in application mode, it is asked for its license and can proceed if a valid license is stored in the registry. Rather, this licensing conversation is always between the terminal server and the license server. Having a detailed knowledge of how this license server discovery works means you can plan a more reliable service and efficiently troubleshoot any problems you encounter.įirst of all, it’s important to appreciate that a Terminal Services client does not itself find a license server. We’re going to take a step back to look at the bigger picture of how a Windows 2000 terminal server in application mode attempts to find a license server.
#Understanding windows terminal services how to#
See how these pieces interact to issue licenses, so that you can plan and manage the process.Ī Windows administrator whose network includes Terminal Services needs to be aware of Microsoft’s recent improvements to how Windows 2000 Terminal Services allocates Terminal Services Client Access Licenses (TS CALs), as well as how to monitor both the license servers and allocated licenses. Windows 2000 Terminal Services licensing can be a mysterious process involving clients, terminal servers, and licensing servers. Understanding Terminal Services licensing server discovery
