MANAGEMENT AND CONFIGURATION
Description: Management and configuration of Terminal Services refers to the management of Terminal Servers using the Terminal Server Admin tool and the configuration of Terminal Servers using the Terminal Services Configuration tool. Installation of the Terminal Server role services in 2003 and 2008 is also covered under this section.
Scoping the Issue: To start scoping the issue, determine if the problem is with installing Terminal Services or an associated role service, managing Terminal Servers, or configuring them. Installation of Terminal Services is done via Add/Remove Programs in Windows Server 2003 and via Server Manager in Windows Server 2008.
A Terminal Server is defined as a Windows Server 2003 or Windows Server 2008 system that has the Terminal Server role installed. Remote Desktop for Administration allows access to a server via the RDC client for the purposes of administration and does not require installation of the Terminal Server role. To avoid confusion when dealing with a Support Engineer, make sure that you specify either Terminal Server or Remote Desktop for Administration when describing your problem.
Data Gathering: In all instances, collecting either MPS Reports with the General, Internet and Networking, Business Networks and Server Components diagnostics, or a Performance-oriented MSDT manifest must be done. Additional data required may include the following:
- The Installationlog.html file from %userprofile%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\ServerManager
- The Servermanager.log file from %userprofile%\AppData\Local\Temp
- The CBS.log file from %windir\logs\CBS
- Other log files or event logs may be required but the above logs will get us started troubleshooting your issue.
- A network trace taken with Network Monitor 3 while reproducing the problem
Troubleshooting / Resolution: Troubleshooting will depend on which problem you are experiencing:
Cannot install or errors displayed when installing Terminal Server role or Terminal Server role services
Installation of Terminal Server in Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008 are very similar but use different methods. Both operating systems have many of the core libraries and registry information already in place since they are used for Remote Desktop as well, and Remote Desktop for Administration only needs to be enabled and does not need to be installed.
To install Terminal Server in Windows Server 2003, use Add or Remove Programs, Add/Remove Windows Components, and then check the box labeled Terminal Server. To complete the installation you will need to specify the security level and the users that will be allowed to connect once Terminal Server is installed. Access to the server once it has Terminal Server is installed is controlled by the local Remote Desktop Users group.
Installation of Terminal Server role in Windows Server 2008 is done with Server Manager and you must select the same configuration settings, with the additional setting in Windows Server called licensing mode. Once the installation wizard completes the first time, the machine will need to be restarted and you must logon after the restart with the same user account that started the install. Once this is done, the Resuming Configuration Wizard starts and the settings entered during the previous wizard are configured. If there any errors during this process they will be shown at end of the wizard. There is a link to the installationlog.html file displayed in the wizard.
Cannot connect to Terminal Server with Terminal Server Administration tool
Managing a Terminal Server remotely is done with Terminal Services Manager and the Connect to Computer option. You may only manage servers that have the Terminal Server role installed, Terminal Services Manager will not discover any machines that are running in Remote Admin mode. You may allow the discovery of Remote Admin mode servers by setting the TSAdvertise key listed in the following article: Microsoft KB Article 262852: How to Prevent Terminal Services from Announcing the Service to th...
If you cannot connect to a Terminal Server with Terminal Services Manager then the likely problem is network configuration. Take a network trace with Network Monitor 3 and examine the network configuration.
Cannot Remote Control a Session with Terminal Services Manager
Remote Control of a Terminal Server session must be done from with a Remote Desktop session and can be done from the same Terminal Server where the user session resides or remotely to control a user session on a different Terminal Server.
Remote Administration of Terminal Services from Vista and Windows Server 2008
Terminal Services management tools are automatically installed when the Terminal Server role is installed. If you wish to manage Terminal Servers from a Windows XP or Windows Vista workstation then you must install the Adminpak on Windows XP or the Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) on Vista or 2008. The RSAT tools contain the Terminal Services Manager, Terminal Services Configuration, and the Remote Deskstop MMC Snap-in client.
Additional Resources:
- Microsoft KB Article 262852: How to Prevent Terminal Services from Announcing the Service to t...
- Microsoft KB Article 941314: Description of Windows Server 2008 Remote Server Administration T...
- Microsoft KB Article 232792: HOW TO: Use the Terminal Services Remote Control Feature
- Microsoft KB Article 278845: How to Connect to and Shadow the Console Session with Windows Ser...