Understanding Windows Server 2003 updates for Terminal Server Licensing

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

Following are important changes for Terminal Server Licensing in Windows Server 2003, including updates for Service Pack 1 (SP1).

Per Device Licenses Available in Windows Server 2003

In Windows Server 2003, two types of client access licenses (CALs) are available: Per User and Per Device. A Per Device CAL gives each client computer or device the right to access a terminal server that is running Windows Server 2003. A Per User CAL gives one user the right to access a terminal server from an unlimited number of devices. In this case, only one CAL is needed instead of a CAL for each device.

By default, when the Per Device licensing mode is used, after a client logs and authenticates to a terminal server for the first time, and after the terminal server locates a license server, the terminal server issues the client a temporary license. After a client logs on and authenticates to a terminal server for the second time, if the license server is activated and at least one Per Device CAL is installed on the license server and not yet issued, the terminal server issues the client a permanent, Per Device CAL. Per User CALs, however, are not enforced by Terminal Server. Additionally, if you use the Per User licensing mode, when a client logs on to a terminal server for the second time, the temporary license is not upgraded to a permanent CAL.

Required Licenses for Terminal Server in Windows Server 2003

For Windows Server 2003 Terminal Server to function correctly there must be at least one Windows Server 2003 license server in your environment. Although Terminal Server provides a licensing grace period during which no license server is required, after the grace period ends, clients must obtain a valid Windows Server 2003 Terminal Server CAL to log onto a Windows Server 2003 terminal server. This includes Windows Server 2003 clients. Currently, all Terminal Server CALs that are available for purchase are Windows Server 2003 Terminal Server CALs.

If you are running Windows 2000 terminal servers with Windows Server 2003 license servers, the Windows 2000 terminal server can use can use Windows Server 2003 Per Device CALs or Windows 2000 CALs. You can downgrade these CALs by calling the Microsoft Clearinghouse and requesting that the CALs be downgraded to Windows 2000. For more information, see Windows Server 2003 Downgrade Rights (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=48210) on the Microsoft Web site and Locate the Microsoft Clearinghouse telephone number for your country or region (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=48885).

Note that a Windows 2000 license server cannot install or issue Windows Server 2003 Terminal Server CALs.

Terminal Server Licensing Grace Period Increased in Windows Server 2003

In Windows 2000, the Terminal Server Licensing grace period was 90 days. In Windows Server 2003, the licensing grace period has increased to 120 days. The licensing grace period begins the first time a terminal server accepts a client connection. It ends after you deploy a license server and that license server issues its first permanent CAL, or after 120 days, whichever comes first.

New Group Policy Settings for Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1

Windows Server 2003 SP1 includes the following new Group Policy settings for Terminal Services Licensing:

• Set the Terminal Server licensing mode

  This new Group Policy setting determines the type of Terminal Server CAL a device or user requires to connect to a Terminal Server.

  When this setting is enabled, you can choose one of the following two licensing modes:

  • Per User. Each user connecting to the terminal server requires a Per User Terminal Server CAL.

  • Per Device. Each device connecting to the terminal server requires a Per Device Terminal Server CAL.

  If you enable this policy setting, the licensing mode that you specify overrides the licensing mode specified during Setup, or in Terminal Services Configuration (TSCC.msc).

  If you disable or do not configure this policy setting, Terminal Services uses the licensing mode specified during Setup or in Terminal Services Configuration.

• Use the specified Terminal Server license servers

  This new Group Policy setting determines whether terminal servers must first attempt to locate Terminal Server license servers that are specified in this policy setting before attempting to locate license servers elsewhere on the network.

  Specifying the name of a preferred licensing server in Group Policy saves time and helps eliminate roadblocks to successful configuration of your terminal servers. With the name of a specific licensing server added to Group Policy, Terminal Services does not need to search the network for a licensing server.

  During the automatic discovery process, terminal servers attempt to contact license servers in the following order:

1. Enterprise license servers or domain license servers that are specified in theLicenseServers registry key

2. Enterprise license servers that are specified in Active Directory

3. Domain license servers

4. Servers running Terminal Server Licensing in the same subnet

5. The local license server (if the terminal server is also running the Terminal Server Licensing service)

   If you enable this policy setting, terminal servers attempt to locate license servers that are specified in this setting, before following the automatic license server discovery process.

   If you disable or do not configure this policy setting, terminal servers follow the automatic license server discovery process.

   Note

   You are also prompted to specify a preferred license server during Setup, or you can specify the license server in Terminal Services Configuration, if the terminal server is running Windows Server 2003 SP1. If you are upgrading a terminal server from Windows 2000 to Windows Server 2003, the compatibility report will now display a warning if a Windows Server 2003 license server is not located.

Show ToolTips for Licensing Problems on Terminal Server

This new Group Policy setting allows you, after successfully logging on to a terminal server as an administrator, to display ToolTips that show any licensing problems with the terminal server, and also to display the expiration date of the terminal server's licensing grace period. If this Group Policy setting is not configured, ToolTips display is defined by registry settings.

Using ToolTips to view Terminal Server license statistics at a glance speeds administration tasks. By configuring Group Policy to show ToolTips for Terminal Server licenses, you do not need to open the Properties dialog box for specific licenses to view status and expiration information.

Allowing administrators to configure a global Terminal Server licensing mode makes it possible for them to implement unified license policies regardless of the configuration of Terminal Services client computers. With the new Group Policy setting, differences in configuration between terminal servers and clients can be resolved by defining a global policy that overrides other settings.