Configure and install Remote Desktop Services RDS on Windows Server 2008 R2

Configure and install Remote Desktop Services (RDS) on Windows Server 2008 R2

In the latest release of Windows 2008 R2, Terminal Services has been renamed Remote Desktop Services (RDS).  There are many enhancements in this release including enhanced multimedia performance and the ability to publish custom applications sets to specific users through Remote Desktop Web Access.  The Web Access role as the name suggests allows users to access Remote Desktop applications through a web site.  This feature is official known as RemoteApp.  The new name for the core Terminal Server running in application mode for user sessions is Remote Desktop Session Host.

In my environment I will configure the Remote Desktop Session Host and Web Access roles on the same server.  I will also install the Remote Desktop Licensing role on a dedicated server so that any additional Session Hosts I add in the future can share this service.  The License Server role can be installed on your Session Host server if desired.  All of my servers are members of an Active Directory domain.

Install Remote Desktop Licensing Role

To start go into the Server Manager on the server that will host the Licensing role service.

Under Roles Summary select “Add Roles”.

Click Next.

Check Remote Desktop Services and click Next.

Click Next.

Check Remote Desktop Licensing and select Next.

Discovery scopes are no longer used for licensing with Windows 2008 R2 Remote Desktop, we can assign these to our Remote Desktop Session Host manually or through a group policy.  There is a 120 day grace period allowed for connections to a Remote Desktop Session Host before a license server needs to be activated.  Click Next.

Confirm the settings and click Install.  Then click Close once the install is completed.

Thanks,

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