Event ID 1003 — 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

Product: Windows Operating System
ID: 1003
Source: Microsoft-Windows-TerminalServices-RemoteConnectionManager
Version: 6.1
Symbolic Name: EVENT_INVALID_LICENSE
Message: The remote desktop client '%1' has provided an invalid license.

Resolve

Delete the appropriate registry subkey

To resolve this issue, delete the MSLicensing registry subkey on the client computer, restart the client computer, and then try again to connect remotely to the RD Session Host server from the client computer. If the issue persists, delete the Certificate, X509 Certificate, X509 Certificate2, and X509 Certificate ID registry entries on the RD Session Host server, restart the RD Session Host server, and then try again to connect to the RD Session Host server from the client computer.

Delete the MSLicensing registry subkey

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

To delete the MSLicensing registry subkey:

Caution:  Incorrectly editing the registry might severely damage your system. Before making changes to the registry, you should back up any valued data.

  1. On the client computer, open Registry Editor. To open Registry Editor, click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
  2. If the User Account Control dialog box appears, confirm that the action it displays is what you want, and then click Yes.
  3. Locate the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\MSLicensing registry subkey.
  4. Click MSLicensing.
  5. Before deleting the MSLicensing subkey, back up the subkey. To back up the subkey, do the following:
    1. Right-click MSLicensing, and then click Export.
    2. In the File name box, type mslicensingbackup, and then click Save. If you need to restore this registry subkey, double-click mslicensingbackup.reg.
  6. To delete the MSLicensing subkey, on the Edit menu, click Delete, and then click Yes.
  7. Close Registry Editor, and then restart the client.
  8. After the client computer is restarted, try again to connect remotely to the RD Session Host server from the client computer.

Delete the appropriate registry entries on the RD Session Host server

If the issue persists, delete the Certificate, X509 Certificate, X509 Certificate2, and X509 Certificate ID registry entries on the RD Session Host server.

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

To delete the appropriate registry entries:

Caution:  Incorrectly editing the registry can severely damage your system. Before making changes to the registry, you should back up any valued data on the computer.

  1. On the RD Session Host server, open Registry Editor. To open Registry Editor, click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
  2. If the User Account Control dialog box appears, confirm that the action it displays is what you want, and then click Yes.
  3. Locate the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\RCM registry subkey.
  4. Click RCM.
  5. Before deleting the subkeys, back up the RCM subkey. To back up the subkey, do the following:
    1. Right-click RCM, and then click Export.
    2. In the File name box, type rdsrcm, and then click Save. If you need to restore this registry subkey, double-click rdsrcm.reg.
  6. To delete the Certificate, X509 Certificate, X509 Certificate2, and X509 Certificate ID registry entries, right-click each entry, click Delete, and then click Yes.
  7. Close Registry Editor, and then restart the RD Session Host server.
  8. After the RD Session Host server is restarted, try again to connect remotely to the RD Session Host server from the client computer.

If the issue persists, do the following:

  1. On the client computer, back up and then delete the MSLicensing registry key and its subkeys.
  2. On the RD Session Host server, back up and then delete the Certificate, X509 Certificate, X509 Certificate2, and X509 Certificate ID registry entries.
  3. Deactivate and then reactivate the license server.  For information about deactivating and reactivating a license server, see the topic "Managing Remote Desktop Licensing" in the RD Licensing Manager Help in the Windows Server 2008 R2 Technical Library (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=177615).
  4. Restart the RD Session Host server and the client computer and then try again to connect remotely to the RD Session Host server from the client computer.

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.

Remote Desktop Services Client Access License (RDS CAL) Availability

Remote Desktop Services