Event ID 1128 — Remote Desktop License Server Discovery

Applies To: Windows Server 2008 R2

An RD Session Host server must be able to contact a Remote Desktop license server to request Remote Desktop Services client access licenses (RDS CALs) for users or computing devices that are connecting to the RD Session Host server.

Event Details

Diagnose

This error might be caused by one of the following conditions:

• There is a network connectivity problem between the RD Session Host server and the license server.
• The license server is not correctly configured to be automatically discovered.
• The RD Session Host server cannot automatically contact a Remote Desktop license server.
• The Remote Desktop Licensing service is not running on the license server.

There is a network connectivity problem between the RD Session Host server and the license server

To determine if there is a network connectivity problem between the RD Session Host server and the license server, use the ping command.

Note:  The following procedures include steps for using the ping command to perform troubleshooting. Therefore, before performing these steps, check whether the firewall or Internet Protocol security (IPsec) settings on your network allow Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) traffic. ICMP is the TCP/IP protocol that is used by the ping command.

To perform this procedure, you must have membership in the local Administrators group, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority.

To determine if there is a network connectivity problem between the RD Session Host server and the license server:

1. On the RD Session Host server, click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then click OK.

2. At the command prompt, type ping server_FQDN, where server_FQDN is the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the license server (for example, server1.contoso.com), and then press ENTER.

   If the ping was successful, you will receive a reply similar to the following:

   Reply from IP_address: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=59

   Reply from IP_address: bytes=32 time=20ms TTL=59

   Reply from IP_address: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=59

   Reply from IP_address: bytes=32 time=6ms TTL=59

3. At the command prompt, type ping IP_address, where IP_address is the IP address of the license server, and then press ENTER.

If you cannot successfully ping the license server by IP address or by FQDN, see the section titled "Identify and fix network connectivity issues."

The license server is not correctly configured to be automatically discovered

To perform this procedure, you must have membership in the local Administrators group, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority.

To determine if the license server is correctly configured:

1. Open RD Licensing Manager on the license server. To open RD Licensing Manager, click Start, point to Administrative Tools, point to Remote Desktop Services, and then click Remote Desktop Licensing Manager.
2. If the User Account Control dialog box appears, confirm that the action it displays is what you want, and then click Yes.
3. In the left pane, click All Servers, click the name of the license server, and then on the Action menu, click Review Configuration.
4. In the Configuration dialog box, if there is a message indicating that RD Session Host servers will not be able to automatically discover this license server, see the section titled "Configure the discovery scope for the Remote Desktop license server."

The RD Session Host server cannot automatically discover (contact) a Remote Desktop license server

To perform this procedure, you must have membership in the local Administrators group, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority.

To determine if the RD Session Host server can discover a license server:

1. Open Remote Desktop Session Host Configuration on the RD Session Host server. To open Remote Desktop Session Host Configuration, click Start, point to Administrative Tools, point to Remote Desktop Services, and then click Remote Desktop Session Host Configuration.
2. If the User Account Control dialog box appears, confirm that the action it displays is what you want, and then click Yes.
3. In the left pane, click Licensing Diagnosis. Under Remote Desktop Services License Server Information, if at least one license server is not listed as discovered, see the section titled "Specify a Remote Desktop license server for the RD Session Host server to use."

The Remote Desktop Licensing service is not running on the license server

To perform this procedure, you must have membership in the local Administrators group, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority.

To determine if the Remote Desktop Licensing service is started:

1. Open the Services snap-in on the license server. To open the Services snap-in, click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Services.
2. If the User Account Control dialog box appears, confirm that the action it displays is what you want, and then click Yes.
3. In the Services pane, if the Status column for the Remote Desktop Licensing service does not display Started, see the section titled "Start the Remote Desktop Licensing service on the license server."

Resolve

To resolve this issue, use the resolution that corresponds to the cause you identified in the Diagnose section. After performing the resolution, see the Verify section to confirm that the feature is operating properly

Identify and fix network connectivity issues

To resolve this issue, identify and fix any network connectivity problems between the RD Session Host server and the Remote Desktop license server.

Note:  The following procedures include steps for using the ping command to perform troubleshooting. Therefore, before performing these steps, check whether the firewall or Internet Protocol security (IPsec) settings on your network allow Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) traffic. ICMP is the TCP/IP protocol that is used by the ping command.

To perform these procedures, you must have membership in the local Administrators group, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority.

If you can successfully ping the license server by IP address, but not by FQDN, this indicates a possible issue with DNS host name resolution.

If you cannot successfully ping the license server by IP address, this indicates a possible issue with network connectivity, firewall configuration, or IPsec configuration.

The following are some additional troubleshooting steps that you can perform to help identify the root cause of the problem:

• Ping other computers on the network to help determine the extent of the network connectivity issue.
• If you can ping other servers but not the license server, try to ping the license server from another computer. If you cannot ping the license server from any computer, first ensure that the license server is running. If the license server is running, check the network settings on the license server.
• Check the TCP/IP settings on the local computer by doing the following:
  1. Click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then click OK.
  2. At the command prompt, type ipconfig /all, and then press ENTER. Make sure that the information listed is correct.
  3. Type ping localhost to verify that TCP/IP is installed and correctly configured on the local computer. If the ping is unsuccessful, this may indicate a corrupt TCP/IP stack or a problem with your network adapter.
  4. Type ping IP_address, where IP_address is the IP address assigned to the computer. If you can ping the localhost address but not the local address, there may be an issue with the routing table or with the network adapter driver.
  5. Type ping DNS_server, where DNS_server is the IP address assigned to the DNS server. If there is more than one DNS server on your network, you should ping each one. If you cannot ping the DNS servers, this indicates a potential problem with the DNS servers, or with the network between the computer and the DNS servers.
  6. If the license server is on a different subnet, try to ping the default gateway. If you cannot ping the default gateway, this might indicate a problem with the network adapter, the router or gateway device, cabling, or other connectivity hardware.
• In Device Manager, check the status of the network adapter. To open Device Manager, click Start, click Run, type devmgmt.msc, and then click OK.
• Check network connectivity indicator lights on the computer and at the hub or router. Check network cabling.
• Check firewall settings by using the Windows Firewall with Advanced Security snap-in.
• Check IPsec settings by using the IP Security Policy Management snap-in.

Configure the discovery scope for the Remote Desktop license server

To resolve this issue, use Review Configuration in Remote Desktop Licensing Manager to identify and, if possible, correct any issues that prevent the Remote Desktop license server from being automatically discovered by terminal servers.

To perform this procedure, you must have membership in the local Administrators group, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority.

To review the configuration of the license server:

1. On the license server, open Remote Desktop Licensing Manager. To open Remote Desktop Licensing Manager, click Start, point to Administrative Tools, point to Remote Desktop Services, and then click Remote Desktop Licensing Manager.
2. If the User Account Control dialog box appears, confirm that the action it displays is what you want, and then click Yes.
3. In the left pane, click All Servers, click the name of the license server, and then on the Action menu, click Review Configuration.
4. In the Configuration dialog box, review any messages that indicate that RD Session Host servers will not be able to automatically discover this license server.
5. If the discovery scope for the license server is set to Forest, but the license server is not published in Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS), you can click Publish in AD DS in the Configuration dialog box to publish the license server in AD DS. To publish the license server in AD DS, you must be logged on as an enterprise administrator to the forest in which the license server is a member.
6. If the discovery scope for the license server is set to Domain, but the license server is not a domain controller, you should consider changing the discovery scope of the license server to Forest. To change the discovery scope of the license server, click Change Scope in the Configuration dialog box.

Specify a Remote Desktop license server for the RD Session Host server to use

To resolve this issue, specify a Remote Desktop license server for the RD Session Host server to use.

To perform this procedure, you must have membership in the local Administrators group, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority.

To specify a license server to use:

1. On the RD Session Host server, open Remote Desktop Session Host Configuration. To open Remote Desktop Session Host Confiiguration, click Start, point to Administrative Tools, point to Remote Desktop Services, and then click Remote Desktop Session Host Configuration.
2. If the User Account Control dialog box appears, confirm that the action it displays is what you want, and then click Yes.
3. Under Licensing, double-click Remote Desktop licensing mode.
4. Under Specified license servers, click Add.
5. In the License server name or IP address box, type the license server name or IP address, and then click OK.
6. Click OK.

Note:  You can also specify a Remote Desktop license server for the RD Session Host server to use by using Group Policy.

• To specify a Remote Desktop license server for the RD Session Host server to use, enable the Use the specified Remote Desktop license servers Group Policy setting. This Group Policy setting is located in Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Remote Desktop Services\Remote Desktop Session Host\Licensing. Note that the Group Policy setting will take precedence over the setting configured in Remote Desktop Session Host Configuration.
• To configure the Group Policy setting in Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS), use the Group Policy Management Console (GPMC). To configure the Group Policy setting locally on an RD Session Host server, use the Local Group Policy Editor. For more information about configuring Group Policy settings, see either the Local Group Policy Editor Help (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=143317) or the GPMC Help (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=143867) in the Windows Server 2008 R2 Technical Library.

Start the Remote Desktop Licensing service on the license server

To resolve this issue, start the Remote Desktop Licensing service on the Remote Desktop license server.

To perform this procedure, you must have membership in the local Administrators group, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority.

To start the Remote Desktop Licensing service:

1. On the license server, open the Services snap-in. To open the Services snap-in, click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Services.
2. If the User Account Control dialog box appears, confirm that the action it displays is what you want, and then click Yes.
3. In the Services pane, right-click Remote Desktop Licensing, and then click Properties.
4. On the General tab, ensure that Startup type is set to Automatic. If it is not, click Automatic, and then click Apply.
5. Under Service status, click Start.
6. Click OK to close the Remote Desktop Licensing Properties dialog box.
7. Confirm that the Status column for the Remote Desktop Licensing service now displays Started.

Verify

To verify that the RD Session Host server can contact a Remote Desktop license server, use Licensing Diagnosis in Remote Desktop Session Host Configuration.

To perform this procedure, you must have membership in the local Administrators group, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority.

To use Licensing Diagnosis in Remote Desktop Session Host Configuration:

1. On the RD Session Host server, open Remote Desktop Session Host Configuration. To open Remote Desktop Session Host Configuration, click Start, point to Administrative Tools, point to Remote Desktop Services, and then click Remote Desktop Session Host Configuration.
2. If the User Account Control dialog box appears, confirm that the action it displays is what you want, and then click Yes.
3. In the left pane, click Licensing Diagnosis.
4. Under Remote Desktop Services License Server Information, at least one Remote Desktop license server will be listed as discovered.

Related Management Information

Remote Desktop License Server Discovery

Remote Desktop Services