Hi and welcome everybody to the next blog post of a series about installing and configuring Citrix XenApp 7.13 on Windows Server 2016. After the successful installation of the Microsoft Remote Desktop (RDS) Licensing component, we now need to configure it.

So today we will configure Microsoft RDS Licensing. The RD Licensing Manager can be started over a Start Menu link or through a link in the Server manager. It is not necessary to add RDS Licenses if you are in a lab environment because the License Server will issue temporary licenses for 180 days and in most cases, this should be sufficient for a few tests or demos.

The first thing you will notice is that the License Server is not activated. You can see that on the red mark left to the server name.

If you right-click on the server name you can open the configuration of the server. You can see that the Discovery Scope of the License Server is configured to Domain.

To change the scope the user we use to reconfigure this option needs to have Enterprise Admin privileges in Active Directory. Click CONTINUE.

In the next screen, you can choose The forest. Click OK.

Choosing Forest makes this Licensing Server available to multiple domains within the forest. Click OK again to finish the configuration for the scope.

In the next step, we will add this License Server to the Terminal Server License group. Without this configuration, the License Server won´t issue CALs to users and no reporting will be possible. Click ADD TO GROUP.

In the next screen click CONTINUE.

Click OK on the next screen to finish the configuration.

The next screen shows green checkmarks for all configuration items. Click OK.

Now right-click on the server name again and start the Activate Server Wizard. Click NEXT.

There are a few options you can choose to activate the license server. I have internet access and therefore I will leave it on Automatic connection (recommended).

In the next screen type in your First name, last name, company, and Country. Click NEXT.

Add further company information. Click NEXT.

With the next screen, we are ready to activate the license server. Leave the checkmark next to Start Install Licenses Wizard now activated.

The Activate Server Wizard opens. Click NEXT.

Again we have a few options to choose from for a licensing program. As a Microsoft partner, we have access to a few licenses. I will leave License Pack (retail Purchase).

On the next screen, we need to type in a License code. Click ADD and NEXT.

We´re done with adding Licenses. Click FINISH.

Now you should be able to see the newly added Licenses in the RD Licensing Manager.

That´s your Microsoft RDS Licensing server on Windows Server 2016.

Cheers,
Sinisa