Switch to Admin mode from App mode remotely?

Wilson L. · Apr 12, 2004

We have a Windows 2003 box in APP server mode right now and the license has
expired. Since it's not really an APP server, we need to change it back to
ADMIN mode so we can connect to it for administration purposes. The box is
in a remote site and nobody there to change it. Is there anyway we can do
this remotely, we have full rights on the box, of course.

I tried to install VNC remotely but it requries a reboot... because of a VNC
service I added in the registry. If there's a way to reload the services
(including new ones) w/o rebooting, that would help.

Thanks!

Bill Peele [MS] · Apr 13, 2004

--------------------

From: "Wilson L." <[email protected]>
Subject: Switch to Admin mode from App mode remotely?
Date: Mon, 12 Apr 2004 12:07:53 -0700
Newsgroups: microsoft.public.win2000.termserv.apps

We have a Windows 2003 box in APP server mode right now and the license has
expired. Since it's not really an APP server, we need to change it back to
ADMIN mode so we can connect to it for administration purposes. The box is
in a remote site and nobody there to change it. Is there anyway we can do
this remotely, we have full rights on the box, of course.

I tried to install VNC remotely but it requries a reboot... because of a VNC
service I added in the registry. If there's a way to reload the services
(including new ones) w/o rebooting, that would help.

Thanks!

-----

Wilson,

If you still have access to the system go to System Properties, then the Remote tab and then make sure the option "Allow
users to connect remotely to this computer" under the Remote Desktop section is checked. This is basically the
equivalent to Remote Administration Mode in Windows 2000. If this is not checked then go ahead and check it, this should
not require a reboot.

Once you have this done you can uncheck Terminal Server, which is basically the equivalent to Application Mode in
Windows 2000, in Add/Remove Programs under Add/Remove Windows Components to remove Terminal Server. This
will require a reboot. Once the system is back up you should be able to connect to it remotely with an Administrator
account, because of having the "Allow users to connect remotely to this computer". This will take over Session 0 (zero)
much as it does on Windows XP. This also means you will only have one remote connection at a time.

Bill Peele
Microsoft Enterprise Support

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Wilson L. · Apr 13, 2004

Thanks for the reply Bill.

Is there anyway this can be done remotely? Through registry or some windows
tool? maybe a group policy? I don't have physical access to the box.

Wilson

Bill Peele said:
--------------------
-----

Wilson,

If you still have access to the system go to System Properties, then the

Remote tab and then make sure the option "Allow

users to connect remotely to this computer" under the Remote Desktop

section is checked. This is basically the

equivalent to Remote Administration Mode in Windows 2000. If this is not

checked then go ahead and check it, this should

not require a reboot.

Once you have this done you can uncheck Terminal Server, which is

basically the equivalent to Application Mode in

Windows 2000, in Add/Remove Programs under Add/Remove Windows Components

to remove Terminal Server. This

will require a reboot. Once the system is back up you should be able to

connect to it remotely with an Administrator

account, because of having the "Allow users to connect remotely to this

computer". This will take over Session 0 (zero)

much as it does on Windows XP. This also means you will only have one remote connection at a time.

Bill Peele
Microsoft Enterprise Support

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no

rights. Use of included script samples are subject to the

terms specified at http://www.microsoft.com/info/cpyright.htm

Note: For the benefit of the community-at-large, all responses to this

message are best directed to the newsgroup/thread

Bill Peele [MS] · Apr 13, 2004

--------------------

From: "Wilson L." <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: Switch to Admin mode from App mode remotely?
Date: Mon, 12 Apr 2004 17:34:29 -0700
Newsgroups: microsoft.public.win2000.termserv.apps

Thanks for the reply Bill.

Is there anyway this can be done remotely? Through registry or some windows
tool? maybe a group policy? I don't have physical access to the box.

Wilson

-----

Wilson,

If you can still terminal into the system you should be able to change the settings from the terminal session. If you cannot
still terminal into the system but you have access to another Windows 2003 or Windows XP system we can use a WMIC
command to enable Remote Desktop by running the following command:

wmic /node:<machine name> /user:"administrator" rdtoggle where allowtsconnections=0 call setallowtsconnections1

After WMIC is loaded you will be prompted for the password of the node's Administrator account. You can try using any
account that belongs to the Administrators group.

Off the top of my head I don't know of a way to uninstall Terminal Services remotely. Once Remote Desktop is enable you
can try to open a terminal session, you might need to tell it to open the console session. If you can connect you can then
uninstall Terminal Services.

Bill Peele
Microsoft Enterprise Support

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. Use of included script samples are subject to the
terms specified at http://www.microsoft.com/info/cpyright.htm

Note: For the benefit of the community-at-large, all responses to this message are best directed to the newsgroup/thread
from which they originated.

Wilson L. · Apr 13, 2004

Bill,

That's correct, I don't not have remote access to the server anymore. It is
asking for a licensing server because the trial date for app ts app server
has expired. I'm trying to switch it to admin mode remotely. Thanks for
the suggestion, i'm trying the wmic command but it says "RDTOGGLE - Alias
not found." I'm going to try different things with it and see if I can get
it to work. In the meantime, do you have any suggestions regarding the
Alias not found error? Thanks.

Wilson

I did find an MS link regarding the usage of wmic...
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/...nterprise/proddocs/en-us/managingWithWMIC.asp

Bill Peele said:
--------------------
-----

Wilson,

If you can still terminal into the system you should be able to change the

settings from the terminal session. If you cannot

still terminal into the system but you have access to another Windows 2003

or Windows XP system we can use a WMIC

command to enable Remote Desktop by running the following command:

wmic /node:<machine name> /user:"administrator" rdtoggle where

allowtsconnections=0 call setallowtsconnections1

After WMIC is loaded you will be prompted for the password of the node's

Administrator account. You can try using any

account that belongs to the Administrators group.

Off the top of my head I don't know of a way to uninstall Terminal

Services remotely. Once Remote Desktop is enable you

can try to open a terminal session, you might need to tell it to open the

console session. If you can connect you can then

uninstall Terminal Services.

Bill Peele
Microsoft Enterprise Support

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no

rights. Use of included script samples are subject to the

terms specified at http://www.microsoft.com/info/cpyright.htm

Note: For the benefit of the community-at-large, all responses to this

message are best directed to the newsgroup/thread

Wilson L. · Apr 13, 2004

Bill,

I got it to work. I had to run the command in a Windows 2003 Server box.
However, it ran successfully (I even tried it on a WinXP workstation and it
worked), when I try to connect to the server, it still says that there are
"no Terminal Server License Servers available to provide a license". And I
think that has to do with the TS App server license being expired. Which is
why I wanted to change it to TS Admin. I can only do this remotely because
the box is on another site... argh...

I found another link for the future googlers.
http://www.mcpmag.com/columns/article.asp?EditorialsID=632

Bill Peele said:
--------------------
-----

Wilson,

If you can still terminal into the system you should be able to change the

settings from the terminal session. If you cannot

still terminal into the system but you have access to another Windows 2003

or Windows XP system we can use a WMIC

command to enable Remote Desktop by running the following command:

wmic /node:<machine name> /user:"administrator" rdtoggle where

allowtsconnections=0 call setallowtsconnections1

After WMIC is loaded you will be prompted for the password of the node's

Administrator account. You can try using any

account that belongs to the Administrators group.

Off the top of my head I don't know of a way to uninstall Terminal

Services remotely. Once Remote Desktop is enable you

can try to open a terminal session, you might need to tell it to open the

console session. If you can connect you can then

uninstall Terminal Services.

Bill Peele
Microsoft Enterprise Support

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no

rights. Use of included script samples are subject to the

terms specified at http://www.microsoft.com/info/cpyright.htm

Note: For the benefit of the community-at-large, all responses to this

message are best directed to the newsgroup/thread

Bill Peele [MS] · Apr 13, 2004

--------------------

From: "Wilson L." <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: Switch to Admin mode from App mode remotely?
Date: Tue, 13 Apr 2004 13:34:30 -0700
Newsgroups: microsoft.public.win2000.termserv.apps

Bill,

I got it to work. I had to run the command in a Windows 2003 Server box.
However, it ran successfully (I even tried it on a WinXP workstation and it
worked), when I try to connect to the server, it still says that there are
"no Terminal Server License Servers available to provide a license". And I
think that has to do with the TS App server license being expired. Which is
why I wanted to change it to TS Admin. I can only do this remotely because
the box is on another site... argh...

I found another link for the future googlers.
http://www.mcpmag.com/columns/article.asp?EditorialsID=632

-----

If the WMIC command worked, it would have finished with a status of 0 (zero), then Remote Desktop should now be
enabled. When you run your Remote Desktop Connection client and enter the name or IP address of the server follow it
with a space and /console. The /console will tell it to connect to session 0 (zero) and which is what Remote Desktop does
and lets see if you still get the license message.

If you know the server's local Administrator account you might want to try it as well to see what happens.

Bill Peele
Microsoft Enterprise Support

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. Use of included script samples are subject to the
terms specified at http://www.microsoft.com/info/cpyright.htm

Note: For the benefit of the community-at-large, all responses to this message are best directed to the newsgroup/thread
from which they originated.

Wilson L. · Apr 13, 2004

OMGOODNESS... GOT IT. THANK YOU SO MUCH BILL. IT WORKED!

Bill Peele said:
--------------------

(zero), then Remote Desktop should now be

enabled. When you run your Remote Desktop Connection client and enter the

name or IP address of the server follow it

with a space and /console. The /console will tell it to connect to

session 0 (zero) and which is what Remote Desktop does

and lets see if you still get the license message.

If you know the server's local Administrator account you might want to try

it as well to see what happens.

Bill Peele
Microsoft Enterprise Support

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no

rights. Use of included script samples are subject to the

terms specified at http://www.microsoft.com/info/cpyright.htm

Note: For the benefit of the community-at-large, all responses to this

message are best directed to the newsgroup/thread

Bill Peele [MS] · Apr 14, 2004

--------------------

From: "Wilson L." <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: Switch to Admin mode from App mode remotely?
Date: Tue, 13 Apr 2004 14:51:26 -0700
Newsgroups: microsoft.public.win2000.termserv.apps

OMGOODNESS... GOT IT. THANK YOU SO MUCH BILL. IT WORKED!

-----

Wilson,

Glad to be of help.

Now that you are connected remember to go into Add/Remove Programs \ Add/Remove Windows Components and
remove Terminal Services since you no longer need it. As long as we have Remote Desktop Connection enabled you will
be able to open a terminal session to session 0 (zero) and with Terminal Services uninstalled you should not have to use
the /console switch each time.

Bill Peele
Microsoft Enterprise Support

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. Use of included script samples are subject to the
terms specified at http://www.microsoft.com/info/cpyright.htm

Note: For the benefit of the community-at-large, all responses to this message are best directed to the newsgroup/thread
from which they originated.

Switch to Admin mode from App mode remotely?

Wilson L.

Bill Peele [MS]

Wilson L.

Bill Peele [MS]

Wilson L.

Wilson L.

Bill Peele [MS]

Wilson L.

Bill Peele [MS]