Tablecloth self-assembly, or how to deploy Remote Desktop Services on Windows Server 2012 R2

    Today, we’ll explain how the deployment of RDS Session Host on Windows Server 2012 R2 differs from earlier versions of Windows Server and discuss the available deployment options. Remote Desktop Services on Windows Server has improved significantly in recent times, but it remains, nevertheless, a lot of incomprehensible due to the many components involved in the process. RD Session Hosts do all the dirty work by serving terminal user sessions. However, even in the most primitive scenario, the use of RD Connection Broker (Remote Desktop Connection Broker) is mandatory. Before you plan to deploy Remote Desktop Services, you should be familiar with its role.


    RD Connection Broker


    When a Remote Desktop session is disconnected, applications in the user session continue to work. To monitor user sessions, RD Connection Broker stores information such as the host name of the Remote Desktop Sessions server where each session is held, the session state and its identifier, as well as information about connected users in each session. This information is used to connect users to existing sessions on RD Session Host servers (Windows terminal servers). When creating a new session, the Connection RD Broker-s also play a role by connecting users to the RD Session Host servers as the load.


    Starting with Windows Server 2012, Remote Desktop Connection brokers not only store user session data, but also configuration information. The Remote Desktop Connection broker uses the internal Windows database to save the session and configuration information, unless the High Availability (HA) mode is set to use SQL Server 2008 R2 (or later).


    Remote Desktop Connection Broker requires an Active Directory domain, but cannot be installed on a domain controller (DC). You can deploy Remote Desktop Services in a workgroup by setting up a server role, although this will lose the ability to centralize management, control panels, and functionality of Remoteapp applications.


    Centralized application publishing


    Windows Server 2012 also introduced the concept of collections. Windows Server 2008 R2 required system administrators to publish applications for each RD Session Host individually. The Remote Desktop Connection broker now stores configuration information.


    Deployment Options: Fast and Standard


    The key to understanding how to deploy RDS on Windows Server 2012 R2 is understanding that installing the RD Session Host role is not enough. Server Manager provides a special deployment mode for installing RDS, so all the necessary components are installed in the right places to make deployment simple and quick.


    image
    Remote Desktop Services on Windows Server 2012 R2

    In the Add Roles and Features Wizard in the Server Manager, there is a special installation option, Remote Desktop Services installation, which you must select when deploying Remote Desktop Services. The wording with this option is a bit confusing, but the option allows you to set hosts for remote desktop sessions without deploying a full virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI).


    Standard deployment is the default deployment model, and if you really want to install all the necessary roles on the same server, which is not best practice, you should choose this option. Quick Start can be useful in test scenarios or in small branches where there is only one available server.


    Standard deployment allows you to install RD Connection Broker, RD Session Host, and RD Web Access on the same server or on multiple servers, which is the most likely deployment scenario in a production environment. Remote Desktop Connection Broker includes an internal Windows database, RD Session Host, and RD Web Access roles. All of this is mandatory, but RD Gateway plays an optional role. RD Web Access provides users with access to RemoteApps or desktops from the Start menu or from a  web portal . If you want to use RDS for more than a 120-day trial period, you will need to additionally install the Remote Desktop licensing role.


    Management consoles


    All necessary management consoles can be found in the server manager on the server where the remote desktop connection broker is installed, with the exception of RD Gateway and RD Licensing.


    Install Remote Desktop Services on Windows Server 2012 R2


    Here we talk about the standard deployment model, which allows you to distribute the roles of remote desktop servers or install them for one server.

    Standard deployment is the default deployment model, and even if three server roles are installed on a single server for demonstration, this is not the best solution. A Windows internal database is installed as part of the process to support the Remote Desktop Connection Broker role, as are some IIS components for RD Web Access that provide access to RemoteApps or desktops from the Start menu or from a  web portal .


    Licensing


    If you want to use the deployed Remote Desktop Services for more than a 120-day test period, you must install the RD Licensing role, add a license, register a licensing server with Active Directory, and then add RD Licensing to the  RDS infrastructure . RD Licensing is installed just like any other role, so there is no need to use the special deployment option in Server Manager.


    Deploy Remote Desktop Services


    The servers that you plan to use in your RDS deployment must be added to the Server Pool in Server Manager before starting the process. You will need an Active Directory domain and an account that has permission to install server roles on the selected server (s). Additionally, the Remote Desktop Connection Broker role on the domain controller can be installed.


    • Open Server Manager;
    • Select "Add Roles and Features" in the management menu;
    • In the Add Roles and Features Wizard, click Next on the Before You Begin screen.
    • On the "Choose installation type" screen, select "Install Remote Desktop Services" and click "Next";
    • On the Select Deployment Type screen, select Standard, and then click Next.


    image
    Standard or quick deployment

    • On the Select Deployment Scenario screen, select Session-based desktop deployment and click Next.
    • On the Review role services screen, check the role services to install and click Next.


    image
    Remote Desktop Services Roles

    • On the definition screen of the Remote Desktop Connection Broker server, double-click the server in the server pool in order to add it to the list of selected ones. This is the server on which the Remote Desktop Connection Broker role will be installed. Click "Next."


    image
    Select a server from the server pool

    • On the RD Web Access server definition screen, repeat the previous step to add the server to Selected, or check the "Install the RD Web Access role service on the RD Connection Broker" checkbox. server) if you want to install this role on the same server as the Remote Desktop Connection broker. Click "Next." continue.
    • On the RD Session Host server definition screen, select one or more servers from the server pool by double-clicking or using the mouse selection and clicking on the arrow in the center of the dialog box.
    • On the confirmation screen, click “Restart the destination server automatically if required” and click “Deploy”.
    • When the 3 server roles are installed, click Close on the View progress screen.


    image
    Deployment progress

    Now you need to log in to the server where the Remote Desktop Connection Broker role is installed, open Server Manager and click “Remote Desktop Services” in the list of options on the left to see information about your RDS deployment .
    image
    Remote Desktop Services Dashboard in Server Manager

    Also popular now: