My new article on VirtualizationAdmin about RDS in Windows 8

My new article on VirtualizationAdmin has been published today. See the introduction chapter below or click here to read the complete article

"...Introduction
The developer preview edition of Windows Server 8 has been around for a few months now. The Beta Release and Release Candidate still have to be released of course, but in this article, we will take a closer look at what Windows Server 8 is going to offer concerning management of Remote Desktop Services..."

Full link to complete article on VirtualizationAdmin:
http://www.virtualizationadmin.com/articles-tutorials/vdi-articles/general/taking-closer-look-what-windows-8-will-bring-regarding-management-rds.html

You cannot change an expired user account password in a remote desktop session that connects to a Windows Server 2008 R2-based RD Session Host server in a VDI environment

Two new hotfixes (one client, one server) were released today regarding the ability to change a expired password in a VDI environment based on Windows Server 2008 R2.

Client hotfix:
Article ID: 2648397 - Last Review: January 11, 2012 - Revision: 1.0

You cannot change an expired user account password in a Remote Desktop session from a client computer that is running Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2

Consider the following scenario:

• A Remote Desktop Session Host (RD Session Host) server that is running Windows Server 2008 R2 is deployed in a Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) environment.
• The Allow connections only from computers running Remote Desktop with Network Level Authentication option is enabled on the RD Session Host server.
• You establish a Remote Desktop session to the server from a client computer that is running Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 by using a user account that is granted Remote Desktop access.
  
  Note The client computer could be a computer inside the VDI environment, or a stand-alone computer outside the VDI environment.
• The password of the user account is expired.
• You receive the following message:
  You must change your password before logging on the first time. For assistance, contact your system administrator or technical support.

In this scenario, a dialog box that prompts you to change the password is not displayed. Therefore, you cannot change the password of the user account.

Note This issue also occurs in RDP environments that have Network Level Authentication (NLA) and Credential Security Support Provider (CredSSP) enabled.

After you install this hotfix, you will receive an error message that states your password is expired. However, the hotfix does not provide a dialog box that prompts you to change your password.
Source and hotfix: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2648397/en-us?sd=rss&spid=14134

Server hotfix:
Article ID: 2648402 - Last Review: January 11, 2012 - Revision: 1.0
You cannot change an expired user account password in a remote desktop session that connects to a Windows Server 2008 R2-based RD Session Host server in a VDI environment

Consider the following scenario:

• You have a Remote Desktop Session Host (RD Session Host) server that is running Windows Server 2008 R2 in a Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) environment.
• You enable the Allow connections only from computers running Remote Desktop with Network Level Authentication option in the RDP-Tcp Properties dialog box by using the Remote Desktop Session Host Configuration tool (Tsconfig.msc).
• You establish a remote desktop session to the server from a client computer by using a user account that is granted Remote Desktop access.
• The password of the user account is expired.
• You receive the following message:
  You must change your password before logging on the first time. For assistance, contact your system administrator or technical support.

In this scenario, a prompt to change the password is not displayed. Therefore, you cannot change the password of the user account.

Note This issue also occurs in any RDP environment where Network Level Authentication (NLA) and the Credential Security Support Provider (CredSSP) are enabled.

Source and hotfix: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2648402/en-us?sd=rss&spid=14134

External users cannot connect to RDS that are published on a Windows Server 2008 R2-based RD Gateway server through Forefront UAG

A new hotfix was released today regarding running Remote Desktop Services (RDS) on a Remote Desktop Gateway (RD Gateway) server that is running Windows Server 2008 R2 through Forefront Unified Access Gateway (UAG) in a network environment.

Article ID: 2649422 - Last Review: January 11, 2012 - Revision: 1.0
External users cannot connect to RDS that are published on a Windows Server 2008 R2-based RD Gateway server through Forefront UAG

Remote Desktop Services (RDS) are published on a Remote Desktop Gateway (RD Gateway) server that is running Windows Server 2008 R2 through Forefront Unified Access Gateway (UAG) in a network environment. Sometimes, external users cannot connect to the published RDS, and they receive the following error message:

Additionally, an event that resembles the following is logged on the RD Gateway server:

Event ID: 203
Source: Microsoft-Windows-TerminalServices-Gateway
Symbolic Name: AAG_EVENT_MAX_CONNECTIONS_REACHED
Message: The number of simultaneous connections to the RD Gateway server has reached the maximum number that was configured by the administrator. The server is therefore not accepting any new connections. The connection attempt by user "%1" on client computer "%2", using the authentication method "%3" has been denied. For information about how to modify the maximum connection limit, see the "Specify the Maximum Number of Allowable Connections for RD Gateway" topic in the RD Gateway Help.

Cause:This issue occurs because user connections are not closed correctly. Therefore, some Forefront Network (Edge) tunnels are leaked. When the number of concurrent connections to the RD Gateway server has reached the maximum number, all new connection requests are denied. 

Source and hotfix: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2649422/en-us?sd=rss&spid=14134

You cannot install RDS CALs automatically by using Windows PowerShell in Windows Server 2008 R2

A new KB article related to installing RDS CALs using Powershell was launched today.

Article ID: 2648662 - Last Review: January 11, 2012 - Revision: 1.0
You cannot install RDS CALs automatically by using Windows PowerShell in Windows Server 2008 R2

Consider the following scenario:

• You install the Remote Desktop Licensing (RD Licensing) role service on a computer that is running Windows Server 2008 R2.
• You install hotfix package 2618115 on the computer.
• You try to install Remote Desktop Services client access licenses (RDS CALs) automatically by using Windows PowerShell.
• You select Telephone or Web Browser as the connection method.
• The RD Licensing server does not have an active Internet connection.

In this scenario, you cannot install RDS CALs and you receive the following message:

Access to the object at RDS:\LicenseServer\LicenseKeyPacks\LicenseKeyPack is denied for the cmdlet New-Item. A license key pack could not be created because the input was not valid or permissions were insufficient.

At line:1 char:9

+ New-Item <<<< -path RDS:\LicenseServer\LicenseKeyPacks -ConnectionMethod PW

+ CategoryInfo : PermissionDenied: (:) [New-Item], AccessViolationException + FullyQualifiedErrorId : PermissionDenied,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.NewItemCommand

 

Cause
This issue occurs because the RD Licensing server unnecessarily checks whether it is authenticated or not. This behavior requires Internet access. Therefore, the authentication check fails if the RD Licensing server does not have an active Internet connection.

 

Source and hotfix: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2648662/en-us?sd=rss&spid=14134

 

Some windows of a Remote Desktop Services (Terminal Services) RemoteApp application might not be displayed correctly in Windows Server 2008 R2

A new KB article was released yesterday regarding issues some Windows of RemoteApp Applications. This issue occurs because the remote desktop connection does not display the window correctly if The window ownership hierarchy is more than two levels deep or if the windows are remoted in reverse order.

Article ID: 2614136 - Last Review: December 14, 2011 - Revision: 1.0

Some windows of a Remote Desktop Services (Terminal Services) RemoteApp application might not be displayed correctly in Windows 7 or in Windows Server 2008 R2

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2614136/en-us?sd=rss&spid=14134

Consider the following scenario:

• You install the Remote Desktop Services role on a computer that is running Windows Server 2008 R2.
• You configure a Remote Desktop Services RemoteApp application on the computer. This RemoteApp application supports the Remote Applications Integrated Locally (RAIL) feature.
• You connect to the RemoteApp application from a client computer that is running Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2.

In this scenario, some windows of the RemoteApp application are not displayed correctly. You find large blank or dirty areas at the expected locations of the pop-up windows. The frequency of this behavior varies.

New update to the RDS wiki: The Case of the Invisible RemoteApps

Amongst some others, I've have been working on some of the articles in the New RDS Wiki on TechNet. Recently a new article came out by Pankaj Pande related on (non)visibility of RemoteApp programs in RD WebAccess.

"...In our previous blog entry on Remote Desktop Services resources for IT Pros, we mentioned that we'd added a new wiki for Remote Desktop Services in WS08 R2.This wiki has been growing quickly, thanks to the efforts of some of our community. Most recently, we've released a new article on the TechNet Wiki entitled The case of invisible RemoteApp programs (a.k.a. No RemoteApp programs listed on RD Web Access site). This article discusses one of the error messages that you may get while trying to add one or more RemoteApp sources by using the Configuration tab on the RD Web Access page. It includes an analysis and troubleshooting tips using RD Web Access Tracing. The article also covers the permissions related to WMI and DCOM that you can check when you get these error messages. If you have your own tips, we encourage you to add them to our wiki and link them to the appropriate landing page..."source:
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/rds/archive/2011/12/07/new-update-to-the-rds-wiki-the-case-of-the-invisible-remoteapps.aspx

Using Powershell to install and configure RDS in 2008 R2

I came accros this great series of blog posts on TechNet by Microsoft Consultant Manoj Nair. It explains automating the installation and configuration of Remote Desktop Services in great detail with lots of examples.

Check the links below for particular subjects.


Introduction
http://blogs.technet.com/b/manojnair/archive/2011/12/02/rds-powershell-tfm-introduction.aspx

Part I : Installing Remote Desktop Role Services
http://blogs.technet.com/b/manojnair/archive/2011/12/02/rds-powershell-tfm-part-i-installing-remote-desktop-role-services.aspx

Part II : Configuring Remote Desktop Session Host Server using RDS Provider for PowerShell
http://blogs.technet.com/b/manojnair/archive/2011/12/02/rds-powershell-tfm-part-ii-configuring-remote-desktop-session-host-server-using-rds-provider-for-powershell.aspx

Part III : Configuring Remote Desktop Connection Broker using PowerShell
http://blogs.technet.com/b/manojnair/archive/2011/12/02/rds-powershell-tfm-part-iii-configuring-remote-desktop-connection-broker-using-powershell.aspx

Part IV : Configuring a RDS Farm using PowerShell
http://blogs.technet.com/b/manojnair/archive/2011/12/02/rds-powershell-tfm-part-iv-configuring-a-rds-farm-using-powershell.aspx

Part V : Configuring a RD Gateway using PowerShell
http://blogs.technet.com/b/manojnair/archive/2011/12/02/rds-powershell-tfm-part-v-configuring-a-rd-gateway-using-powershell.aspx

Part VI : Network Load Balancing RDS Farm Members using PowerShell
http://blogs.technet.com/b/manojnair/archive/2011/12/02/rds-powershell-tfm-part-vi-network-load-balancing-rds-farm-members-using-powershell.aspx

Part VII : Using Best Practice Analyzer PowerShell Module of Remote Desktop Services
http://blogs.technet.com/b/manojnair/archive/2011/12/02/rds-powershell-tfm-part-vii-using-best-practice-analyzer-powershell-module-of-remote-desktop-services.aspx

Part VIII : Next Steps
http://blogs.technet.com/b/manojnair/archive/2011/12/02/rds-powershell-tfm-part-viii-next-steps.aspx