Licensing replication

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

Licensing replication

An administrator can ensure an organization's legal compliance with the license agreements for Windows Server 2003 operating systems by monitoring license purchases, deletions, and usage. This licensing information is collected on a server by the License Logging service. The License Logging service is disabled by default.

The License Logging service on each server in a site replicates this licensing information to a centralized database on a server, called the site license server, for the site. A site administrator or administrator for the site license server can then use Licensing in Administrative Tools to view the licensing history for the entire site stored on the site license server.

Typically, the site license server is the first domain controller created for the site. In a large organization with multiple sites, the site license server in each site collects licensing information for that site.

To find which server is the site license server, see Find the site license server for a site. To change the site license server to a different server, see Change the site license server for a site. To view licensing information for any site on your network, see View licensing for a site.