answers inline.
Hi, I'm on Windows 2000 and have several doubts.
1. How can I know whether my license server is servicing
enterprise or domain/workgroup?
Check the following registry key (do not modify it!):
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services
\TermServLicensing\Parameters
The Role value has either a '0' (Domain/Workgroup License
Server) or a '1' (Enterprise License Server).
2. Can I install a secondary/backup license server. Objective is
so that when the primary license server goes down, the secondary
has the license information to sustain operation. Something like
how a 2 DC works for user authentication
Yes.
From Microsofts Terminal Services FAQ
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/community/centers/termin
al/terminal_faq.mspx
Q. How do I configure Terminal Services Licensing servers for
redundancy or high availability?
A. The recommended method to configure Terminal Services Licensing
servers for high availability is to install at least two Terminal
Services Licensing servers with available Terminal Services CALs.
Each server will then advertise in Active Directory as enterprise
license servers with regard to the following Lightweight Directory
Access Protocol (LDAP):
//CN=TS-Enterprise-License-Server,CN=site
name,CN=sites,CN=configuration-container
Each Terminal Services Licensing server should contain 50 percent
of your CALs for load balancing within your environment. If a
Terminal Services Licensing server does not have valid CALs, then
that Terminal Services Licensing server will attempt to refer to
other Terminal Services Licensing servers with valid CALs for
license issuance. (This applies to both enterprise license servers
and domain license servers.)
Please review the License Issuance matrix to see all possible high-
availability scenarios concerning temporary and permanent license
issuance.
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/community/centers/termin
al/tsfaq_matrix.mspx
Each client will begin a license request and upgrade 7 days before
the license expiration date. This should allow sufficient time to
address any issues with individual Terminal Services Licensing
servers. If all Terminal Services Licensing servers are down at the
same time, new clients or clients with expired licenses will be
denied access. In addition, Terminal Services Licensing servers
should be separated by network subnets to ensure that a network
outage does not prevent users from connecting to a Terminal
Services Licensing server.
Finally, administrators should use the Terminal Server Licensing
Tool to ensure that at least 10 percent of their CALs are available
on each licensing server. Conversely, if available licenses are
limited to a single licensing server that suffers an outage,
clients with expired licenses will be denied access immediately,
and clients with licenses expiring within 7 days will be denied
access as they meet their expiration dates.
3. I had TSCAL license 'lost' prior to the patch released by
microsoft where license will renew every 90 days, similar to a
DHCP. I'm supposed to call clearing house. For example, if I
have 30 TSCAL pack and 'lost' 10 TSCAL. Will they issue only the
10 license or the whole pack?
Not sure, probably just the 10 lost licenses.
4. Any procedure for license server backup / recovery
From the same FAQ as above:
Q. How do I move my licenses from one licensing server to another?
A. You should back up your Terminal Services Licensing server
regularly by using the Windows Backup tool or something similar.
Regular backups will help protect your licensing data from
accidental loss if your system experiences hardware or storage
failure.
When backing up a Terminal Server Licensing server, back up both
the system state data and the folder in which the Terminal Server
Licensing server is installed. This step ensures that data in both
the registry and the Terminal Services licensing server database is
backed up.
If you restore the system state data and the database to the
original Terminal Services licensing server computer, any unissued
licenses are restored correctly as long as you have not replaced
the operating system on the computer. Otherwise, any unissued
licenses are not restored, and an event will appear in the system
log providing the unissued count.
You can still restore the unissued licenses by using the TS License
Manager tool with the Telephone activation mechanism, and
requesting the licenses back. You can switch to the Telephone
mechanism by right clicking on the server in TS License Manager,
and then selecting properties from the menu.
_________________________________________________________
Vera Noest
MCSE, CCEA, Microsoft MVP - Terminal Server
TS troubleshooting:
http://ts.veranoest.net
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