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Remote Desktop Services: Prepare to Migrate

 

Applies To: Windows Server 2012 R2

This topic explains how to prepare to migrate the Remote Desktop Services role services from a source server running Windows Server 2012 or Windows Server 2012 R2 to a destination server running Windows Server 2012 R2. It assumes that you are migrating some or all of the role services, including dependencies, from a functional deployment of Remote Desktop Services.

The general preparation instructions provided in this topic apply to the following role services in Remote Desktop Services.

  • RD Connection Broker

  • RD Session Host

  • RD Virtualization Host

  • RD Web Access

  • RD Licensing

  • RD Gateway

Assign permissions required to migrate Remote Desktop Services

At a minimum, you must be a member of the Administrators group on the source server and the destination server to install, remove, or set up Remote Desktop Services.

Migration dependencies

Remote Desktop Services role services have dependencies or prerequisites for migration, as described in this section.

Prerequisite features to migrate separately

The following features in Remote Desktop Services must be migrated separately:

Prerequisite features already installed

Remote Desktop Services role services require the following roles and features in Windows Server 2012 R2. With the exception of Network Policy and Access Services (NPAS), these roles and features are installed automatically when the role service is installed, if they are not already installed on the server.

  • RD Web Access requires Web Server (IIS)

  • RD Virtualization Host requires Hyper-V

  • RD Gateway requires Web Server (IIS), RPC over HTTP Proxy, and Network Policy and Access Services (NPAS)

Prepare your source server

To prepare your source server for migration, you need to back it up and gather data.

Back up your source server

Migrating some Remote Desktop Services role services require import or export of registry settings. You should back up the computer before working with the registry.

You can find information about backing up Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2012 R2 in the following topics:

Gather data from your source server

Settings for applications on the Remote Desktop Session Host server will not be gathered or recorded during this migration. Before you retire the RD Session Host server, gather and record the data that you will migrate from the source server into a data collection worksheet for each role service.

Prepare your destination server

The following steps are necessary to prepare all destination servers for the migration of Remote Desktop Services role services.

Hardware requirements for the destination server

Verify that the computer meets the hardware requirements for the role service and its prerequisites. Minimally, you should migrate to servers with comparable memory, disk space, processors, and GPUs.

The RD Virtualization Host server must meet the hardware requirements for the Hyper-V server role. For more information about Hyper-V hardware requirements, see Hardware Considerations.

RD Session Host, RD Web Access, and RD Virtualization Host cannot run on virtual machines.

Software requirements for the destination server

Remote Desktop Services is a server role in Windows Server 2012 R2. Windows Server 2012 R2 must be installed on the destination server before you migrate any of the Remote Desktop Services role services.

RD Session Host, RD Virtualization Host, RD Connection Broker, and RD Web Access require that the name of the destination server is the same as the name of the source server.

Other servers and client computers in the enterprise

Within the domain, if the destination server has the same name as the source server, no preparations are needed on other computers in the deployment.

To migrate Remote Desktop Services role services across domains, RD Session Host, RD Virtualization Host, RD Connection Broker, and RD Web Access must have accounts with permissions to join the new domain.

When you migrate RD Gateway and Remote Desktop license servers across domains, domain trust relationships are required.

Additional references