License server is not available on Windows Server 2016

“I have set up a Windows Server 2016. Installed the 10 per User CALS after following all of the requirements and activating the core license. When I run the RD license Diagnoser, however, I keep getting the following error:

License server XXX is not available. This could be caused by network connectivity problems, the Remote Desktop Licensing service is stopped on the license server, or RD Licensing is no longer installed on the computer.

What causes this problem and how can I fix this?”

How to fix “License server is not available” on Windows Server 

If you’re facing this problem when using Remote Desktop on Windows Server computers, here we offer you four methods to fix Remote Desktop “License server is not available” on Windows Server 2022, 2019, and 2016.

Method 1. Change the licensing server name in Group Policy

Step 1. Press Win + R to open the run dialog box, and type in “gpedit.msc” to open the Local Group Policy Editor.

Step 2. Navigate to: Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Remote Desktop Services > Remote Desktop Session Host > Licensing. Double-click Licensing.

Step 3. Find Use the specified Remote Desktop license servers and double-click to open it.

Step 4. Switch Not configured to Enabled, enter the corresponding server name in the License servers to use, and click OK to complete the configuration.

Step 5. Back to the Licensing setting list, double-click Set the Remote Desktop licensing mode.

Step 6. Select Enabled. Then under Specify the licensing mode for the Remote Desktop Session Host server, select Per Device or Per User, as appropriate for your deployment.

Step 7. Re-run the RD Licensing Diagnoser. The problem should be gone.

Method 2. Install RDS client access licenses on the Remote Desktop license server

Step 1. Click Start, then find Server Manager.

Step 2. On the Dashboard, click Remote Desktop Services.

Step 3. Click Servers, find and right-click the server that is not available, then choose RD Licensing Manager.

Step 4. Right-click the server and select Install Licenses.

Step 5. Choose the type of license you purchased.

Step 6. Here we’ll take License Pack (Retail Purchase) as our License program.

Step 7. Enter the License key, click Add, and then Next.

Step 8. After the License is successfully installed click Finish.

Step 9. Open RD Licensing Manager again and select Review Configuration.

Step 10. Click Add to Group first and then Continue.

Step 11. Enter the Domain user name and password and click OK.

Step 12. Then the license server will be added to the Terminal Server License Servers group in Active Directory.

Step 13. Refresh the RD License Manager.

Step 14. But if you check the RD Licensing Diagnoser, you might still see some errors like the below image. The next thing you need to do is to follow the same steps in Method 1 to edit those two specific group policies.

Step 15. Re-run the RD Licensing Diagnoser. The problem should be gone.

Method 3. Change the licensing server name on a non-standalone RD Licensing Server

Step 1. Open Server Manager and then click Remote Desktop Services. Click Overview first, and then click TASKS. Choose Edit Deployment Properties.

Step 2. Go to the RD Licensing tab, choose either Per User or Per Device, as appropriate for your deployment. Specify a license server, and then click Add.

Step 3. Re-run the RD Licensing Diagnoser. The problem should be gone.

Method 4. Change permissions on the RDS GracePeriod key and delete the key

Step 1. Press Win + R to open the run dialog box, and type in “gpedit.msc” and press Enter.

Step 2. Navigate to : HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SYSTEM > CurrentControlSet > Control > Terminal Server > RCM > GracePeriod. Right-click it and then choose Permissions.

Step 3. Click Advanced.

Step 4. Click Change to choose whichever user/group that you want to use to delete the registry key.

Step 5. Tick the two options. Then click OK.

Step 6. Then you can grant your user full control over the key.

Step 7. Then right-click the value in the GracePeriod key and Delete it.

Step 8. Reboot your server.

Try a free & easy alternative to Remote Desktop for Windows Server 2016, 2019, 2022

One more option we provide you here is to use the free and easy third-party remote desktop software AnyViewer, which supports multiple Windows versions, including Windows Server 2016. It is much easier to use compared with Remote Desktop. Let’s see how to use it.

 Step 1. Download, install, and launch AnyViewer on both computers.

Step 2. Go to Log in, and then click Sign up. (If you already have signed up on its official website, you can log in directly.)

Step 3. Fill in the signup information.

Step 4. Then you can see you successfully logged in to AnyViewer. Your device will automatically be assigned to the account you've logged in to.

Step 5. Log in to the same AnyViewer account on the two devices, then click One-click control to achieve unattended remote access.

Conclusion

This post mainly introduces four methods to fix Remote Desktop “License server is not available” on Windows Server 2016. Besides, we also provide you with another option. You can use the free and easy third-party remote desktop software AnyViewer, which is much easier to use than Remote Desktop.