RDS License Grace Period Test

When a user or a device connects to the Microsoft RDS server, the RDS server determines if an RDS CAL is needed and then requests an RDS CAL from a Remote Desktop license server. If an appropriate RDS CAL is available from a license server, the RDS CAL is issued to the client, and the client is able to connect to the RDS server and from there to the desktop or apps they're trying to use. However, the RDS server provides access to users who are using grace period licenses.

Microsoft RDS server enables clients with valid licenses to access desktops and applications from various types of client applications and devices. The RDS server then requests an RDS CAL from the Remote Desktop license server. If an appropriate RDS CAL is available from a license server, the RDS CAL is issued to the client, and the client is able to connect to the RD Session Host server and from there to the desktop or apps they're trying to use.

To continuously access to desktops/applications on the target RDS server, the clients should possess valid licenses offered from a Microsoft RDS License server. By default, Microsoft offers a licensing grace period of 120 Days during which clients do not requires licenses from any license server to access the desktops/applications. Once the grace period ends, clients must have a valid RDS CAL issued by a license server before they can log on to the Microsoft RDS server. However, if the clients do not get a valid license before the grace period expires, then, they cannot access the RDS server and desktops/applications hosted by the server. To avoid such inconveniences, you should monitor the target RDS server that offers destops/applications to the clients who are using licenses in grace period and initiate actions to get valid license before the grace period expires. This can be easily done using the RDS License Grace Period test.

There is a licensing grace period of 120 Days during which no license server is required. Once the grace period ends, clients must have a valid RDS CAL issued by a license server before they can log on to an RD Session Host server.

This test monitors the target Microsoft RDS server that uses grace period license, and reports the number of days left in the license grace period. This way, administrators are proactively alerted to buy valid licenses before the grace period ends so as to ensure the users continuous access to the desktops and applications. In addition, this test also reveals whether/not the RDS server allows new user connections and a single session per user.

Note:

This test reports metrics only when the target Microsoft RDS server uses grace period licenses.

Target of the test : A Microsoft RDS server

Agent deploying the test : An internal agent

Outputs of the test : One set of results for the target Microsoft RDS server.

Configurable parameters for the test

Parameters	Description
Test period	This indicates how often should the test be executed.
Host	The host for which the test is to be configured.
Port	Refers to the port used by the Microsoft RDS server.
Detailed Diagnosis	To make diagnosis more efficient and accurate, the eG Enterprise embeds an optional detailed diagnostic capability. With this capability, the eG agents can be configured to run detailed, more elaborate tests as and when specific problems are detected. To enable the detailed diagnosis capability of this test for a particular server, choose the On option. To disable the capability, click on the Off option. The option to selectively enable/disable the detailed diagnosis capability will be available only if the following conditions are fulfilled: The eG manager license should allow the detailed diagnosis capability Both the normal and abnormal frequencies configured for the detailed diagnosis measures should not be 0.

Measurements made by the test

Measurement	Description	Measurement Unit	Interpretation
Remote desktop license grace period left	Indicates the number of days left in the license grace period.	Days	A low value for this measure indicates that license is about to expire soon. In such cases, you need to get the proper license before the services offered by the RDS server become inaccessible The detailed diagnosis of this measure reveals the name of the target RDS server and the license servers to which the RDS server is associated with.
Is new RDS connection allowed?	Indicates whether/not a new RDS connection is allowed.		These measure values and their corresponding numeric values are listed in the table below: Measure Value Numeric Value Yes 1 No 0 Note: By default, this measure reports the Measure values to indicate whether the RDS server allows new connection or not. The graph of this measure however is represented using the numeric equivalents - 0 or 1.
Is single session allowed per user?	Indicates whether/not a single session per user is allowed during the grace period.		These measure values and their corresponding numeric values are listed in the table below: Measure Value Numeric Value Yes 1 No 0 Note: By default, this measure reports the Measure values to indicate whether/not a single session per user is allowed during the grace period. The graph of this measure however is represented using the numeric equivalents - 0 or 1.