laurentio
7th November 2008, 03:06 PM
Error message:
The terminal server has exceeded the maximum number of allowed connections. The system cannot log you on (1B8E). Please try again or consult your system administrator.
Description:
The user is attempting to log on to a Terminal Server in Remote Administration mode, but the server has reached its connection limit. Terminal Servers in Remote Administration mode allow a maximum of 2 concurrent sessions, active or disconnected.
Solution:
You cannot adjust the number. You'll have to purchase more licenses. I believe the minimum number for purchase is 5.
Solution2:
There is a little known feature that was introduced into the RDC 5 protocol (Windows 2003) that helps with these "too many connections" situations. There is an option that allows you to connect to the "console" from remote, which essentially gives you a 3rd RDC connection. If no one is logged into the console, it will just let you log in. If someone is logged in already and you have sufficient access (administrator) then they will be logged out and you can log in.
I would suggest only using this feature when your other two RDC connections are in use and you need to log one of them out. If you get in the habit of using the console connection then you'll just end up with 3 stuck RDC connections instead of 2 and with no way to log them out. You should still modify the timeout settings so that idle/disconnected sessions close out in a reasonable amount of time.
To access the console session, do this:
start | run | mstsc -v:0.0.0.0 /f -console
(replace the 0.0.0.0 with your server's IP address)
Or if you're connecting from a Linux system:
# rdesktop -0 1.2.3.4
You need the latest version of rdesktop which supports the RDC protocol 5.
If you have access to another server, there is another good solution that it can be used. You will also need to make sure that you are logged onto that server with an administrative account. The easiest way to do that is just map a drive (you don't have to use a drive letter unless you choose to)
net use /user:[username] \\servername\share
Here's a command line hack that you can use to figure out what sessions are connected to the server. Note that you could substitute the IP address for the server name.
query session /server:servername
Sample output:
http://www.howtogeek.com/wp-content/uploads/CommandLineHackforTerminalServerHasExcee_CDC6/image03.png
Now we know that the session ID of the offending session is 2. We can use that in the next step, which is using the reset command to log off that user.
reset session [ID] /server:servername
Sample:
http://www.howtogeek.com/wp-content/uploads/CommandLineHackforTerminalServerHasExcee_CDC6/image04.png
This command won't display any output, but when we run the query command again, we should see that the session has now been disconnected:
http://www.howtogeek.com/wp-content/uploads/CommandLineHackforTerminalServerHasExcee_CDC6/image05.png
But, in order to prevent the lot just follow the next link:
http://support.bicestercomputers.co.uk/showthread.php?p=581#post581
The terminal server has exceeded the maximum number of allowed connections. The system cannot log you on (1B8E). Please try again or consult your system administrator.
Description:
The user is attempting to log on to a Terminal Server in Remote Administration mode, but the server has reached its connection limit. Terminal Servers in Remote Administration mode allow a maximum of 2 concurrent sessions, active or disconnected.
Solution:
You cannot adjust the number. You'll have to purchase more licenses. I believe the minimum number for purchase is 5.
Solution2:
There is a little known feature that was introduced into the RDC 5 protocol (Windows 2003) that helps with these "too many connections" situations. There is an option that allows you to connect to the "console" from remote, which essentially gives you a 3rd RDC connection. If no one is logged into the console, it will just let you log in. If someone is logged in already and you have sufficient access (administrator) then they will be logged out and you can log in.
I would suggest only using this feature when your other two RDC connections are in use and you need to log one of them out. If you get in the habit of using the console connection then you'll just end up with 3 stuck RDC connections instead of 2 and with no way to log them out. You should still modify the timeout settings so that idle/disconnected sessions close out in a reasonable amount of time.
To access the console session, do this:
start | run | mstsc -v:0.0.0.0 /f -console
(replace the 0.0.0.0 with your server's IP address)
Or if you're connecting from a Linux system:
# rdesktop -0 1.2.3.4
You need the latest version of rdesktop which supports the RDC protocol 5.
If you have access to another server, there is another good solution that it can be used. You will also need to make sure that you are logged onto that server with an administrative account. The easiest way to do that is just map a drive (you don't have to use a drive letter unless you choose to)
net use /user:[username] \\servername\share
Here's a command line hack that you can use to figure out what sessions are connected to the server. Note that you could substitute the IP address for the server name.
query session /server:servername
Sample output:
http://www.howtogeek.com/wp-content/uploads/CommandLineHackforTerminalServerHasExcee_CDC6/image03.png
Now we know that the session ID of the offending session is 2. We can use that in the next step, which is using the reset command to log off that user.
reset session [ID] /server:servername
Sample:
http://www.howtogeek.com/wp-content/uploads/CommandLineHackforTerminalServerHasExcee_CDC6/image04.png
This command won't display any output, but when we run the query command again, we should see that the session has now been disconnected:
http://www.howtogeek.com/wp-content/uploads/CommandLineHackforTerminalServerHasExcee_CDC6/image05.png
But, in order to prevent the lot just follow the next link:
http://support.bicestercomputers.co.uk/showthread.php?p=581#post581