<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Calibri;">Have you ever tried to use RDP to remotely manage a Windows 2003 Server only to discover that there were no available sessions?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Windows servers that are not Terminal Servers provide for up to two concurrent Remote Desktop sessions in addition to a session on the server console.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>If an administrator closes their Remote Desktop session without logging off, the session continues to run forever or until the server is rebooted, whichever comes first.</span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Calibri;">Here are a couple of things you can do if this happens to you:</span></p>
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<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in; line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Calibri;">1)</span><span style="font: 7pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">      </span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">log in to another server on the domain and use Terminal Services Manager to connect to the remote server and see the remote sessions that are running.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>You can log off the ones you don’t want and free up a session for yourself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in; line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Calibri;">2)</span><span style="font: 7pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">      </span></span></span><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Calibri;">Try starting the terminal service client with the command “mstsc /console”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>When you log in to the remote server you will be connected to the console session instead of a remote desktop session.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>If someone is logged on to the console you will be able to log them off and log in as yourself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Note: there are changes to the way this command works in Windows Server 2008: </span><a href="http://blogs.technet.com/peterfi/archive/2008/01/11/mstsc-console-is-now-mstsc-admin.aspx"><span style="font-size: small; color: #800080; font-family: Calibri;">http://blogs.technet.com/peterfi/archive/2008/01/11/mstsc-console-is-now-mstsc-admin.aspx</span></a></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in; line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Calibri;">3)</span><span style="font: 7pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">      </span></span></span><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Calibri;">Another potential solution would be to install a 3rd-party remote control application like UltraVNC or GenControl (thanks Gunnar).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>These applications provide for shared access to the console session, although I’ve always preferred the simplicity of just using RDP.</span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Calibri;">If your server is behind a firewall you will need to open TCP port 3389 for the RDP protocol to work.</span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Calibri;">Remote Desktop for Administration is disabled by default in Windows Server 2003.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Here’s how to enable it: </span><a href="http://support.microsoft.com/kb/814590"><span style="font-size: small; color: #800080; font-family: Calibri;">http://support.microsoft.com/kb/814590</span></a></p>
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