SOLVED: 1 Hour to Install & Configure a Single Server Remote Desktop Services on Server 2012

This is the first of three articles explaining how to run a simple Server 2012 Remote Desktop Services environment.  This is ideal for companies with less than (say) 20 concurrent users if you source good hardware.

BACKGROUND:

It used to be that all you need to do to get a Terminal Services server running was:

1. Install Server 2000 / 2003 / 2008
2. Add in Terminal Services
3. Add in your Terminal Services licensing
4. Install your applications
5. Lock down the Terminal Server / RDS using Group Policy

Now, those days are gonzo!  But don’t dispair although it is much more complex with Session Brokers, RD Gateways, the steps make sense and you can do sooooo much more than you could before.

I blew 4 hours over two days trying to get just the core RDS/Terminal Services install complete before realizing that I had misunderstood the new process.  With this process you should be up and operational within 1 hour.

This article will provide as fast an install RDS solution as I can create with references to other materials where I think you might want them.  So, lets get started.

PREFACE – VMs:

I hate running anything on physical boxes, other than HyperV hosts so in my case, I have installed Server 2012 on a physical server, then added the Hyper-V roll and then created a new VM which is where we will start from.

Also you need to understand that the fundamental difference between REMOTE DESKTOP SESSION HOSTs and REMOTE DESKTOP VIRTUALIZATION HOSTs.  Session Hosts are the old school Terminal Sessions we all love. Destop Virtulization Hosts, host VM’s, like entire Windows 7 desktops.  See my short explaination on this if you are confused.  We want a SESSION HOST.

Note that I confirmed with Microsoft Partner Support (yes, I am a partner) that it is supported and recommended to use Dynamic Disk and Dynamic Memory if this is a low user RDS impelmentation.  I define low use as less than 10 concurrent users running standard office apps, like Word and Publisher.

INSTALL AND CONFIGURE A SERVER 2012 REMOTE DESKTOP SERVICES, SERVER:

1. As per the preface, install SERVER 2012 in a Virtual Machine (in my case Hyper-V), complete any core configuration like giving it a static IP (if you choose), and patch it via windows update.
2. In SERVER MANAGER, click MANAGE, ADD ROLES AND FEATURES
3. On INSTALLATION TYPE, select REMOTE DESKTOP SERVICES INSTALLATION
4. On DEPLOYMENT TYPE, select QUICK START
5. On DEPLOYMENT SCENARIO, select SESSION-BASED DESKTOP DEPLOYMENT
6. On SERVER SELECTION, just click NEXT
7. Complete the wizard enjoy the reboot
8. After the reboot WAIT.  A minute or two after logon the COMPLETION progress window will appear and it will take several more minutes to finish.
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   Congratulations.  You should now have a minimally functional, old school Terminal Services, RDS install.  Lets do some basic configuration.
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9. Launch your browser from any domain PC and type HTTPS://<<SERVER-HOST-NAME>\RDWeb (note the “S”)
10. Click CONTINUE TO THIS WEBSITE (because you don’t have a public certificate installed yet)
11. Login on the WORK RESOURCES page.
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    Congratulations, you should see a few basic apps like the Calculator and Paint.  Go ahead and try them.  You will know you are running them from the RDS Server because they have the Fugly blue Windows Server 2012 frame… soooooo ugly.
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    Now lets add some apps like TASKMANAGER
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12. In SERVER MANAGER, click REMOTE DESKTOP SERVICES
13. Click QUICKSESSIONCOLLECTION from the menu on the left
14. In REMOTEAPP PROGRAMS, click the TASKS drop down box (in the top right corner) and select PUBLISH REMOTEAPP PROGRAMS
15. Select TASK MANAGER from the list and click NEXT then PUBLISH then CLOSE
16. In REMOTEAPP PROGRAMS, click the TASKS drop down box (in the top right corner) and select PUBLISH REMOTEAPP PROGRAMS
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    Congratulations, you just published an app that will appear on your RDWEB site
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    Now lets add a program that is NOT already in the list and requires some addition settings.  In this case we will add INTERNET EXPLORER and set it to go to a specific page when launched.
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17. In REMOTEAPP PROGRAMS, click the TASKS drop down box (in the top right corner) and select PUBLISH REMOTEAPP PROGRAMS, then click the ADD button at the bottom
18. type \\<SERVER HOSTNAME>\c$\program files\internet explorer\iexplore.exe into the FILE NAME FIELD, then click NEXT, PUBLISH and CLOSE
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    I found this quite confusing at first but you have to use a full UNC path to the EXE, and yes standard, restricted, non-admin users will be able to launch the app.
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19. Now RIGHT CLICK on IEXPLORE.EXE and select EDIT PROPERTIES
20. De-expand/close GENERAL, then expand PARAMETERS, select ALWAYS USE THE FOLLOWING and enter http://www.URTech.ca, then click OK
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    Note that you could have changed the icon and / or restricted access to specific users in this same PROPERTIES window.
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21. Verify it worked by surfing  to your HTTPS://<<SERVER-HOST-NAME>\RDWeb site.  If you already had it open, you will need to refresh the page.
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    Now lets fix the most common issue with Remote Desktop Servers / Terminal Servers, which is what to do with user data for things like the Destktop, My Documents, profile data and user registry settings.
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    Microsoft has introduced a wonderful new feature that solves these issues WITHOUT the hassel and problems of Roaming Profiles or Folder Redirection.  This new feature is called USER PROFILE DISKS and, put simply, they are (often tiny) user specific VHD’s that contain only the users information.  USER PROFILE DISKS can be accessed from any other REMOTE DESKTOP SERVICES server you have on the domain, should you choose later on to add more servers and turn our tidy single server deployment into a farm… AWESOME!
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22. Go to COMPUTER on the server (i.e. not in SERVER MANAGER) and find a location with some spare disk space and create a folder called something like C:\UserProfileDisks .  Then share that folder.  I hate seeing shares so I made mine hidden by adding a $ and that works without problem.
23. Go back to your QUICKSESSIONCOLLECTION PROPERTIES, click on the TASKS drop down in the top right of the PROPERTIES window.
24. Expand USER PROFILE DISKS, click ENABLE USER PROFILE DISKS and type in the the UNC path to your new share in my case \\<SERVER NAME>\UserProfileDisks$, and click OK
25. You can verify your settings again via the RDWeb site and then notice that after you connect for the first time, that there is a shiny new VHDX file in your share (in my case C:\UserProfileDisks$)
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    User profile disks are MUCH faster than roaming profiles, highly unlikely to get corrupted, migratable in the future.

This is now an eligant, fast service