| Installing Terminal Server roles in Windows Longhorn 2008 |
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| Written by Hans Straat, Wednesday, 13 June 2007 | |
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This howto describes the changes in terminal server roles between Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008.
Again, changes between Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008 are substantial. We were used to use the Add/Remove > Windows Components function to add or remove functions in Windows Server 2003, in Windows Server 2008 you will have to use the Role Management tool. Starting out in Windows Server 2008, naturally the first thing we wanted to do is install the terminal server. Having found the features list, we then selected all possible options for terminal server. Only after starting the terminal server GUI, did we find out that you are required to configure the role to enable terminal server in application mode. Default it is enabled for RDP (remote desktop). At first, on opening the roles management tool, you will get a screen wizard. We recommend you mark the "do not show this page again" option and press next. At this point the roles you can select are shown (Figure 1), as you can see, you can select from a wide range of roles to install on a Windows Server 2008. We selected only the terminal services role and pressed next. Figure 1
Figure 2 gives you an introduction screen to terminal services. Read this and then press next or follow one of the urls to obtain more in-depth information regarding each of the terminal services you can install. Figure 2
After Figure 2 you can select from the following list the options you can install for the terminal services.
However, in order to install the TS Session Broker you must join a domain with the server you want to use as TS Session Broker. Naturally, we wanted all options installed right away and selected "all options posible." As shown in Figure 3, not all options are possible in a workgroup. After you select TS Gateway you will have to install additional roles, see Figure 4.
Figure 3
You will also have to install aditional roles in order to get TS Gateway running. Fortunately, Microsoft provided a button "Add required role services" saving us from having to manually select each role and install it. The same applies for TS Web Access, see Figure 5. Figure 4
There are less roles to install for TS Web Access but again press the "Add required role services" button to let Microsoft do the work for you. Figure 5
Now you will get a screen regarding installing terminal server after you installed applications on it, however this has not changed from terminal services in Windows Server 2003, some applications may not work anymore. Click next to continue In the next fase you need to specify what level of authentication you prefer on the terminal server. Some reading taught us this all depends on the authentication method used. Require Network Level Authentication will authenticate the user before a RDP session is made to the terminal server (requires RDC6.x). (RDC is Remote Desktop Client). Do Not Require Network Level Authentication will make a RDP session and then authenticate the user. The first option is recommended; however, if you have older versions and do not want to upgrade them you will have to use "Do not require Network Level Authentication." You can find out if your RDC is suited by starting it up and checking the about. To determine if your RDC supports Network Level Authentication open the RDC and go to the upper left corner of the dialog box, and then click About. Look for the phrase "Network Level Authentication supported" in the About Remote Desktop Connection dialog box see Figure 7 Figure 6
Figure 7
We set the option as shown above and pressed next. Next you will have to determine what type of licenses you want to use. Per device or per user. Bear in mind that the bug in Windows Server 2003, which prevented the system from counting your licenses and users connected in the "per user" option, has probably been fixed. You can choose
After you have selected one of the choices and pressed next, you can now select users or groups that are allowed to connect to the terminal server. We did not select any groups, left "Administrators" as default group and pressed next. Now you have to configure the license server. In a workgroup you get only one option where to place the LServer file. However, terminal servers in that workgroup will be able to discover this license server so you are not required to make your server a member of the domain in order to get the license server working for other terminal servers (if you have multiple terminal servers a domain would be advisable because of the users/groups to manage and the policies to use) After you pressed next you get to the fase where you can select and configure the certificate for the TS Gateway.
These are the options you get for the TS Gateway certificate configuration. The first one is ideal and Microsoft recommends to use it and use a external certificate authority like Verisign or others, but for smaller environments you can also use the second option. The last option will not get your TS Gateway working. Authorization policies can now be configured, later on you can also configure them by TS Gateway Manager tool. Authentication method can be configured to Password and or Smartcard here. You now have to fill in a group or select the option that users can connect to any computer in the network using remote desktop. The Policy and Access Services wizard pops up with an introduction to Network policies and Access Services. We recommend you read this carefully since mistakes mean your users cannot connect over the TS Gateway. You get the following options to select from.
If you want more details regarding the options above; browse to the Windows Server 2008 website in order to find the information required. We are not going discuss those options for now. IIS wizard pops up with instructions how to configure IIS (install the roles for the IIS Server). We left them default and pressed next. Installation selections are now showing a summary containing the options you have selected and a warning that IE Enhanced Security Configuration will be turned off. Press the INSTALL button to proceed. Now you are ready to set your first steps into Terminal Server 2008. Enjoy figuring out all new options. Later on we will write a more in-depth article or howto concerning one of the configurable options in terminal server like the TS Gateway. |
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