microsoft windows server 2012 remote desktop services cal

Such a deployment will only have RD session host servers and license server(s). Keep in mind, the license server we set up in this blog post, will only be used to issue licenses to session host servers that will host shared desktops and deliver applications in a Citrix XenApp environment. So you will need licenses for both XenApp and RDS. Each time a user connects to a XenApp session, he is also connecting to a Remote Desktop Session. Because what XenApp essentially does, is to extend the capabilities of the Microsoft Remote Desktop session host server. If you have Windows Server 2016 session host servers, then the RD Licensing role service must be installed on a Windows Server 2016 machine, because 2016 RDS CALs can only be installed on a Server 2016 RD license server.Ĭitrix XenApp also relies on a RD license server.

You can use RD Licensing to install, issue, and track the availability and usage of licenses. This is a role service of the Remote Desktop Services role on Windows Server 2016. To install Remote Desktop Services CALs, you first need to install Remote Desktop Licensing. If you don’t have Remote Desktop Services Client Access Licenses (RDS CALs), your users will not be able to connect to a remote desktop session host server, after the initial grace period of 120-days expires. Finally, we will look at how to designate specific License Servers to RD Session Host Servers, through PowerShell and Group Policy.

We will also review the two different types of CALs, and how to install CALs on the RD License Server.

In this blog post we will look at how to install and activate a Remote Desktop License Server on Windows Server 2016.

Microsoft windows server 2012 remote desktop services cal