Terminal Server Licensing
ID: Q187629
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The information in this article applies to:
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Microsoft Windows NT Server version 4.0, Terminal Server Edition
SUMMARY
Terminal Server's licensing requirements are different from those of
Windows NT Server. This article describes Terminal Server licensing.
MORE INFORMATION
Terminal Server Clients require two licenses to connect to a Terminal
Server.
The first license is a Windows NT Workstation license. This is necessary
because the Terminal Server Client effectively provides a Windows NT
Workstation to the client. If the RDP client is run on a computer running
Windows NT 4.0 (Server, Workstation, or Terminal Server) client already
purchased the license, and it is not necessary to purchase an additional
Windows NT Workstation. If the RDP client is run on a Windows NT 3.5x
computer, then that client requires a Windows NT Workstation Upgrade
license. If the RDP client is run on a Windows 95 or Windows for Workgroups
3.11 computer, then the client requires a Windows NT Workstation full
license. These three license types are displayed in Terminal Server License
Manager. In the right pane of the display, notice that the first license
category of existing Windows NT Workstation licenses is "unlimited." The
Full and Upgrade license types, however, will display how many licenses
have been purchased and entered into Terminal Server License Manager.
The second license is a Client Access License for the server. This is the
standard server access license measured in License Manager, the same
utility that is in Windows NT Server. License Manager does not distinguish
between RDP client access and other types of server access (for example,
it does not distinguish between a normal shared file and printer resource
access). Per Server and Per Seat modes are identical to those of Windows NT
Server 4.0.
Terminal Server License Manager reports but does not enforce licensing.
Enforcement comes from the License Manager in Windows NT. If an RDP client
is denied access to the server when it tries to make a connection,
increasing the license count in Terminal Server License Manager will not
resolve the problem. Client Access Licenses must be added to License
Manager.
If License Manager denies an RDP client access, the event will be recorded
as event 201 in the Event Log. The event message will show that a license
was not available for SYSTEM to access the TermService.
If Client Access Licenses are available in License Manager, and Terminal
Server License Manager runs out of needed licenses, a temporary license
will be granted. In this case, a fourth and fifth category of license can
appear in Terminal Server License Manager: Temporary Windows NT Workstation
Full license, or Temporary Windows NT Workstation Upgrade license. These
licenses are good for 60 days. The RDP client making use of a temporary
license will continue to do so for the full 60 days even if new licenses
are added. After 60 days, the client's temporary license will expire, and
the client will get a new license (either a temporary license if no normal
licenses are available, or one of the new licenses that have been added).
NOTE: Logging on at the Terminal Server console uses one Client Access
License, but this is not reflected in the license count in License Manager.
In the event that only one Client Access License is available, RDP clients
(at the console or elsewhere) will not be able to connect even though the
License Manager in-use license count is zero.
If no Client Access Licenses are available, not even the administrator can
connect through the RDP client. This is different from normal licensing
behavior because administrators can always log on at the console or connect
to the server remotely even if no licenses are available. Administrators
must log on at the Terminal Server console, or access the server by
means other than the RDP client, if the Terminal Server runs out of
licenses.
When an RDP client is denied access, the client will receive the generic
message, "Terminal Server has ended the connection."
License information is recorded on the Terminal Server, Windows NT, and
Windows 95 computers under:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\MSLicensing
Licenses are stored on the Terminal Server in the
%systemroot%\system32\lserver directory in the hydra.mdb file. Computers
running Windows for Workgroups 3.11 store licensing information in the
*.bin files in the Regdata directory under System. The typical path is
C:\Windows\System\Regdata.
Terminal Server License Manager creates seven temporary files in the
System32 directory. The temporary files are called JET1.TMP through
JET7.TMP. These files are used to temporarily store newly created licenses.
When an RDP client connects to a Terminal Server and requests a license,
the initial license is generated and cached in the appropriate JETx.TMP
file. The license is sent to the client, and the client stores the license
(in the registry or in the mstsc.ini file as mentioned). Licenses
are tied to the client computer, so some computer-specific information is
added to the license, during the license request or when the license
is presented to the client (the details on this process are sketchy. Please
comment this article if you have further information). The license is
presented to the Terminal Server as part of logon, written to the license
database, and removed from the JETx.TMP file.
It is possible to have more than seven JETx.TMP files. If
the server is powered off without using the shutdown routine or if the
server is shut down inside an RDP client session, the JETx.TMP files are
not cleaned up. Shutting the server down through an RDP client session
is generally not an issue, since services are written to handle power
outages by committing cached data very quickly. Administrators should be
aware, however, that the normal shutdown procedures are not followed. If
you shut down the server at the console, all services are stopped before
the server shuts down. The server shuts down immediately, without stopping
services correctly if the shutdown is performed through a client session.
Because services are not notified, the JETx.TMP files will already exist
when the server is restarted. The Terminal Server License Manager service
will create seven new JETx.TMP files.
If JETx.TMP files numbered 1-7 exist, the server will create new files
numbered 8-14. If you deleted files 1-7 (which could be done since they
would not be open) and shutdown the system through the RDP client again,
the new files created at startup would again be numbered 1-7. So, the
highest numbered files are not necessarily the files that are in use
If left over JETx.TMP files are an issue, simply delete JET*.TMP files.
Only the closed, unused files will be deleted. You cannot delete open
files, or delete files in use.
Additional query words:
Keywords :
Version : winnt:4.0
Platform : winnt
Issue type : kbinfo
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