Install Remote Desktop Session Host role service in Windows Server without Connection Broker role service
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- 09/24/2021
- 4 minutes to read
- 3 contributors
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This article provides guidelines to install and configure the Remote Desktop Session Host role service on a computer that is running Windows Server 2019, Windows Server 2016, or Windows Server 2012 R2 without the Remote Desktop Connection Broker role service installed.
Applies to: Windows Server 2019, Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2012 R2
Original KB number: 2833839
Supported configurations for Remote Desktop Services
- Article
- 02/10/2022
- 6 minutes to read
- 14 contributors
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Applies to: Windows Server 2022, Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2019
When it comes to supported configurations for Remote Desktop Services environments, the largest concern tends to be version interoperability. Most environments include multiple versions of Windows Server - for example, you may have an existing Windows Server 2012 R2 RDS deployment but want to upgrade to Windows Server 2016 to take advantage of the new features [like support for OpenGL\OpenCL, Discrete Device Assignment, or Storage Spaces Direct]. The question then becomes, which RDS components can work with different versions and which need to be the same?
So with that in mind, here are basic guidelines for supported configurations of Remote Desktop Services in Windows Server.
Note
Make sure to review the system requirements for Windows Server.
How to activate the Windows Remote Desktop Service [RDS] Role
When is the RDS role needed?
The default server setting is RDP Admin mode, which allows single sessions with the appropriate privileges. If there is only one user, then additional RDS [Remote Desktop Service] licenses are not required.
If multiple users need to connect to the server simultaneously, each user needs a Remote Desktop Server Client Access License [RDS CAL] added to the license manager, with the session host configured to use that license manager.
Note: If this is not done, the RDS will go into Evaluation Mode, which will expire after 120 days, effectively locking users out.An error message ‘Remote Desktop licensing mode is not configured‘ will be displayed.