I got tasked with installing a brand new Windows Server 2019 with the Remote Desktop Services (RDS) role. It was a pretty straightforward installation, but minor things might work differently compared to previous versions of Windows Server (I was migrating off Windows Server 2012 R2).
- Install Remote Desktop
- Installing Office 2019 On RDS Server
- Windows 2016 Remote Desktop Services Manager
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Feb 11, 2021 Remote Desktop Services is a robust role in the windows role group. RDS is used to remote into the central RDS server or any member server or the user’s desktop computer through the RDS server using the Remote Desktop web services either on the internal network or through the internet. In this video guide, we will see the steps to install and configure Remote Desktop Services (RDS) on Windows Server 2019 using quick start deployment method. Each user or device accessing a licensed Windows Server requires a Windows Server CAL or a Windows Server and a Remote Desktop Services (RDS) CAL. With the User CAL, you purchase a CAL for every user who accesses the server to use services such as file storage or printing, regardless of the number of devices they use for that access. Use Windows Server 2019 for your Remote Desktop infrastructure (the Web Access, Gateway, Connection Broker, and license server). Windows Server 2019 is backward-compatible with these components, which means a Windows Server 2016 or Windows Server 2012 R2 RD Session Host can connect to a 2019 RD Connection Broker, but not the other way around.
Start by adding the RDS role through Server Manager.
Select the RDS installation:
I went for the Quick Start because my deployment is fairly basic.
Session-based deployment enables multi-session support on the server.
The server should be automatically selected.
The three roles (RD Connection Broker, RD Web Access and RD Session Host) will be installed.
After the installation a license warning will be shown in the Notification Center.
Two things are needed in order for licensing to work properly: The license server and licensing mode.
In a production environment, usually there is a separate server hosting the RDS Licensing service.
In a production environment, usually there is a separate server hosting the RDS Licensing service.
Server Manager > Remote Desktop Services > Overview > Tasks > Edit Deployment properties
Install Remote Desktop
I had problems with the licensing mode not being applied properly. This registry key worked wonderfully though:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlTerminal ServerRCMLicensing Core
DWORD LicensingMode
4 = Per user
2 = Per Device
DWORD LicensingMode
4 = Per user
2 = Per Device
The license server can be also set through the registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesTermServiceParametersLicenseServers
REG_MULTI_SZ SpecifiedLicenseServers = license.ajni.lab
REG_MULTI_SZ SpecifiedLicenseServers = license.ajni.lab
With RD Licensing Diagnoser you can check for potential errors (can be opened through Server Manager > Tools > Remote Desktop Services).
Now on to the last step: Create a custom device collection.
Server Manager > Remote Desktop Services > Collections > Tasks > Create Session Collection
This is also pretty straight forward stuff.
Make sure you select the server by moving it to the right with the arrow.
In a production environment a custom group should be used to control the number of permitted users.
User profile disks were not needed in my environment.
After the creation, there are some things that should be changed in the Collection properties (Server Manager > Remote Desktop Services > Collections > Collection Name):
Get adobe reader. These are my specific settings, you should change the parameters based on your experience or leave them at their default values.
Installing Office 2019 On RDS Server
Older clients might have problems with these security settings (like Network Level Authentication - NLA)
Do not forget to apply the changes.
Bonus:
If you have specific AD user attributes, like the home folder or program auto-start, they will not work because of changes made to RDS 2016/2019. You can read this article from Microsoft's website: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/3200967/changes-to-remote-connection-manager-in-windows-server
Following registry entries will tell the Remote Desktop Session Host (RDSH) to query AD DS for RDP profile settings:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREPoliciesMicrosoftWindows NTTerminal Services
Name: fQueryUserConfigFromDC
Type: Reg_DWORD
Value: 1
Name: fQueryUserConfigFromDC
Type: Reg_DWORD
Value: 1
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlTerminal ServerWinStationsRDP-tcp
Name: fQueryUserConfigFromDC
Type: Reg_DWORD
Name: fQueryUserConfigFromDC
Type: Reg_DWORD
Remote Desktop Services (RDS) 2019 has been released that is built over the strong foundation on Remote Desktop Services (RDS) 2016. Not only it promises rapid deployment, it also gives customers the opportunity to leverage enhancements. Available with Windows Server 2019, it is the most optimal version of all RDS released till now. Not only that, but it also promises improvement in administrative and client experience.
Remote Desktop Service 2019 has put forth innovation that revolves around three areas: simplify IT management, improved security and User experience. Let’s have a look at these three areas one by one:
Simplifying IT Management
Scaling deployment needs to be simple in order to make management easier. In the previous releases, management was made easier using Active Directory which had an overall impact on management of Remote Desktop (RD) licensing servers. With this release, customers are given the leverage of RD Licensing servers that are forward compatible for upcoming version of Windows Server. This means the licenses will be easier to manage from a variety of RDS releases. Performance Counters APIs have been added in order to facilitate partners with easy data access so they can build monitoring Dashboards and be able to deliver a consistent user experience for their customers.
User Experience
Windows 2016 Remote Desktop Services Manager
Much focus has been given to Enhancement of user experience. Modern notification mechanism has been introduced where notifications are added in RemoteApp in the Action Center. This will improved productivity with applications like MS Outlook. Better video stream quality has been added with higher frame rates for which high level redirection of built-in or attached cameras is added. This optimizes the video quality in remote and applications and desktops. Hence users find video-intensive interactions with a better experience. Furthermore, in order to increase image quality for a faster web client experience, bandwidth of CPU usage on client and server has been reduced.
Improved Security
Providing better security is the primary focus on RDS. Previous RDS releases have been equipped with security measures and this version has a few security enhancements too. With a decent Admin Center integration, all local and remote server management is consolidated to a single pane quite manageably. For a trusted end-to-end RDS deployment, a DTLS-based encryption feature is added that is also easy to configure within the system. Further, a web client support for Single Sign-on (SSO) is added for web client users for a streamlined authentication user experience. Lastly, Windows Defender systems have been brought into RDS 2019.
How To Guide Deploying Remote Desktop Services On Windows ..
Deployment on Azure
For CSPs, here’s good news. Deploying RDS on Azure provides full flexibility, security and scalability that are advantages of working with Azure. Hybrid deployments are also supported to improve flexibility and ease of adoption. RDS deployments are available through CSP Program. With this, partners can easily sell RDS subscriptions with their CSP program. This eliminates one whole extra step of partners and their clients getting different subscription and licenses through a variety of programs.
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