Windows Server 2008 R2 : Manage Remote Desktop Services (part 1) - Administer Remote Desktop Session Host

1. Administer Remote Desktop Session Host

The main component you will need to administer when working with RDS is the Remote Desktop Session Host. This is the main component for the services and replaces the core terminal server component from previous versions of Windows Server.

There are two main areas of the licensing server you will configure when working with the Remote Desktop Session Host. You will configure the general settings of the server as well as the connection protocol or protocols users can use on your network to properly connect to the RDS server.

1.1. Configure General Settings

When you need to modify settings potentially impacting your entire RDS server, you can find them in the general settings for the RD Session Host on the main page of the administrative tool.

1. Open Remote Desktop Host Session Configuration by selecting Start => Administrative Tools => Remote Desktop Services => Remote Desktop Host Session Configuration. You will see a screen similar to Figure 1.

2. To modify any of the settings, double-click any of the settings in the middle task pane, and you will see a screen similar to Figure 2.

3. Click the tab of the settings you want to modify. The different settings you can find here are listed in Table 1.

4. When you're finished, click Apply if you want to modify other tabs, or click OK to save your settings.

Figure 1. RD Session Host configuration

Figure 2. Editing RD Session Host settings

Table 1. RD Session Host Configuration Settings

Tab	Setting	Description
General	Delete Temporary Folders On Exit	During an RDS session, temporary folders are created to support applications. To help maintain server drive space, this setting deletes the folders on the RDS server when the session ends. By default, this option is selected.
	Use Temporary Folders Per Session	During an RDS session, temporary folders are created to support applications running properly. By default this option is selected.
	Restrict Each User To A Single Session	This prevents users from logging on to the RDS server with multiple sessions. This will help minimize the amount of resources the RDS server uses.
	User Logon Mode	The settings allow you to perform maintenance or other routine administrative procedures on your RDS server. By preventing new logons, users who are currently connected will be able to reconnect to their RDS session, while any new connections will be denied.
Licensing	Licensing Mode	This allows you to set or change the licensing mode for the server. You can set the licensing mode to Per User or Per Device, and this setting must match the type of RDS CALs you have purchased. This setting can be changed here if you set it during installation of the RDS role.
	Licensing Server	This is where you specify the RDS licensing server for your RDS deployment.
RD Connection Broker	Server Purpose	This determines how your RDS server will work. This setting can be used to join the RDS server to a large number of other RDS servers to create a farm for load balancing. You can also set whether this server will participate in remote desktop virtualization if you want to redirect desktop virtualization.
	Load Balancing	If you have multiple servers in an RDS farm, you can use load balancing settings to control how the servers are best utilized.
	Reconnection	This specifies what adapter and IP will be used for reconnections to the RDS server.
RD IP Virtualization	Enable IP Virtualization	These settings are new to Windows Server 2008 R2 and are used to assign IP addresses unique to the session or the application being utilized by the server. In prior versions of Windows Server, every session used the IP address of the server. Now this allows better control for application and session IP-based filtering and security. IP virtualization will require a DHCP server to assign a virtual IP address for the sessions.
	IP Virtualization Mode	Per Session will assign a virtual IP address from a DHCP pool to the session. If you choose Per Program, you will then be able to assign individual IP addresses per application on your RDS server.

1.2. Configure Connections for RDS

Configuring connections to your RDS server governs how your clients will connect to the RDS server. When a user connects to RDS, the main protocol used to send information to the client is the Remote Desktop Protocol. RDP essentially consists of screen refreshes sent from the server to the client. The RDP packets travel over TCP protocols, and you can control the communication by modifying or creating new connections. You modify these settings via the following steps:

1. To open Remote Desktop Host Session Configuration, select Start => Administrative Tools => Remote Desktop Services => Remote Desktop Host Session Configuration.

2. To modify any of the settings, double-click any of the settings in the middle task pane.

3. Click the tab of the settings you want to modify. The different settings you can find here are listed in Table 2.

4. When you're finished, click Apply if you want to modify other tabs, or click OK to save your settings.

Table 2. RD Session Host Configuration Settings

Tab	Setting	Description
General	Security	This determines the security for the communication channel between the client and server. The default value is Negotiate, which will be determined by the capabilities of the client. In most cases, the security layer used will be SSL (TLS 1.0).
	Encryption Level	This setting is also determined by the client and controls the strength of the encryption for the traffic between the client and the server.
	Certificate	You can specify or change the security certificate used to encrypt/decrypt the traffic on your server.
Log On Settings	Client Log On Information	This setting allows you to control how users will authenticate against your server. The default is for the user to specify their credentials; however, you can always specify a certain account to be used by the RDS server.
Sessions	Override User Settings	These settings allow you to control how sessions are disconnected on your RDS server. These settings will free up resources not used on the server for idle sessions, improving the overall performance of your server and other users' sessions.
Environment	Initial Program	This setting will determine what is the program loaded into memory when the user connects to the server.
Remote Control	Remotely View	You can configure these settings if you want to view a user's active session remotely. This will allow you to verify users' connections and use.
Client Settings	Color Depth	The settings in client settings control how the RDP session will appear to the user and what the remote desktop interface will look like. You can set the color depth, which will control how the display looks. The better the quality of color, the truer the remote desktop will look to being a native desktop.
	Redirection	This allows you to disable certain aspects of how the remote client is used. The more features you disable, the less functionality and traffic that is sent to the client. The more features you leave enabled, the closer the remote client will look to a real desktop.
Network Adapter	Adapter Settings	This allows you to control which adapter or adapters your RDS server can use, as well as how many connections are limited for the network adapter selected.
Security		This allows you to set which users or groups can connect to the RDS components. When you first open this tab, you will see a warning similar to Figure 13.6. Even though you can modify the users in this option, it is recommended you use the Remote Desktop Users group to control access.

Figure 3. RDS security warning

2. Activate Remote Desktop Licensing Server

The RD Licensing component of RDS plays a vital role in your network. This server governs the RDS CALs for your server. If this server is not properly configured or activated, your RDS environment could stop working and prevent connections to your RDS server.

You have two choices for the licensing mode of your RDS server. You can license the server per device or per user. Per device allows one device on your network to connect to the RDS server regardless of which user is logged onto the device. This licensing mode is useful when kiosk computers are used heavily in conjunction with RDS for your infrastructure. Per user allows you a user to log on to the RDS services from any computer in your network. This mode is useful when you have users who use a variety of workstations to perform their tasks.

One of the key steps you will need to perform on the license server is activating the server. You need to have legitimate RDS CALs you have purchased and then activate your server. To activate the server, you need to go into the RD Licensing Manager tool.

1. To open the RD Licensing Manager, select Start => Administrative Tools => Remote Desktop Services => Remote Desktop Licensing Manager, and you will see a screen similar to Figure 4.

2. You will notice your server has an activation status of Not Activated.

3. Right-click your server, and click Activate Server.

4. Review the welcome screen, and click Next.

5. Choose your activation method, which determines how you will verify your RDS CALs. You can connect through the Internet by using a browser or by calling with your telephone. After you have selected your method, click Next.

   Figure 4. RD Licensing Manager

   

6. No matter which method you choose, you will need your licensing server ID; after you have entered it, click Next.

7. Your server will then be activated.

After your server has been activated, you will then be able to install, configure, and remove your licenses easily. It is just a matter of purchasing the licenses through legitimate sources and having a properly activated server.