Terminal Services Licensing

Written by Daniel Mundy

Thursday, 11 December 2008 09:06

The Ultimate Guide to Windows 2003 Terminal Server Licensing (Brian Madden)
Terminal Server CALs are not issued for Windows XP Embedded and Windows XP Home Edition - install SP2 and delete a registry key

User vs Device CALs

Unless you have a shift-worker type environment, user is almost always the way to go
If you have a server already in device mode, don't worry. Just back up the licensing database (see below) and then delete it, and add the licenses again (assuming you have the original license details and numbers)

Moving the Terminal Services Licensing Service

The licensing service can only be installed on a server that is either in a workgroup, or is a DC. If you need to move the service to a different server follow these steps:

Stop the Terminal Server Licensing service on the source server
Back up the system32\lserver directory on the source server
Install (via Add Windows Components) the TS licensing service on the destination server
Back up the system32\lserver directory on the destination server, then remove it's contents
Copy the backup of the source server to the lserver directory on the destination server
Start the Terminal Services Licensing service on the destination server
In Terminal Services Licensing console, activate the licensing server (probably need to call Microsoft)

Terminal Server Licensing Services (from the Partner newsgroup)

Source: Susan Bradley (13/01/2009)

License Type:
823313 Windows Server 2003 Terminal Server Licensing Issues and Requirements
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=823313
822134 The Function of Terminal Server CALs in Windows Server 2003
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=822134

License Server activation:
306622 HOW TO: Activate a License Server by Using Terminal Services
Licensing   http://support.microsoft.com/?id=306622
814593 HOW TO: Deactivate or Reactivate a License Server By Using Terminal
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=814593
291795 HOW TO: Locate a Phone Number for the Microsoft Clearinghouse
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=291795

Other topic about terminal license:
315262 How to Transfer Terminal Services CAL from One Client Computer to
Another   http://support.microsoft.com/?id=315262
Windows Server 2008 Licensing Server update
http://blogs.msdn.com/ts/archive/tags/Author_3A00_+Aruna+Somendra/default.aspx

How License Server is located

279561 How to Override the License Server Discovery Process in Windows
Server   http://support.microsoft.com/?id=279561
239107 Establishing Preferred Windows 2000 Terminal Services License Server
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=239107
301932 Terminal Services Licensing Server Discovery
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=301932