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Cannot connect to RDS because no RD Licensing servers are available
- Article
- 12/26/2023
In this article
This article help you troubleshoot the "No licenses available" error in a deployment that includes an Remote Desktop Session Host [RDSH] server and a Remote Desktop Licensing server.
Symptoms
Clients cannot connect to Remote Desktop Services, and they display messages that resemble the following:
The remote session was disconnected because there are no Remote Desktop License Servers available to provide a license.
Access was denied because of a security error.
Sign in to the RD Session Host as a domain administrator and open the RD License Diagnoser. Look for messages like the following:
The grace period for the Remote Desktop Session Host server has expired, but the RD Session Host server hasn't been configured with any license servers. Connections to the RD Session Host server will be denied unless a license server is configured for the RD Session Host server.
License server is not available. This could be caused by network connectivity problems, the Remote Desktop Licensing service is stopped on the license server, or RD Licensing isn't available.
Cause
These issue could be caused by the following user messages:
- The remote session was disconnected because there are no Remote Desktop client access licenses available for this computer.
- The remote session was disconnected because there are no Remote Desktop License Servers available to provide a license.
In this case, .
If the RD License Diagnoser lists other problems, such as "The RDP protocol component X.224 detected an error in the protocol stream and has disconnected the client", there may be a problem that affects the license certificates. Such problems tend to be associated with user messages, such as the following:
Because of a security error, the client could not connect to the Terminal server. After making sure that you are signed in to the network, try connecting to the server again.
In this case, .
Check the RD Licensing configuration
You can check the RD Licensing configuration by using Server Manager and RD Licensing Manager. Verify the following:
- The RD Licensing role is installed and the license server is activated.
- The license server has a client access license [CAL] for each user and device that can connect to RDS.
The configuration of the licenses should resemble the following screenshot. There should be a green check mark beside the license server name, and the numbers in the columns should reflect the numbers of total and available licenses.
- The RDS deployment uses the correct license server, licensing mode, and policy settings. The details of the configuration depend on the type of deployment that you have:
- .
- .
Configure licensing for an RDS deployment that includes the RD Connection Broker role
- On the RD Connection Broker computer, open Server Manager.
- In Server Manager, select Remote Desktop Services > Overview > Edit Deployment Properties > RD Licensing.
Select the Remote Desktop licensing mode [either Per User or Per Device, as appropriate for your deployment].
Note
If you use domain-joined servers for your RDS deployment, you can use both Per User and Per Device CALs. If you use workgroup servers for your RDS deployment, you have to use Per Device CALs In that case, Per User CALs aren't permitted.
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Upon trying to open any Adobe Creative Suite 3 app [I use Photoshop and Illustrator daily...], I got the following error window:
I was taken to this Adobe Support page, which suggests a variety of options for fixing the problem—all of which didn't work for me.
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After I deleted that folder, I opened Adobe Illustrator, and it took me through the activation process [it had save my license key, so all I had to do was click 'Next' until the app was working again].