Disable a Terminal Services Connection
Applies To: Windows Server 2008
You can disable a connection on the terminal server so that no users can log on to the terminal server by using that connection. You might want to disable all connections to the terminal server when you are planning to take the terminal server offline for maintenance or to install new applications.
Important
When you disable a connection on the terminal server, all users using that connection to access the terminal server will be immediately disconnected from the terminal server. Before you disable the connection, you should send a message to users connected to the terminal server to warn them that they will be disconnected from the terminal server.
For more information about sending a message to a user connected to a terminal server, see the topic "Send a Message to a User" in the Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services Manager Help.
Use the following procedure to disable a connection on the terminal server.
Membership in the local Administrators group, or equivalent, is the minimum required to complete this procedure. Review details about using the appropriate accounts and group memberships at Local and Domain Default Groups (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=83477).
To disable a connection on the terminal server
Open Terminal Services Configuration. To open Terminal Services Configuration, click Start, point to Administrative Tools, point to Terminal Services, and then click Terminal Services Configuration.
Under Connections, click the name of the connection—for example, RDP-Tcp—that you want to disable.
On the Action menu, click Disable Connection. The connection is immediately disabled and all users using that connection will be immediately disconnected from the terminal server. A red down arrow on the icon associated with the connection name indicates that the connection is disabled.
You can also deny new logons to the terminal server. For more information, see Deny New User Logons to a Terminal Server.