Hello AskPerf! My name is Prachi Singh and today I will be talking about a behavior that can occur when users attempt to pull licenses from a 2012 R2 License server via a 2008 R2 Session Host. Under these circumstances, you may see a line item in your 2012 R2 license manager that says “Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2 -Installed TS or RDS Per User CAL”. Under “License Program” you then see “Built-in Overused”.
In the case above, the license server is used to issue RDS CALs to users when they connect to both Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows Server 2012 R2 Session Host Servers. When a user connects to a Windows Server 2012 R2 Session Host, a Windows Server 2012 "per User" RDS CAL is issued.
However, when a user connects to a Windows Server 2008 R2 RDS Server, a Windows Server 2008 R2 "Built-in OverUsed" RDS CAL category appears and shows the value only for the issued RDS CAL. The "Total" and "Available" values remain 0. Additionally, the issued RDS CAL amount is not deducted from the total Windows Server 2012 RDS CALs.
What is the "Built-in OverUsed" group and is it ok to have it?
The "Built-In Overused" group was also used in earlier operating systems if the licensing mode was being set to Per User but no "per user" CALs were installed on the license server and the users will still connect to the terminal servers. This was an indication for admins that they must install licenses. After the applicable licenses get installed, this group goes away and the number of licenses issued gets synchronized with the installed license group.
Why are Windows Server 2008 R2 RDS CALs not deducted from the installed Windows Server 2012 RDS CALs?
By default, a license server attempts to provide the most appropriate RDS CAL for a connection. For example, a license server running Windows Server 2008 R2 tries to issue a Windows Server 2008 R2 RDS CAL for clients connecting to an RD Session Host server running Windows Server 2008 R2, and a Windows Server 2003 TS CAL for clients connecting to a terminal server running Windows Server 2003. If the most appropriate RDS CAL is not available, a license server running Windows Server 2008 R2 issues a Windows Server 2008 R2 RDS CAL, if available, to a client connecting to a terminal server running Windows Server 2003 or Windows Server 2000.
Why are the "Built-In Overused" RDS CALs “issued” counted but not the “total” and “remaining” too?
Starting with Windows Server 2012 R2 license server, when only Windows Server 2012 RDS CALs are installed and a user logs on to a Windows Server 2008 R2 RDS Server, the "Built-in OverUsed" group is displayed and the user gets a 2008 R2 "Built-In Overused" RDS CAL. Here, in this case it is just a reporting mechanism to tell that these number of users have logged in without an appropriate CAL. This is to make admins visible that 2012 licenses were issued for older terminal servers for which no dedicated (in this case the 2008 R2) RDS CALs are installed.
Since, this group is displayed separately, the number of licenses will not be deducted directly from the 2012 RDS CAL group. The "Built-In Overused" group will display only the number of licenses issued and no " Remaining" or "total", because in the background the 2008 RDS CALs are not actually installed. The column “Built-in Overused” represents the number of user connections to Windows Server 2008 R2 servers where a Per User license was issued.
Do you need to install additional Windows Server 2008 R2 RDS CALs too, or is this a compatibility behavior?
Server 2012 RDS requires a Server 2012 RD Licensing server. A 2012 RD Licensing server will serve 2012/2008 R2/2008/2003 servers, so you may consolidate your RDS CALs onto a Server 2012 RD Licensing server if you would like to.
RDS CALs are not forward compatible, only backward compatible. Meaning that Windows Server 2012 CALs will work with Server 2008 R2
Windows Server 2012 RDS CALs can be issued to 2003, 2008/R2 terminal server. For more detailed info, you may check below article:
RDS and TS CAL Interoperability Matrix
The above screenshot shows that there are 4 users who are connecting to 2008 R2 Session Host Server and 1 user who connects to 2012 R2. With respect to reporting, the admin has the number of issued RDS CALs (Built-in OverUsed + 2012 RDS CALs) and they should make sure that the total does not exceed the number of installed RDS CALs.
The RDS CAL reports will contain information about both (Built-in Overused + 2012 RDS CALs)
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RD License Server:
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******LAB-DC |
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Report Date: |
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CAL Version |
CAL Type |
Installed CALs |
CALs in Use |
CAL Availability |
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Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2 |
TS or RDS Per User CAL |
0 |
4 |
None |
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Windows Server 2012 |
RDS Per User CAL |
20 |
1 |
Available |
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Successful Per User License Issuance Detail |
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Issued to User |
CAL Version |
CAL Type |
Expires On |
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PerfNation.com\User1 |
Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2 |
TS or RDS Per User CAL |
Sunday, May 10, 2015 8:57:24 PM |
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PerfNation.com\User2 |
Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2 |
TS or RDS Per User CAL |
Sunday, May 10, 2015 9:04:53 PM |
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PerfNation.com\User3 |
Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2 |
TS or RDS Per User CAL |
Monday, May 11, 2015 1:13:27 PM |
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PerfNation.com\User4 |
Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2 |
TS or RDS Per User CAL |
Monday, May 11, 2015 1:14:35 PM |
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PerfNation.com\User6 |
Windows Server 2012 |
RDS Per User CAL |
Thursday, May 14, 2015 1:21:11 PM |
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No Per User License Issuance has failed |
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No Per Device License has been issued |
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Are the "Built-In Overused" RDS CALs handled like any other CALs, especially regarding license renewal?
Per user "RDS CALs are valid 60 days but can be extended automatically if the user logs on again to the RDS server. If the license it has is within seven days of expiring, then the RD Session Host server attempts to obtain a license for the User at each login. If the server cannot find a license server to renew the license before it expires or no license is available, the license will expire. If the server has the licenses available, it will issue it to the user. This is how a "Built-in OverUsed" per user CALs as well as all other "normal" per user RDS CALs behaves.
When a user (which got "Built-In Overused" RDS CAL issued) logs on to a Windows Server 2012 R2 RDS server, the built-in overused CAL gets converted to 2012 RDS CAL. Once converted, the user will continue using 2012 RDS CAL even if he connects to 2008 R2 RDS server ( once "upgraded" the license is no longer "downgraded").
The report will look something like this:
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CAL Usage Report |
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RD License Server: |
******LAB-DC |
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Report Date: |
Monday, March 16, 2015 6:17:51 PM |
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CAL Version |
CAL Type |
Installed CALs |
CALs in Use |
CAL Availability |
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Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2 |
TS or RDS Per User CAL |
0 |
0 |
None |
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Windows Server 2012 |
RDS Per User CAL |
20 |
5 |
Available |
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Successful Per User License Issuance Detail |
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Issued to User |
CAL Version |
CAL Type |
Expires On |
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PerfNation.com\User6 |
Windows Server 2012 |
RDS Per User CAL |
Thursday, May 14, 2015 1:21:11 PM |
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PerfNation.com\User1 |
Windows Server 2012 |
RDS Per User CAL |
Friday, May 15, 2015 12:27:38 PM |
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PerfNation.com\User4 |
Windows Server 2012 |
RDS Per User CAL |
Friday, May 15, 2015 12:36:11 PM |
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PerfNation.com\User2 |
Windows Server 2012 |
RDS Per User CAL |
Friday, May 15, 2015 12:38:37 PM |
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PerfNation.com\User3 |
Windows Server 2012 |
RDS Per User CAL |
Friday, May 15, 2015 12:40:01 PM |
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No Per User License Issuance has failed |
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No Per Device License has been issued |
-Prachi
Microsoft
