Could Not Establish A Connection To The Remote Computer...

[Guest]

Hello,

We have Terminal Services in application mode along with its licensing
service in Domain A, which we installed two days ago. Users in Domain A can
connect in with no problem. However, users in a Domain B, which is in a
completely different forest, have trouble connecting in even though they have
Windows XP Professional.

A user in Domain B can connect in one time with no problem. But when the
user tries to connect in a second time, the following error message appears
on their screen:
"The client could not establish a connection to the remote computer. The
most likely casues for this error are: 1) Remote connections might not be
enabled at the remote computer. 2) The maximum number of connections was
exceeded at the remote computer. 3) A network error occured while
establishing the connection"

At that time, the Terminal Service server logs event ID 1004 - "The terminal
server cannot issue a client license." If the user in Domain B then deletes
the MSLicensing key from their registry, he/she can connect in again one
time.

I also noticed Terminal Service Licensing is issuing new temporary license
(we have not yet activated our TS licenses) each time the same user in Domain
B connects, so there appear to be "duplicates". Users in Domain A are not
experiencing that and are able to use their same already issued license (no
duplicates).

Any help/guidance you can provide to resolve this problem is greatly
appreciated. Users in Domain B are getting tired of having to delete the
MSLicensing key each time they want to connect. Thanks in advance for your
help.

Jeff

 

[Vera Noest [MVP]]

There might be a black hole router between your clients in domain B
and the TS in domain A, which blocks packets above a certain size.
This prevents the transfer of the permanent TS CAL to the client
(on first connection, the client gets a temporary license, on
second connection, it gets a permanent license).

If this is the problem, you have to change the MTU size. Check the
Terminal Services FAQ, there are 2 items about this under
"Connectivity"

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/community/centers/termin
al/terminal_faq.asp

The multiple temporary licenses are caused by deleting the
MSLicensing key from the clients. This forces the LS to issue a new
temporary license of the next connection.
_________________________________________________________
Vera Noest
MCSE, CCEA, Microsoft MVP - Terminal Server
TS troubleshooting: http://ts.veranoest.net
___ please respond in newsgroup, NOT by private email ___

 

[Guest]

Hi, Vera,

Thanks a lot for your reply.

I forgot to mention that Domain A is a Windows 2000 domain, and the both the
Terminal Service server and the Terminal Service Licensing server are on
Windows 2000 Servers (SP4).

I tried your suggestion to test for a black hole router. It appears there
is not a black hole router, since I was successfully able to ping from both
the TS client and the TS server using a 1472 MTU size.

I don't know if this matters, but I noticed a
"LicensingGracePeriodExpirationWarningDays" registry entry in the Terminal
Service server in Domain A. (This was not found in the TS Licensing server.)
It has a decimal value of 15. And I recall seeing a post (from you?) that
this indicates some other kind of problem.

Do you think it's better to start from scratch and uninstall Terminal
Services (and Licensing) and then reinstall? Thanks again for your help. I
really appreciate it.

Jeff

 

[Vera Noest [MVP]]

No, I would not uninstall and re-install, that's probably not going
to solve the problem anyway.
It's not clear to me if the TS Licensing Server is activated at
this moment.
If it isn't, then I would do so. Note that if all of your clients
run W2K Pro or XP Pro, you do not have to install any TS CALs on
the LS, just activate it.
If it is already activated, then make sure that your TS can locate
the Licensing Server:

239107 - Establishing Preferred Windows 2000 Terminal Services
License Server
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=239107
_________________________________________________________
Vera Noest
MCSE, CCEA, Microsoft MVP - Terminal Server
TS troubleshooting: http://ts.veranoest.net
*----------- Please reply in newsgroup -------------*

 

[Guest]

Thanks again for all of your suggestions, Vera.

The TS Licensing Server was not activated. However, I have just activated
it via WWW and made the registry entry on the TS server for the preferred TS
Licensing server. Unfortunately, I am having the same problem as originally
posted ("could not establish a connection..." on the TS client and the TS
server logs event id 1004). Although a "Existing Windows 2000 License" was
issued, since it is listed the the TS client computer name in TS Licensing.
Prior to activation of the TS Licensing, it would only issue a "Temporary
Licenses for Existing Windows 2000 License".

I have also deleted the 3 "certificate" registry entries on the TS server
and once again deleted the MSLicensing registry entry on the TS client as
mentioned in MS Article 323597. I even gave Everyone Full rights to the
LICENSE000 registry entry on the TS client as mentioned in MS article 315277.
Lastly, I entered the IP address for the DomainLicenseServer registry entry
on the TS client. But after all of that, I still have the same problem as
originally posted.

Anymore suggestions you have are greatly appreciated. I really need to get
this fixed. Thanks again for your help.

Jeff

 

[Vera Noest [MVP]]

I've really no idea what's wrong.

I would collect some more data by running lsview and lsreport from
the Resource Kit and then phone Microsoft Support.

_________________________________________________________
Vera Noest
MCSE, CCEA, Microsoft MVP - Terminal Server
TS troubleshooting: http://ts.veranoest.net
___ please respond in newsgroup, NOT by private email ___

 

[Guest]

Hi, Vera,

I think you were right from the beginning. I think it's a black hole router
that is causing the problem. When I originally tested for the black hole
router issue, I did not use the "-f" switch. Apparently, I did not follow
the instructions correctly. So my pings were succussful, because they were
fragmented.

Today I tried the ping with the "-f" switch (the correct way), and it finds
a problem. So now I have to figure out how to correct the black hole router
problem. Thanks for all of your help.