Install
software packages on the terminal server and then use the tools in the
Terminal Services management snap-in to make applications available to
users and manage settings for these installed applications. With these
available tools, you can also monitor and manage users, sessions, and
processes.
Begin
by opening Server Manager and expanding Terminal Services. Under
Terminal Services you see RemoteApp Manager, TS Gateway Manager, and
Terminal Server Manager. Let’s look at how to manage the terminal
server environment using these tools.
One
of the most important administrative tasks you will undertake in
Terminal Services is installing applications that will be available to
remote users. However, before
you can make these applications available to users, you must first
install them on your terminal server. There are two ways to accomplish
this task:
If
you are installing applications from a Windows Installer package, the
package will automatically install the application in terminal server
mode. If the
application uses another installer technology, you will have to put the
terminal server in installation mode. To put the terminal server in
installation mode, open a command prompt and type change user /install
after the application has installed successfully from a command prompt.
Type change user /execute to exit from installation mode.
Now you are ready to make these programs available to users in your organization.
Add RemoteApp Programs
In
Server Manager, go to the Terminal Services management snap-in. Expand
Terminal Services and click RemoteApp Manager. To add applications,
perform the following steps:
1. | From the Actions pane, click Add RemoteApp Programs. The RemoteApp Wizard starts.
| 2. | Read the section titled Before You Run This Wizard Ensure That. If you have met all the requirements, click Next.
| 3. | On
the next screen, Choose Programs to Add to the RemoteApp Programs List,
the list is prepopulated with applications to add. You can select all,
select none, or choose applications individually.
Note
If the application is not shown, you can browse to the .exe
file to add the program. In this screen, you can also see the
properties page for this program. In the properties page, you can set
the RemoteApp program name, location, and alias. You can make RemoteApp
available through TS Web Access by adding command-line arguments, and
you can change the default icon (see Figure 1).
After you have chosen your programs and selected the properties, click Next.
| 4. | On
the next screen, review the settings. This page shows the program name
and path, and it shows whether RemoteApp will be available through TS
Web Access and whether command-line arguments have been added. When you
are done reviewing the settings, click Finish.
|
When you have added programs to RemoteApp, you have the option of making these programs available through TS Web Access (see Figure 2), an .rdp file, or a Windows Installer package.
Let’s now look at how to create an .rdp file and a Windows Installer package for RemoteApp programs.
In the RemoteApp Manager, perform the following steps:
1. | Highlight the application you want to distribute and click Create .rdp File.
| 2. | When the RemoteApp Wizard starts, providing information for creating an .rdp file, click Next.
| 3. | Specify the package settings:
Enter the location to save the packages. (This can be a file share.) Enter the terminal server settings: Choose the server, required authentication, and port for this .rdp file. Enter
the TS Gateway settings: Choose to automatically detect TS Gateway, use
a specific TS Gateway server, or not use any TS Gateway server for this
.rdp file. Enter
certificate settings: Choose a certificate to use in signing files or
do not use a certificate to sign files for this .rdp file.
Finish specifying package settings and click Next.
| 4. | Review
the settings and click Finish. The location where the .rdp file was
created will be opened automatically after the wizard closes.
|
Next, create a Windows Installer package by doing the following:
1. | Highlight the application you want to distribute and click Create Windows Installer Package.
| 2. | When the RemoteApp Wizard starts, providing information for creating a Windows Installer Package, click Next.
| 3. | Specify the package settings (which are the same as the .rdp file package settings) and click Next.
| 4. | Select where the shortcut icons will appear on client computers:
Check the box to take over client extensions. This way, users can open
local files with programs that are installed on the terminal server.
Click Next.
| 5. | Review
the settings and click Finish. The location where the Windows Installer
package was created is opened automatically after the wizard closes.
|
Monitor Terminal Services
There
are two places to monitor Terminal Services: the TS Gateway Manager and
the Terminal Services Manager. We will begin by looking at monitoring
in the TS Gateway Manager.
In
Terminal Services, expand the TS Gateway Manager and server. You can
then monitor active connections to the TS Gateway server. The
monitoring events include the following:
Connection ID User ID User Name Connected On Connected Duration Idle Time Target Computer Client IP Address Note Target Port
To
receive details about a TS Gateway connection, click the connection,
and the details appear below the summary pane. If necessary, from here,
you can disconnect one or all TS Gateway connections for a user.
Monitoring
connections in the Terminal Services Manager includes the ability to
monitor users, sessions, and processes. Expand Terminal Services and
find the Terminal Services Manager.
Expand
this console tree and highlight the server you want to manage. From the
action menu you can connect or disconnect to a terminal server. In the
console view (Figure 8.10), there are three tabs to monitor/manage:
Users:
In this tab, you can view information about all users connected to this
terminal server, including Server, User, Session, ID, State, Idle Time,
and Log on Time. From the Actions pane you can disconnect, reset, send
message, check the user’s status (see Figure 3), or log off the user.
Sessions:
In this tab, you can view information about all sessions connected to
this terminal server, including Server, Session, User, ID, State, Type
(identifies the Remote Desktop client version), Client Name, Idle Time,
Log on Time, and Comments. From the Actions pane you can disconnect,
reset, send message, or check the user’s status (see Figure 4).
Processes:
In this tab, you can view processes that are running on this terminal
server, and you can end processes running on this terminal server.
In
a large environment with RemoteApp programs being deployed both
internally and externally, it is important to monitor your terminal
servers. Disconnected sessions staying active on a terminal server can
affect performance for all users. The tools discussed in this section
can help keep your terminal server running efficiently.
|