Terminal Server
Open the
‘configure your server’ wizard from Administrative Tools and in the
select a role section, choose Terminal Server and click Next twice to
confirm your actions. The wizard will then start to install the required
files and warn you that the machine will have to be restarted during
the installation process. Close any open programs and click OK.
The installation will continue for a few minutes before the machine
is restarted. After the machine has booted and you logon, you are
presented with a confirmation screen that states the computer is now a
terminal server.
It is important to take note that a 120-day evaluation
period has been allocated for unlicensed clients. If you do not obtain a
license within that period then terminal services clients will no
longer be able to initiate a session.
Licensing
This is probably where the most changes have been
made. Microsoft have introduced a ‘per user’ license to add to the
already familiar ‘per device’ method.
To make your machine a terminal server license server you will have
to install it separately. This can be done from the windows components
wizard section in the add/remove window from the control panel.
Once you have installed this option your server will be listed in the terminal server licensing console.
You
will have to activate the server before it can start distributing
licenses. Activation of the licensing server can be done via a direct
connection to the internet, a web browser or over the telephone. The
following is a screenshot of the terminal server licensing console
demonstrating what you would have to do to start the activation process.
This will bring up a wizard asking you to enter details and select options to suite your needs.
Follow the on screen instructions and press Finish when you are done.
Terminal Server Configuration
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The two main applications used to configure the terminal server are:
(They can both be found in the administrative tools folder in control panel or on the start menu).
- Terminal Services Manager (completely re-written in Windows 2003)
- Terminal Services Configuration
Terminal Services Manager
When you select the server name you can choose to view and manage the
Users, Sessions or Processes tab. The green icons indicate that the
server is online. If you had to disconnect it, the icons would be gray.
The Users tab allows you to see who is connected, how long they have
been connected and the state of their connection. If you select a user
and right click you can disconnect or reset the user’s session, send a
message (which will be displayed as a pop-up message box on the client
side), view the status or log the person out of the terminal server
session.
The Sessions tab permits the viewing and control of the terminal
server sessions. You can right click a session and select the status to
see the incoming and outgoing data or reset to reset the session.
The processes tab shows all the processes that are running and which
user they belong to (this is a simplified version of the processes tab
found on the windows task manager).
Select a user, click the right mouse button and choose ‘end process’ to kill the process.
The image below shows the Terminal Services Manager with an active connection initiated by a user (andrew).
If you select the RDP-Tcp#12 (username) option you can view the
processes and session information specific to that user. Note: The #12
number will be different for each session.
‘Favorite servers’ will list all the servers that you have added as a
favourite - you can do this by right clicking a server and selecting
‘add to favorites’.
You are able to connect to multiple terminal servers by press Actions
> Connect to computer. These will be listed in the ‘All Listed
Servers’ node.
Terminal Services Configuration
The screenshot below is that of the Terminal Services Configuration.
Any connections that have been setup will be displayed in the
connections part of the console. Double click a connection to open the
properties page.
The following table will describe what actions you may take on each tab.
|
Tab |
Description |
|
General |
add a comment, change the encryption level, enable standard windows authentication |
|
Logon Settings |
select whether or not to always use the same credentials for logging on, enable ‘always prompt for password’ |
|
Sessions |
select whether to override the user’s settings with a set of predefined settings |
|
Environment |
choose to override settings of a user profile and run a program when the user logs on |
|
Remote Control |
change the way the remote control facility is used, disable remote control |
|
Client Settings |
change connection, colour and mappings settings |
|
Network Adapter |
specify the type of network adapter you want to use and change the connection limit |
|
Permissions |
specify the user permissions (who has access to the terminal server and who doesn’t) |
The server settings section enables you to modify the settings of the
server. Double click a setting from the list to bring up the
appropriate window and be given the option to make a change.
Then perform testing
