TS CAL reg fu, are they kidding?

[shaftoe]

Our network admin vendor (W2K Server and hosted Exch2K3) has several of our users set up on TS to use a database, and a few more for remote access to our network. But the TS Licensing feature is not configured on our application server. Somehow that works fine except that every so often we get the "License will expire blah blah" message on a client machine and have to go in and delete the MS Licensing key from the Registry, after which it all begins again. Our vendor tells us that W2K Pro and successors are supposed to include TS CALs and this is the way to work around a bug in W2K Server. He says the other way is to buy CALs from MS for ca $125 per client machine, but the reg fu is not in violation of our EULAs because it's a workaround to implement a licensed feature.

Is this for real?

 

[Davetoo]

In order for TS licensing to work, you have to have a TS licensing server on a DC.

Have you done that?

I'm Certifiable, not certified.
It just means my answers are from experience, not a book.

 

[shaftoe]

No, and apparently we are able to run TS without a licensing server, which I guess is what is making me nervous. Is the licensing server there just as a tool for recordkeeping purposes or are we bootlegging? If I set up the licensing server does that lock us into shelling out for CALs that are supposed to be included as a part of the desktop client OS' that we already paid for?

 

[mlichstein]

To be blunt, your vendor is a moron. You need to find a new one immediately.

Since you are running 2000 server and 2000 pro, you don't need to purchase anything. 2000 pro and XP pro clients can connect to a 2000 terminal server and get a license from a built-in pool of TS licenses. However, this pool is only available if you install a TS licensing server!

Installing the licensing server does not require you to purchase anything. You install it (it must be installed on a DC for 2000), and activate it, and you are done.

 

[penauroth]

http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/server/howtobuy/pricing/tsfaq.asp

Take a glance at what MS says.

Paul

Work on Windows, play on Linux.

 

[Davetoo]

I'm afraid I have to agree with mlichstein on this one...your vendor is giving you some terrible advice.


I'm Certifiable, not certified.
It just means my answers are from experience, not a book.

 

[shaftoe]

Well that certainly lines up with my own assessment -- penauroth, that page was where I had shaped my doubts about our vendor's explanation.

So, the $125 CAL or the reg-fu workaround are for machines that do not run W2K Pro or a successor operating system, right? And all I have to do is log onto our DC server and light up the TS licensing server feature?

Btw the vendor said that the bug which necessitated the workaround had not been fixed until a recent service pack for W2K3. I'm trying to assume good faith on his part -- can any of you think of anything he might be thinking of that isn't nonsense or smokescreen?

 

[mlichstein]

So, the $125 CAL or the reg-fu workaround are for machines that do not run W2K Pro or a successor operating system, right? And all I have to do is log onto our DC server and light up the TS licensing server feature?

Yes, that's all you need to do. If you were running a 2003 terminal server, then you would need to purchase TS CALs for all of your clients. But since you have a 2000 terminal server and 2000 clients, you don't need to buy anything.

Btw the vendor said that the bug which necessitated the workaround had not been fixed until a recent service pack for W2K3. I'm trying to assume good faith on his part -- can any of you think of anything he might be thinking of that isn't nonsense or smokescreen?

I honestly have no idea what he is referring to. This is not a bug in 2000...you install and activate a TS licensing server on a 2000 DC, and 2000 and XP client can connect to 2000 terminal servers without any further configuration.

 

[mlichstein]

By the way, that 'workaround' is not a workaround at all. Without an activated TS licensing server, a terminal server in application mode will stop accepting connections after 90 days.

Up until the 90 day mark, you can connect for evaluation purposes, and the clients will receive a temporary license. These licenses are also only good for 90 days. Deleting the registry key will get rid of the temporary license from the client, but it will do nothing to get around the fact that the terminal server itself will refuse to accept connections after 90 days without a TS licensing server.

 

[shaftoe]

We've been running TS on a succession of these 90-day eval licenses for almost a year. So, the licensing server, if not activated, can still issue these temporary licenses indefinitely, I suppose. The fact that it works is what led me to believe our vendor's explanation of why we do this.

Finding a new vendor may not be an option. We inherited the relationship from our parent company after they bought us out and fired the Operations guy who was trying to wear the too-big-for-him IT hat. So now we either deal with this vendor or take the whole thing in-house. I am trying out for the in-house position but I'm so busy putting out fires that it's hard to make time to figure out what's wrong and try to fix it. Arg.

Anyway thanks all for the advice. These boards are an amazing resource.

 

[mlichstein]

We've been running TS on a succession of these 90-day eval licenses for almost a year. So, the licensing server, if not activated, can still issue these temporary licenses indefinitely, I suppose

Well I'm not sure how you are doing that, but that is a blatant violation of the license agreement. Without a licensing server, a terminal server will only work for 90 days. I don't even think reinstalling will get you a new 90 days, so if you are using some kind of registry hack to get a fresh 90 days, it is most definitely violating the EULA.

Not to mention it is WAY more work than you need to do. Why would anyone recommend violating the license agreement and hacking the OS into giving you a new trial period every 90 days, when you can take 2 minutes and install a TS licensing server?