RD Connection Broker
Applies To: Windows Server 2008 R2
Policy settings in this node control configuration of a Remote Desktop Session Host server that is a member of a load-balanced Remote Desktop Session Host server farm.
Note
RD Connection Broker was formerly called TS Session Broker.
The full path of this node in the Group Policy Management Console is Computer Configuration\Policies\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Remote Desktop Services\Remote Desktop Session Host\RD Connection Broker.
Note
If you are using the Local Group Policy Editor, Policies is not part of the node path.
Available policy settings
| Name | Explanation | Requirements | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Join RD Connection Broker |
This policy setting allows you to specify whether the RD Session Host server should join a farm in RD Connection Broker. RD Connection Broker tracks user sessions and allows a user to reconnect to their existing session in a load-balanced RD Session Host server farm. To participate in RD Connection Broker, the Remote Desktop Session Host role service must be installed on the server. If the policy setting is enabled, the RD Session Host server joins the farm that is specified in the Configure RD Connection Broker Farm Name setting. The farm exists on the RD Connection Broker server that is specified in the Configure RD Connection Broker Server name policy setting. If you disable this policy setting, the server does not join a farm in RD Connection Broker, and user session tracking is not performed. If the setting is disabled, you cannot use either the Remote Desktop Session Host Configuration tool or the Terminal Services WMI provider to join the server to RD Connection Broker. If the policy setting is not configured, the setting is not specified at the Group Policy level. In this case, you can configure the server to join RD Connection Broker by using the Remote Desktop Session Host Configuration tool or the Terminal Services WMI provider. Notes:
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At least Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition |
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Configure RD Connection Broker farm name |
This policy setting allows you to specify the name of a farm to join in RD Connection Broker. RD Connection Broker uses the farm name to determine which RD Session Host servers are in the same RD Session Host server farm. Therefore, you must use the same farm name for all RD Session Host servers in the same load-balanced farm. The farm name does not have to correspond to a name in Active Directory Domain Services. If you specify a new farm name, a new farm is created in RD Connection Broker. If you specify an existing farm name, the server joins that farm in RD Connection Broker. If you enable this policy setting, you must specify the name of a farm in RD Connection Broker. If you disable or do not configure this policy setting, the farm name is not specified by Group Policy. In this case, you can adjust the farm name by using the Remote Desktop Session Host Configuration tool or the Terminal Services WMI provider.
This setting is not effective unless both the Join RD Connection Broker and the Configure RD Connection Broker server name settings are enabled and configured by using Group Policy, the Remote Desktop Session Host Configuration tool, or the Terminal Services WMI provider. |
At least Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition |
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Use IP Address Redirection |
This policy setting allows you to specify the redirection method to use when a client device reconnects to an existing Remote Desktop Services session in a load-balanced RD Session Host server farm. This setting applies to an RD Session Host server that is configured to use RD Connection Broker; not to the RD Connection Broker server. If you enable this policy setting, a Remote Desktop Services client queries RD Connection Broker and is redirected to their existing session by using the IP address of the RD Session Host server where their session exists. To use this redirection method, client computers must be able to connect directly by IP address to RD Session Host servers in the farm. If you disable this policy setting, the IP address of the RD Session Host server is not sent to the client. Instead, the IP address is embedded in a token. When a client reconnects to the load balancer, the routing token is used to redirect the client to their existing session on the correct RD Session Host server in the farm. Only disable this setting when your network load-balancing solution supports the use of RD Connection Broker routing tokens and you do not want clients to directly connect by IP address to RD Session Host servers in the load-balanced farm. If you do not configure this policy setting, the Use IP address redirection setting in the Remote Desktop Session Host Configuration tool is used. By default, this setting in the Remote Desktop Session Host Configuration tool is enabled. Note For Windows Server 2008, this policy setting is supported on at least Windows Server 2008 Standard.
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At least Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition |
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Configure RD Connection Broker server name |
This policy setting allows you to specify the RD Connection Broker server that the RD Session Host server uses to track and redirect user sessions for a load-balanced RD Session Host server farm. The specified server must be running the Remote Desktop Connection Broker service. All RD Session Host servers in a load-balanced farm should use the same RD Connection Broker server. If you enable this policy setting, you must specify the RD Connection Broker server, using either its host name, IP address, or fully qualified domain name. If you specify a name or IP address for the RD Connection Broker server that is not valid, an error message is logged in Event Viewer on the RD Session Host server. If you disable or do not configure this policy setting, you can adjust the RD Connection Broker server name or IP address by using the Remote Desktop Session Host Configuration tool or the Terminal Services WMI provider. Note For Windows Server 2008, this policy setting is supported on at least Windows Server 2008 Standard.
This policy setting is not effective unless the Join RD Connection Broker policy setting is enabled or the RD Session Host server is configured to join RD Connection Broker by using the Remote Desktop Session Host Configuration tool or the Terminal Services WMI provider. To be an active member of an RD Connection Broker-enabled RD Session Host server farm, the computer account for each RD Session Host server in the farm must be a member of the Session Directory Computers local group on the RD Connection Broker server. |
At least Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition |
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Use RD Connection Broker load balancing |
This policy setting allows you to specify whether to use the RD Connection Broker load balancing feature to balance the load between servers in an RD Session Host server farm. If you enable this policy setting, RD Connection Broker redirects users who do not have an existing session to the RD Session Host server in the farm with the fewest sessions. Redirection behavior for users with existing sessions is not affected. If the server is configured to use RD Connection Broker, users who have an existing session are redirected to the RD Session Host server where their session exists. If you disable this policy setting, users who do not have an existing session log on to the first RD Session Host server to which they connect. If you do not configure this policy setting, you can configure the RD Session Host server to participate in RD Connection Broker load balancing by using the Remote Desktop Session Host Configuration tool or the Terminal Services WMI provider. Note If you enable this policy setting, you must also enable the Join RD Connection Broker, the Configure RD Connection Broker farm name, and the Configure RD Connection Broker server name policy settings.
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At least Windows Server 2008 |
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