Terminal Server License Expired!

onechewy

We have a Windows Server 2003 machine which we installed a few months back. It’s being used as a SQL Application server. Terminal Server was installed on it and the warnings about licenses expiring have pretty much gone ignored up until today when I discovered that the license has indeed expired and I can no longer remotely log in.

Myself and one other person are the only two who remote login and we both use Administrator logon credentials, so Administrator Remote Login would be okay for us as that allows for two remote connections plus the console login.

It says in the Terminal Services Configuration page on the local machine that you can change to Administrator Remote Login via the Add/Remove programs console but the only thing I can do there is uninstall Terminal Server and then I get a warning that any programs installed after Terminal Server was installed, won’t work properly… A lot of stuff has been installed and configured over the past couple of months so Terminal Server is going to have to stay where it is I guess.. but I really need to be able to log on remotely.

Has anyone any ideas how I might be able to fix this..? Ta!

irishpartyboy

I'm assuming you've installed TS in application mode. Your 120 grace period has expired. The warnings are pretty clear. I'd suggest you get your head around TS licensing pronto, this article is excellent.

http://www.brianmadden.com/content/article/The-Ultimate-Guide-to-Windows-2003-Terminal-Server-Licensing

cance

uninstall terminal services and reboot.

on the reboot:
1. Go to Control Panel.
2. Click System.
3. Go to the Remote tab.
4. Select the "Allow users to connect remotely to this computer" box. (or something similar, on a linux laptop atm).

you have 120 days to use application mode terminal services before pointing it towards a terminal services licensing server. remote desktop will give you two slots and a console.

remember to add the user accounts to the local "remote desktop users" or the administrators.

onechewy

Thanks for your replies, unfortunately we were unaware that by installing new applications with Terminal Services turned on, it is very risky to then uninstall Terminal Services as it could mess up these applications and require that you reinstall them. That is not an option for us as there has been a massive amount of configuration on this server and it needs to stay just so.

So... it seems the only thing to do is to buy a few TS CAL's.

Thanks for the link to the Licensing article, my eyes glazed over about an eighth of the way into it, but I got the jist of it. This server is our first 2003 server in an XP client environment, XP comes with a TS CAL for 2000 server which is why we haven't run into this problem before!

Any ideas where the best place would be to buy some TS CAL's?

qwertz

Take a full and verified backup of the box before you uninstall TS. That way you can revert back to a working copy if you experience problems.

onechewy

qwertz wrote: »

Take a full and verified backup of the box before you uninstall TS. That way you can revert back to a working copy if you experience problems.

Good idea, that's what I'll do so!

Thanks

Capt'n Midnight

onechewy wrote: »

This server is our first 2003 server in an XP client environment, XP comes with a TS CAL for 2000 server which is why we haven't run into this problem before!

Any ideas where the best place would be to buy some TS CAL's?

It's a lovely gotchya isn't it.

good news is that 2003 server license allows you to install 2000 server and if all your apps run on it is worth a look , I really hate the 90 odd day timeout on TS licenses when each client connects, yes they are not concurrent licenses and it can take up to 3 months for it to be released back to the pool or you have to ring up M$ and go through the whole licensing dance

look at www.sellsoft.ie / www.micromail.com for prices -check on the microsoft site for other authorised resellers
there are a zillion microsoft resellers out there dying to do an audit on you so they can oversell licenses so shouldn't be too hard to find more
most of the large maintainance firms also resell

cance

i'd take a backup but i really wouldnt worry that much, i've often installed dozens of suites of software on citrix servers only then realising i had forgotten to install terminal services first... i've never really experienced issues.

ZygOte

cance wrote: »

i'd take a backup but i really wouldnt worry that much, i've often installed dozens of suites of software on citrix servers only then realising i had forgotten to install terminal services first... i've never really experienced issues.

not to be picky but in order to even install citrix a server must first be in TS Application server mode.

OP you need to ensure that you have a "system state backup" of your server in order to ensure you can roll back if you have any problems. a backup of the data from the disks is not enough alone. You can often remove application mode TS without any real issues for currently install software but always always make sure you have a backup just in case.

cance

ZygOte wrote: »

not to be picky but in order to even install citrix a server must first be in TS Application server mode.

you are being picky, and i meant installed the apps before installing citrix/ts application mode. I'm aware that the installation will crash out telling you that you must have ts in application mode.

irishpartyboy

onechewy wrote: »

Thanks for your replies, unfortunately we were unaware that by installing new applications with Terminal Services turned on, it is very risky to then uninstall Terminal Services as it could mess up these applications and require that you reinstall them. That is not an option for us as there has been a massive amount of configuration on this server and it needs to stay just so.

So... it seems the only thing to do is to buy a few TS CAL's.

Thanks for the link to the Licensing article, my eyes glazed over about an eighth of the way into it, but I got the jist of it. This server is our first 2003 server in an XP client environment, XP comes with a TS CAL for 2000 server which is why we haven't run into this problem before!

Any ideas where the best place would be to buy some TS CAL's?

You simply need to run the activation wizard on your licencing server and purchase the relevant TS CALS, bobs your uncle.