Have you installed TS Web Access on Windows Server 2008 and been unexcited about the default screen layout? It is possible to do some minimal customization of the screen, if you're willing to hack around a bit with the supplied code from Microsoft.

While doing some research, I poked around today with the text at the top of the TS Web Access screen. This text normally looks like this:

But what I really wanted was something customized. Something that looks like this:

Well, it turns out that these elements of this web page are actually text-based. This makes it very easy to change the text by altering the web site's default.aspx file located on the TS Web Access server at C:\Windows\web\ts\en-US. Open the file and search for the following code snippet:

string L_WindowsServer2008_Text = "Windows Server^® 2008"; string L_TSWebAccess_Text = "TS Web Access";

To change the text, simply alter the text that I've italicized above. Fwa-BAM! Instant customzied TS Web Access web site.

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Posted by Greg Shields | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Looks like Microsoft listened. The RDC v6.1 is required for clients to work with TS Web Access. Originally, Microsoft only made this update available through the XP SP3 upgrade. But enough people balked that they announced a standalone download back on June 25th.

From the Terminal Services Team Blog:

Hello everyone,

we heard a lot of feedback from you about the need for the Remote Desktop Connection client 6.1 to be made available as a standalone install for Windows XP SP2 to ease deployments of Windows 2008 Terminal Services.

In response to this feedback, we have released the Remote Desktop Connection client (RDC 6.1) for Windows XP SP2 on x86 platforms.

Right on, guys! Thanks for listening and making it happen!

Get your copy of the RDC v6.1 here.

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Posted by Greg Shields | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Over at BrianMadden.com, Michael Thomason presents a video where he explains some of the tricks he's used to successfully reduce his login times on Terminal Servers to a mere 5-7 seconds. The video includes tricks relating to:

• Detailed overview of the user login process.
• Various system settings which dramatically decrease login time.
• How to enable User Environment Debugging to trace user login experience to determine bottlenecks.
• Streamline GPO policy processing time.
• Proper antivirus software configuration and other various filter driver tweaks.
• Various redirector and workstation service settings which enhance performance.
• Understanding of how various disk/profile layouts affect login time.
• How to reduce user profile size.
• Demonstrate efficient methods for creating "roaming" user profiles/settings.
• Recommended methods and techniques for folder redirection including Favorites, My Documents, IE history, cookies, and others.
• Monitoring/Reporting on user login/application experience.

The video is over 70 minutes in length and was originally presented at the BriForum last year in Amsterdam. Check it out at this location: http://www.brianmadden.com/blog/GabeKnuth/BriForum-Video---Decreasing-Windows-Login-Time

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Posted by Greg Shields | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I spend a lot of time remoting into my primary workstation through Terminal Services. This way while I'm on the road I can view and interact with that critical machine as if I was sitting in front of it.

But there's always been a problem with using Terminal Services to do this. I have a double monitor configuration on that machine, and the Remote Desktop Client (even with the /span switch) never seems to figure out how to let me scroll between the two monitors.

Because of this problem, when I have windows running on the secondary monitor, I can't see them in my Terminal Services session. What I recently rediscovered to fix this problem is the "Move" command found by right-clicking any program link in the Start Menu. Yet using "Move" has a quirk too...

If you right-click the program link and click Move, the cursor changes to the Move cursor. Within Terminal Services, moving around that cursor doesn't properly move the window. To make Move work properly first right-click the program link, then click "Move", then click one of the arrow keys on your keyboard. This will force the application window to snap to the cursor. Move the mouse to the new position and left-click to reposition the window. You're back in business.

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Posted by Greg Shields | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Its a 14-page document that Brian Madden says was developed in concert between Citrix and Microsoft teams, but in reading it I wonder about its real intent. Click here to download the document and read it for yourself.

What gets me about these sorts of feature comparisons is that nowhere do you see elements where Terminal Services actually bests Presentation Server. Only those where the opposite holds true. What you'll also see in the document are numerous references to features that only exist in the Citrix's Enterprise or Platinum versions. What isn't mentioned is the cost associated with those versions. Terminal Services clocks in at a TSCAL per user, but Citrix adds to that another cost per concurrent user. Last I checked, Platinum Edition listed at around $600/CCU.

That's a lot of scratch. The big question is: Is it worth it?

I'd be curious to hear your own analysis. Do you want/need the extra features shown in this document? What is the size of your deployment? Are the features worth the cost?

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Posted by Greg Shields | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

One of the major irritations with Microsoft's release of Terminal Services in Server 2008 is the lack of client support. Specifically, without the RDP Client version 6.1, tools like TS Web Access will not function. But at this time Microsoft is only releasing RDP v6.1 as a component of Vista SP1 or XP SP3. There currently is no direct installer.

This is a problem for many environments, as most have a much harder time getting a Service Pack updated than a simple RDC client update.

Finally, someone in the community has figured out how to extract this update. A reader here at the community just posted a great comment. He reports a location where you can get just the RDC update without installing the entire Service Pack. Hoo-ray!

Remember that an update like this won't be fully supported, but it will get you started with your Terminal Services update in Server 2008. Get your copy of the installer here: http://memphistech.net/articles/webapp.htm.

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Posted by Greg Shields | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I saw this post not long ago and figured it could use a little added attention. When we don't get to actually meet the people at Microsoft who make the product we administrate all day, sometimes its hard to put a personality on that product.

That being said, here are four links to videos with the team as they talk about the new features and functionality you'll be seeing soon in Server 2008 Terminal Services.

• http://edge.technet.com/Media/395/ - Tad talks about what's new with TS in Win2008
• http://edge.technet.com/Media/405/ - Tad explains the TS Gateway and RemoteApp publishing
• http://edge.technet.com/Media/407/ - Sriram whiteboards the multi-user kernel
• http://edge.technet.com/Media/408/ - Niraj expands on TS Gateway, and Kevin talks about TS Web Access and publishing

Links compliments the Terminal Services Team Blog.

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Posted by Greg Shields | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Dmitry discusses how PowerShell can be used to enumerate and modify some common Terminal Server configurations. This works with both the Server 2003 and Server 2008 versions of Terminal Services. He writes...

 
Continue reading Enumerating and Modifying Terminal Server Attributes with PowerShell...

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Posted by Greg Shields | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

In a marked effort to align their flagship product Presentation Server (formerly MetaFrame) under their new XenSource-based banner, Citrix announced today the renaming of Presentation Server to Citrix XenApp.

A good idea? In my opinion, not so much.

What we see here is yet another name change for what we've come to know as the same old product. I remember the days when the first name change from MetaFrame to Presentation Server caused no end of grief on the part of administrators simply trying to figure out the specifics of the Citrix product stable. This new name change, in my opinion, will further that confusion on the part of potential customers and administrators.

The good part about this name change is that the structure of the levels -- Platinum, Enterprise, Standard, etc -- remains relatively the same in comparison with those we're used to seeing in Presentation 4.5.

What are your thoughts? Was this a good idea or a spin on an old one?

Information about the press release can be found here: http://virtualizationreview.com/news/article.aspx?editorialsid=9530

A comparison of the editions is found at: http://citrix.com/English/ps2/products/feature.asp?contentID=683149

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Posted by Greg Shields | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)