This terminal server has exceeded the maximum number of allowed connections
Christopher Brooks, 16 Apr 2007
Last updated: 29 Feb 2016

Remote Desktop Services, Windows Server 2012 R2

1. Open the Server Manager by clicking on it in the start menu. The Server Manager Dashboard displays.
2. Open #2, Add roles And Features from the list of 5 choices.
3. Proceed through the table of contents on the left, starting with Before You Begin. Simply click 'Next' here.
4. For Installation Type, select Role-based or feature-based installation and click 'Next'.
5. Click 'Next' for Server Selection since there should be only one server listed.
6. For the next item in the table of contents on the left, Server Roles, scroll all the way to Remote Desktop Services, click on it and check off the box for Remote Desktop Session Host. Click 'Next'. You will be asked to confirm your selections for Server Roles by clicking on the Install button.
7. For Features (the next item in the table of contents), scroll down to Remote Server Administration Tools. Click on its box to open its submenu.
8. Click the box for Role Administration Tools. Click on Remote Desktop Services Tools and check the box in its submenu for Remote Desktop Licensing Diagnoser.

After you have completed the above, eecs domain staff will need to be contacted to set up the remote desktop license server.

They use Rdsmanager, a master license server run by IDSG, who takes on the role of Remote Desktop Licensing after you are finished with your part of the installation. This role coordinates the remote desktop licenses, which is one large license pool for all servers in the eecs domain.

*Note that the sporadic alert message you might occasionally see saying "No remote desktop license server available" is a bug. Ignore it.

Windows Server 2008

Note that in Windows 2008 R2, Terminal Server (TS) has apparently been renamed to Remote Desktop Session Host. http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/licensing-rds.aspx says:

"Remote Desktop Services (RDS, formally known as Terminal Services in Windows Server 2008) functionality in Windows Server 2008 R2"

See http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/licensing-terminal.aspx for information about Remote Desktop licensing.

Note that in 1/11, we used the CALs from the EECS Dept. See below for how to set up the licensing..

1. Start the Server Manager, which is the icon with the server and the toolbox to the right of the Start button.
2. Roles -> Add Roles -> Check the "Remote Desktop Services" box -> Next -> Next -> Check "Do not require network level authentication" > Check "Per user" -> For "Select User Groups Allowed Access To This RD Session Host Server, click Next -> Install. You will be prompted for a reboot.
3. After the reboot, start Server Manager.
4. To use Windows Remote Desktop, you must have Client Access Licenses (CALs). Here in EECS, the CALs are provided to fee paying users who have accounts, which is most likely any one in the EECS Windows domain. So, in Server Manager, do: Roles -> Remote Desktop Services -> RD Session Host Configuration. Click on "Remote Desktop license servers"
5. In the Properties window, open the Licensing tab and check on "Per User", then hit Add and add the EECS license server tsls.eecs.berkeley.edu.
6. Close the Properties window.
7. You should be all set. Note that because the local admin does not have adminstrator access to tsls.eecs.berkeley.edu, you will not be able to determine the number of CALs available. Thus, in Server Manager, the Licensing Diagnosis and other tools will return errors messages such as RDS CALs are not available for this Remote Desktop Session Host server, and Licensing Diagnosis Session Host Server or License server tsls.eecs.berkeley.edu is not available. This could be caused by network connectivity problems, the Remote Desktop Licensing service is stopped on the license server, or RD Licensing is no longer installed on the computer.

If you are wondering about the CALs, try logging in to the machine using an EECS account and ask Wendy to generate a report that lists the CALs.

---

Old Below Here

Windows 2003

If you get a message "This terminal server has exceed the maximum number of allowed connections" . . .

Jon says:

If we setup our TS clients to use testbox.eecs as the license server, then we can use the CALs from UCB, the same ones that Hermes uses. Since we are hardly ever connected to hermes at the same time we're connected to newton, this is not an issue.

Discussion on serverbeach.com: get more cals

It looks like the default set up has licenses for two connections. The solution is to install Terminal Services and then set the license server to point to testbox.eecs.berkeley.edu.

1. Start -> Add Remove Programs -> Add Remove Windows Components and the select "Terminal Server"
2. Use testbox.eecs.berkeley.edu as the terminal server.