Information regarding Windows Server 2008 and Server 2012. Here is the fix for error 'The remote session was disconnected because there are no Remote Desktop License Server available'. In this blog post we will look at how to install and activate a Remote Desktop License Server on Windows Server 2012 R2. We will also review the two different types of CALs, and how to install CALs on the RD License Server.
So we recently started looking into Terminal Services and RemoteFX to power some of our admin users and move them off to thin clients instead of full blown desktops. As a trial I begun setting up RDS on one of our Dev machines. After going through the motions of enabling the Remote Desktop Features and setting up RemoteFX on a Virtual Machine for testing, I found that I couldn’t login via RDP to that machine.
Going back to the RDS host I found the Licensing popup that informed me that the 128 day trial license had expired. Since this was a test I didn’t want to go using keys to activate or setup a licensing server (purely a PoC for us in IT at this stage). To reset the grace period there is a registry key that we need to delete. As always when editing the registry, take a backup of the key/s you’re modifying. Navigate to the following location HKEYLOCALMACHINE SYSTEM CurrentControlSet Control Terminal Server RCM GracePeriod Now there should be a binary key value (like in the screenshot), you first need to have full access permissions to the folder (or take ownership) and then simply delete that value and reboot the server. Once back up your RDS Licensing should be back at the start of a 128 Day grace period. I wouldn’t do this if you have already obtained licensing and should definitely not be used in a production environment.