This video is part of a series explaining the process of deploying Remote Desktop Services in Microsoft Windows. In a previous video I went over the steps needed to build a Remote Desktop Session Host in a workgroup environment and with all of the required roles and features installed on a single server.
In this video I will discuss how to set up Remote Desktop Services in a domain with the various roles distributed among several servers. I will show how to complete this using both the Windows Graphical User Interface and PowerShell. In this Hyper-V host I have six Virtual Machines. This first one has been configured as a Domain Controller in a new domain, in a new forest. The other five are joined to this new domain.
These other two VMs, Session Host 1 and Session Host 2, I will use as Session Hosts on this deployment. These will be the servers that will actually host the users that connect into this environment. An RDS deployment will need two or more Session Hosts to allow for high availability and load balancing of the workload. This group of computers is generally referred to as an RDS Session Host farm. This other VM will host the Connection Broker role.
This role manages the user's connections to the farm. In a few words it makes the match between an incoming RDS client and the next available Session Host in the farm. Also, if a user gets disconnected the Connection Broker will reconnect the user to the right Session Host allowing the user to continue their work uninterrupted. This role can only work when there is an Active Directory domain. It's worth mentioning that it is possible to install this role on a Domain Controller, but in this demo, I will dedicate a Virtual Machine for it, as this is the general best practice.
In this other VM I will deploy the RDS Web Access role. This role allows users to access desktops and applications through a web portal. And finally, this client machine will be used in the end to test the deployment. On the previous video of this series, I've discussed some aspects about the Remote Desktop Services Licensing role. Also, there are useful links in the description of this video for more information.
In this tutorial I will deploy this licensing role on the Domain Controller. So, to set up this Remote Desktop Services environment on the Connection Broker Virtual Machine, in Server Manager, right click the ‘All Servers’ node and then click ‘Add Servers’. The servers that I want to be part of this deployment are already joined to the domain, so I'll just click ‘Find Now’ and then shift the server, so the deployment, to the right-hand side and then click ‘OK’ Still in Server Manager click ‘Manage’ and then ‘Add Roles and Features’.
On the ‘Before you begin’ screen click ‘Next’. Select the ‘Remote Desktop Services installation’ radio button and then click ‘Next’. On the ‘Select deployment type’ screen, click the ‘Standard deployment’ radio button and then ‘Next’ again. On the ‘Select deployment scenario’ screen, select the ‘Session based-deployment’ option and then ‘Next’ again. Click ‘Next’ also on the ‘Review role services’ screen.
The following screens serve to specify which servers will carry what role. Here in the ‘Specify RD Connection Broker server’ pick the server that will be the Connection Broker and move it to the right-hand side and then click ‘Next’. On the ‘Specify RD Web Access server’ screen, select the applicable server and again move it to the right-hand side and click ‘Next’. On the ‘Specify RD Session Host servers’ I will select Session Host 1 and Session Host 2, and move it to the right-hand side, and click ‘Next’ one more time.
Click to check the ‘Restart the destination server automatically if required’ checkbox, and then click ‘Deploy’ at the completion screen. Click ‘Close’. Back in Server Manager click the newly added ‘Remote Desktop Services’ node on the left side of the screen and this will show the just installed RDS deployment. On the bottom right-hand side under ‘Deployment Servers’ notice the servers belonging to this deployment and the various roles distributed amongst them.
To the left of that box, under ‘Deployment Overview’, the roles shown in grey with a continuous line are those that are already deployed. The ones showing with a green plus sign and a dotted line are yet to be deployed or configured. Let's set up the Remote Desktop Licensing role. Click the green plus sign for the Remote Desktop Licensing role. On the ‘Select a server’ screen click the applicable server.
I'm using the Domain Controller as the Remote Desktop Licensing server for this tutorial, so I'll move it to the right-hand side of the screen and then click ‘Next’. Click ‘Add’ on the ‘Confirm selection’ screen, wait for the installation of this role to complete, and then click ‘Close’. Back in ‘Server Manager’, on the Remote Desktop Services ‘Deployment Overview’ note that the Remote Desktop Licensing role is now deployed.
The same is shown under ‘Deployment Servers’. Next, I should configure licensing for this deployment. Every device or user that connects to an RDS Session Host requires an RDS CAL from the License Server. There's a grace period during which this requirement is not enforced, but once this grace period is finished, the connections will be refused due to the lack of licenses. To configure this part of the deployment I'll connect to the server that has been configured as the RDS License Server, in this case the Domain Controller.
In Server Manager click ‘Tools’, ‘Remote Desktop Services’ and then ‘Remote Desktop Licensing Manager. Right click the server host name, and then click ‘Review Configuration. Note the warning indicating that the RDS License Server must belong to the Terminal Server License Servers group in Active Directory. Click ‘Add to Group’ to fix this warning then click ‘Continue’, ‘OK’ and then ‘OK’ again. Once again right click the server host name and then click ‘Review Configuration’. Note that the warning has now changed to an indication that a restart of the RD Licensing service is needed. Click ‘OK’ and let's do that.
Open the ‘services.msc’ Management Console, locate the Remote Desktop Licensing service and restart it. Return to RD Licensing Manager, right click the server name, click ‘Refresh’, then right click it again and click ‘Review Configuration. Note that the warning is now gone. Right click the server again but this time click ‘Activate Server. Click ‘Next’ at the welcome screen. Select the appropriate connection method – ‘Automatic’ in this case - and then click ‘Next’. Enter the company information and click ‘Next’. Wait for the server to activate, uncheck ‘Start Install Licenses Wizard now’ and click ‘Finish’. Back in Server Manager, but this time in the Connection Broker Virtual Machine, under ‘Deployment’, ‘Overview’ click ‘Tasks’ and then ‘Edit Deployment Properties. Click the RD Licensing node and choose the licensing mode.
For this tutorial I will select ‘Per User’ and click ‘OK’. The last step is to create an RDS Collection on this deployment. A collection holds the Remote Desktop Services resources that you want to make available to users. In it you also specify the users that will have access. Still in Server Manager click on the ‘Collections’ node to the left and under ‘Tasks’ click ‘Create Session Collection’. At the ‘Before you begin’ screen click ‘Next’, enter a name for the collection, and then click ‘Next’. At the ‘Specify RD Session Host’ screen click to move the servers that you want to make available to users to the right-hand side and then click ‘Next’ again. At the ‘Specify User Group’ screen you can add the users or groups that will have permissions to connect to this new collection. I will leave the default group of domain users and click ‘Next’.
I will click to uncheck the ‘Enable user profile disks’ option and click ‘Next’ and then click ‘Create’. When the collection is created click ‘Close’. This deployment is now ready to begin receiving connections. So, this wraps up the process of setting up a standard Remote Desktop Services deployment. In an upcoming video I'll discuss in more detail the Remote Desktop Gateway and Remote Desktop Web Access roles.
Finally, I'd like to show you how to complete this same RDS deployment using just five lines in PowerShell. Here I have the same Virtual Machines in their initial state with just a freshly installed operating system and joined to the newly installed domain. I will enter the lines in PowerShell Integrated Scripting Environment on the Virtual Machine that will become the Connection Broker for this deployment. The first line creates the deployment specifying the Connection Broker, the Web Access Server and with just one RD Session Host.
Let's execute it and wait for the job to finish. The next line adds the second RD Session Host to the deployment The third line installs the Remote Desktop Services Licensing role on the Domain Controller I'll run it and wait for it to complete. The fourth line configures the Licensing Server and Licensing Mode for the deployment. This line will ask for confirmation. And finally, the fifth line creates the Remote Desktop Services Collection. After adding all of the servers to the dashboard in Server Manager and clicking ‘Refresh’ the result is the same as obtained using the Graphical User Interface, a newly installed, standard, Remote Desktop Services deployment.
I'd like to thank you very much for watching.
