Event ID 1011 — Remote Desktop Services Client Access License (RDS CAL) Availability

Applies To: Windows Server 2008 R2

An RD Session Host server must be able to contact a Remote Desktop license server to request Remote Desktop Services client access licenses (RDS CALs) for users or computing devices that are connecting to the RD Session Host server. In addition, the Remote Desktop licensing mode configured on an RD Session Host server must match the type of RDS CALs available on the license server.

Event Details

Resolve

Ensure that the RD Session Host server can contact a Remote Desktop license server with the appropriate type of RDS CALs installed

To resolve this issue, ensure that the RD Session Host server can contact a Remote Desktop license server with a sufficient number of the appropriate type of Remote Desktop Services client access licenses (RDS CALs). For an RD Session Host server to receive RDS CALs for its clients from a license server, the following needs to be true:

• The license server must have a sufficient number of RDS CALs installed to support the number of remote connections being made to the RD Session Host server.
• The licensing mode for the RD Session Host server must match the type of RDS CALs installed on the license server.
• There must be network connectivity between the RD Session Host server and the license server.

Determine if the RD Session Host server can contact a license server

To perform this procedure, you must have membership in the local Administrators group, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority.

To use Licensing Diagnosis in Remote Desktop Session Host Configuration:

1. On the RD Session Host server, open Remote Desktop Session Host Configuration. To open Remote Desktop Session Host Configuration, click Start, point to Administrative Tools, point to Remote Desktop Services, and then click Remote Desktop Session Host Configuration.
2. If the User Account Control dialog box appears, confirm that the action it displays is what you want, and then click Continue.
3. In the left pane, click Licensing Diagnosis.
4. Review the following information in Licensing Diagnosis to help determine the root cause of the issue:
   • Under Remote Desktop Session Host Server Configuration Details, ensure that the value for Number of RDS CALs available for clients is greater than 0.
   • Under Remote Desktop Services License Server Information, ensure that at least one license server is listed as discovered.
   • Ensure that any license server that is listed as discovered has a sufficient number of the appropriate type of RDS CALs installed to support the number of remote connections being made to the RD Session Host server. Information about the type and number of RDS CALs installed on a license server is listed under License Server Configuration Details, which is displayed when you click a license server listed as discovered under Remote Desktop Services License Server Information.
   • Ensure that any license server that is listed as discovered has the appropriate type of RDS CALs installed. The Remote Desktop licensing mode configured on an RD Session Host server must match the type of RDS CALs available on the license server. The licensing mode for the RD Session Host server is listed under LicenseServer Configuration Details.

Use the following procedures to resolve any issues that have been identified by Licensing Diagnosis.

The license server does not have a sufficient number of RDS CALs installed to support the number of remote connections being made to the Remote Desktop Session Host server

To resolve this issue, install RDS CALs onto a license server by using RD Licensing Manager. For more information about installing RDS CALs onto a license server, see "Install Remote Desktop Services Client Access Licenses" in the RD Licensing Manager Help in the Windows Server 2008 R2 Technical Library (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=177605). Ensure that the Remote Desktop licensing mode specified on the RD Session Host server matches the type of RDS CALs installed on the license server.

The licensing mode for the RD Session Host server does not match the type of RDS CALs installed on the license server

To resolve this issue, ensure that the Remote Desktop licensing mode specified on the RD Session Host server matches the type of RDS CALs installed on the license server. The Remote Desktop licensing mode determines the type of RDS CALs that an RD Session Host server will request from a license server on behalf of a client connecting to the RD Session Host server. Therefore, the Remote Desktop licensing mode specified on an RD Session Host server must match the type of RDS CALs available on the license server.

To perform this procedure, you must have membership in the local Administrators group, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority.

To specify the Remote Desktop licensing mode:

1. On the RD Session Host server, open Remote Desktop Session Host Configuration. To open Remote Desktop Session Host Configuration, click Start, point to Administrative Tools, point to Remote Desktop Services, and then click Remote Desktop Session Host Configuration.
2. If the User Account Control dialog box appears, confirm that the action it displays is what you want, and then click Continue.
3. Under Licensing, double-click Remote Desktop licensing mode.
4. Select either Per Device or Per User, depending on your environment. For more information about the two options, see "Specify the Remote Desktop Licensing Mode for an RD Session Host Server" in the Remote Desktop Session Host Configuration Help in the Windows Server 2008 R2 Technical Library (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=177606).
5. Click OK.

Note:  You can also specify the Remote Desktop licensing mode for an RD Session Host server by using Group Policy.

• To specify the Remote Desktop licensing mode for an RD Session Host server by using Group Policy, enable the Set Remote Desktop licensing mode Group Policy setting. This Group Policy setting is located in Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Remote Desktop Services\Remote Desktop Session Host\Licensing. Note that the Group Policy setting will take precedence over the setting configured in Remote Desktop Session Host Configuration.
• To configure the Group Policy setting in Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS), use the Group Policy Management Console (GPMC). To configure the Group Policy setting locally on an RD Session Host server, use the Local Group Policy Editor. For more information about configuring Group Policy settings, see either the Local Group Policy Editor Help (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=143317) or the GPMC Help (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=143867) in the Windows Server 2008 R2 Technical Library.

There is a network connectivity problem between the RD Session Host server and the license server

To resolve this issue, identify and fix any network connectivity problems between the RD Session Host server and the license server by doing the following:

• Determine if there is a network connectivity problem by using the ping command.
• Perform additional troubleshooting steps, if necessary, to help identify the cause of the problem.

To perform these tasks, refer to the following sections.

Note:  The following procedures include steps for using the ping command to perform troubleshooting. Therefore, before performing these steps, check whether the firewall or Internet Protocol security (IPsec) settings on your network allow Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) traffic. ICMP is the TCP/IP protocol that is used by the ping command.

To perform these procedures, you must have membership in the local Administrators group, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority.

Determine if there is a network connectivity problem

To determine if there is a network connectivity problem between the RD Session Host server and the license server:

1. On the RD Session Host server, click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then click OK.

2. At the command prompt, type ping server_FQDN, where server_FQDN is the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the license server (for example, server1.contoso.com), and then press ENTER.

   If the ping was successful, you will receive a reply similar to the following:

   Reply from IP_address: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=59

   Reply from IP_address: bytes=32 time=20ms TTL=59

   Reply from IP_address: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=59

   Reply from IP_address: bytes=32 time=6ms TTL=59

3. At the command prompt, type ping IP_address, where IP_address is the IP address of the license server, and then press ENTER.

If you can successfully ping the license server by IP address, but not by FQDN, this indicates a possible issue with DNS host name resolution.

If you cannot successfully ping the license server by IP address, this indicates a possible issue with network connectivity, firewall configuration, or IPsec configuration.

Perform additional troubleshooting steps

The following are some additional troubleshooting steps that you can perform to help identify the root cause of the problem:

• Ping other computers on the network to help determine the extent of the network connectivity issue.
• If you can ping other servers but not the license server, try to ping the license server from another computer. If you cannot ping the license server from any computer, first ensure that the license server is running. If the license server is running, check the network settings on the license server.
• Check the TCP/IP settings on the local computer by doing the following:
  1. Click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then click OK.
  2. At the command prompt, type ipconfig /all, and then press ENTER. Make sure that the information listed is correct.
  3. Type ping localhost to verify that TCP/IP is installed and correctly configured on the local computer. If the ping is unsuccessful, this may indicate a corrupt TCP/IP stack or a problem with your network adapter.
  4. Type ping IP_address, where IP_address is the IP address assigned to the computer. If you can ping the localhost address but not the local address, there may be an issue with the routing table or with the network adapter driver.
  5. Type ping DNS_server, where DNS_server is the IP address assigned to the DNS server. If there is more than one DNS server on your network, you should ping each one. If you cannot ping the DNS servers, this indicates a potential problem with the DNS servers, or with the network between the computer and the DNS servers.
  6. If the license server is on a different subnet, try to ping the default gateway. If you cannot ping the default gateway, this might indicate a problem with the network adapter, the router or gateway device, cabling, or other connectivity hardware.
• In Device Manager, check the status of the network adapter. To open Device Manager, click Start, click Run, type devmgmt.msc, and then click OK.
• Check network connectivity indicator lights on the computer and at the hub or router. Check network cabling.
• Check firewall settings by using the Windows Firewall with Advanced Security snap-in.
• Check IPsec settings by using the IP Security Policy Management snap-in.

Verify

To verify that the RD Session Host server can contact a Remote Desktop license server with the appropriate type of Remote Desktop Services client access licenses (RDS CALs), use Licensing Diagnosis in Remote Desktop Session Host Configuration.

To perform this procedure, you must have membership in the local Administrators group, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority.

To use Licensing Diagnosis in Remote Desktop Session Host Configuration:

1. On the RD Session Host server, open Remote Desktop Session Host Configuration. To open Remote Desktop Session Host Configuration, click Start, point to Administrative Tools, point to Remote Desktop Services, and then click Remote Desktop Session Host Configuration.
2. If the User Account Control dialog box appears, confirm that the action it displays is what you want, and then click Yes.
3. In the left pane, click Licensing Diagnosis.
4. Under Remote Desktop Session Host Server Configuration Details, the value for Number of RDS CALs available for clients should be greater than 0.

Related Management Information

Remote Desktop Services Client Access License (RDS CAL) Availability

Remote Desktop Services