Set preferred Terminal Server license servers

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

To set preferred Terminal Server license servers

At a stand-alone server:

  • Using Group Policies (best practice)

  • Using Terminal Services Configuration

  • Using the registry

Using Group Policies (best practice)

  1. Open Group Policy.

  2. In Computer Configuration, Administrative Templates, Windows Components, Terminal Services, double-click Use the specified Terminal Server license servers.

  3. Click Enabled.

  4. Enter the names of the Terminal Server license servers you want this Terminal Server to contact first when attempting to obtain client access licenses (CALs), and then click OK.

Important

  • You should thoroughly test any changes you make to Group Policy settings before applying them to users or computers. For more information on testing policy settings, see Related Topics.

Notes

  • To perform this procedure, you must be a member of the Administrators group on the local computer, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority. If the computer is joined to a domain, members of the Domain Admins group might be able to perform this procedure. As a security best practice, consider using Run as to perform this procedure.

  • This Group Policy setting is only available on Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 1, or with the Service Pack 1 versions of System.adm Group Policy template files installed in your Terminal Server environment.

  • Use this procedure to configure the local Group Policy object. To change a policy for a domain or an organizational unit, you must log on to the primary domain controller as an administrator. Then, you must open Group Policy through the Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in.

  • You can also set preferred license servers by using a Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) script. For three scripts that you can use to set preferred license servers, delete preferred license servers, or query preferred license servers, see "Preferred License Server WMI Scripts" in Windows Server 2003 Terminal Server Licensing (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=26220). .

Using Terminal Services Configuration

  1. Open Terminal Services Configuration.

  2. In the console tree, click Server Settings.

  3. In the details pane, right-click License server discovery mode, and then click Properties.

  4. Click Use these license servers, and enter the names or IP addresses of the license servers in the text box, separating them with commas.

  5. Click Check names, make any necessary corrections, and click OK.

Notes

  • To open Terminal Services Configuration, click Start, click Control Panel, double-click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Terminal Services Configuration.

  • This feature is only available on Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 1.

  • You can also set preferred license servers by using a Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) script. For three scripts that you can use to set preferred license servers, delete preferred license servers, or query preferred license servers, see "Preferred License Server WMI Scripts" in Windows Server 2003 Terminal Server Licensing (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=26220).

Using the registry

  1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.

  2. Locate, and then click, the following key in the registry:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\TermService\Parameters

  3. On the Edit menu, point to New, click Key, and then type LicenseServers to name the new key.

  4. Locate, and then click, the following key in the registry:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\TermService\Parameters\LicenseServers

  5. On the Edit menu, point to New, click Key, and then type ServerName where ServerName is the NetBIOS name of the license server that you want to use, and then press ENTER.

    The new key name can be any of the following designations that represent the license server:

    • The NetBIOS name of the server

    • The fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of the server

    • The IP address of the server

  6. Restart your computer

Notes

Information about functional differences

  • Your server might function differently based on the version and edition of the operating system that is installed, your account permissions, and your menu settings. For more information, see Viewing Help on the Web.

See Also

Concepts

Change Terminal Server license server properties Resultant Set of Policy Terminal Server license server roles