Remote Desktop Group Policy Configuration

Remote desktop licensing can enable your team to drive your enterprise forward from anywhere by accessing your server remotely through a web browser. However, configuring a remote desktop group policy does have a learning curve. Whether you’re troubleshooting or just trying to get it right the first time, this guide can help. If you are receiving one of the below error messages, follow the configuration steps listed to resolve your issue.

If you are receiving one of the below error messages, follow the configuration steps listed to resolve your issue.

"Remote Desktop licensing Mode is not configured"

"The remote session was disconnected because there are no Remote Desktop License Servers available to provide a license"




1) Open Command Prompt (as admin).

2) Type in the following command:

a. gpedit.msc

Navigate to:

a. Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Remote Desktop Services\Remote Desktop Session Host\Licensing

4) Select the policy: "Set the Remote Desktop licensing mode". Click Edit.

a.

5) Select "Enabled", and change the dropdown to "Per User" (or device if you purchased device CALs). Click Apply.

a.

6) Select the policy "Use the specified Remote Desktop license servers"

7) Select "Enabled", then input the name or IP of the server you installed the licenses on (it could be the current server, or another server; in most cases you can just enter the name of the server you are on). Click Apply.

Note: When in doubt, use the local server IP. This can be found in Server Manager.

a.

8) Navigate to:

a. Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Remote Desktop Services\Remote Desktop Session Host\Connections

9) Edit the policy "Limit number of connections".

10) Select "Enabled" and change the number to "999999". This will allow unlimited remote connections. Click Apply.

a.

11) In order to apply changes, the group policy must be updated. To initiate this, open Command Prompt (as admin) and enter the following command:

gpupdate.exe /force

Note: This step is required for any changes to take effect.


After following the above steps, users will be able to remote into the specified server.



Still having issues?



In some cases a trial of Remote Desktop Services will leave a registry key that requires removal. See the steps below to check if this key is set, and how to remove it.

1) Open "regedit":

a.

2) Navigate to the following folder:

a. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\RCM\GracePeriod

3) Inside of the RCM folder you may see a folder titled GracePeriod with a REG_BINARY key. If the GracePeriod folder exists, the REG_BINARY key must be removed.

a.

Note: Moving forward ensure that you are signed in as an administrator. The following steps will not work unless your current account has admin privileges

4) Right-click the GracePeriod folder and select "Permissions".

5) Select the "Security" tab and click "Advanced".

a.

6) Change the owner to "Administrator"

a. Click "Change".

b. Type "Administrator" in the large box and click Check names.

c. Click "Ok"

7) Apply Settings.

8) In the "Security" tab, select Administrator(s) and ensure "Full Control" is selected. Then click "Apply".

a.

9) Now that we have ownership of the folder, we can delete the REG_BINARY key. Right-click the "L$RTMTIMEBOMB_..." key and select "Delete". If the permissions were set correctly the key will delete. If you see a notice regarding permissions, please check steps 4-8 again.

10) After the key is removed we can reboot the server and resume normal function. Complete a server reboot at your convenience to finalize the registry key removal.