Suddenly cannot RDP into 2003 Server - reboot is only option

[Tetrahedron]

I manage a software management console on several Windows Server 2003 virtual machines (on VMWare)

I am able to connect to these servers using RDP, but lately, I am unable to connect to one or two of them using RDP, but I can ping them. Then, I have to ask the person managing VMWare to reboot these machines, because that is the only way I can RDP into them.

Why is this happening suddenly, and to random servers? Is there something I can monitor using Performance Logs and Alerts.

Please point me in the right direction.

 

[itsp1965]

Do you have printer sessions created on these terminal servers. Try connecting to them to see if there are any "hung" print jobs and/or reset the spooler.

 

[juniper911]

Next time it happens try the following?

Try to telnet to port 3389 of the server you are trying to RDP to, if you get a blank window then you have a connection, if it stays on connecting to... then it means the client you are on cannot communicate to the RDP port of the remote server. Test telnet on a server you an RDP to see what I mean.

Although these servers are VM's, you should be able to console on them, same as physically being in front of the server or using ILO/DRAC utility. Your VM administrator should be able to give you access to the vsphere client, login to the server that way and then run the netstat command - netstat -ano | find "3389" You should get a couple of lines, if you are not seeing a line with your server ip then it means the server is not listening on the RDP port which explains why you can't RDP to the server.

Based on the results of the above you will then need to troubleshoot further but at least that will give you an idea of what is going on with the server.

 

[gavindcht]

This also looks like a high utilization problem. We have this once and one node was hogging all the resources. That's why one of the services such as RDP suddenly became unavailable.

 

[maybeimaleo]

This used to happen to me when I worked at a PR firm. When we patched our servers sometimes RDP would not work and we would have to reboot the server. I think there might be a patch or maybe an upgrade to the RDP service/app that solves this problem.

Sorry I can't be of more help.