Most tutorials online only cover part of the process, and some are completely useless. I have gone through many websites to compile a complete and detailed tutorial for future reference, as the steps can be quite complex.
1. Install Remote Desktop Session Host and Remote Desktop Licensing#
Click the Windows icon in the lower left corner#
Click to enter Server Manager#
Click "Add Roles and Features"#
Keep the default parameters, click "Next", and when the installation interface appears, select "Role-based or feature-based installation", then click "Next"#
Select "Select a server from the server pool", then click "Next"#
Select "Remote Desktop Services", then click "Next"#
On the "Features" page, keep the default parameters and click "Next" twice (the default parameters may vary, just keep them as default)#
In the "Select Role Services" interface, check "Remote Desktop Session Host" and "Remote Desktop Licensing", click "Add Features" in the pop-up window, then click "Next"#
Confirm the roles installed on the cloud server, then click "Install"#
After the installation is complete, restart the server as prompted - click "Close", then restart the computer#
2. Configure Multi-User Remote Desktop Connection#
Use the shortcut "win+R" to open the Run panel, enter "gpedit.msc" to open the local group policy#
In the local group policy, select "Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Remote Desktop Services > Remote Desktop Session Host > Connections". Set "Allow users to connect remotely using Remote Desktop Services", "Limit the number of connections (set according to specific numbers)", and "Restrict Remote Desktop Services users to a single remote desktop" as shown in the figure below.#
Right-click "Edit", set "Allow users to connect remotely using Remote Desktop Services" to Enabled#
Set "Limit the number of connections" to Enabled, and set according to specific numbers#
Set "Restrict Remote Desktop Services users to a single remote desktop" to Enabled or Disabled. Note the difference between Enabled and Disabled here; Enabled: different users connect using different account passwords, Disabled: different users connect using the same account password, but will be distinguished by different connections. Generally, select "Disabled" for convenience, without needing to set multiple users.#
Use the shortcut "win+R" to open the Run panel, enter "cmd" and press Enter, in the pop-up shell window, enter "gpupdate /force" to force the local group policy to execute.#
If configuring "multiple users logged in simultaneously", then after creating a new user, you need to add them to the Remote Desktop Users group. Here are the steps to create a new user and add the user to the Remote Desktop Users group.
Use the shortcut "win+R" to open the Run panel, enter "lusrmgr.msc" and press Enter to open Local Users and Groups to create a new user.#
Click "Users", right-click in the blank area and select New User#
Fill in the new user information and click "Create"#
Click "Groups", double-click to open the Remote Desktop Users group, and click "Add"#
In the Select Users interface, click "Advanced"#
In the new Select Users interface, click "Find Now", select the user who needs remote login from the search results below, and click "OK" to complete the addition, allowing remote login.#
Click "OK" to add the user to the Remote Desktop Users group.#
Many tutorials stop at this point, but many servers still default to only allowing two simultaneous connections after configuration, so we also need to activate the licensing server and configure the licensing.
3. Activate the Licensing Server#
Use the shortcut "win+R" to open the Run panel, enter "licmgr" and press Enter to open the RD Licensing Manager. It is already activated in my case, so there is a green check; if not activated, there will be a red cross ❌.#
Right-click on the red × hostname → Properties → fill in the required information as shown in the figure below, then right-click on the hostname → Activate Server → Connection Method: Web Browser → Next.#
Copy the Product ID and go to activate.microsoft.com to obtain two IDs: one is the License Server ID, and the other is the License ID, the latter depending on the former. From A to B to C, that is, first obtain the License Server ID through the Product ID, and then obtain the License ID through the License Server ID.#
The operation process on the activate.microsoft.com page:#
Copy the License Server ID and click "Yes", remember to copy it before clicking.#
Select Enterprise Agreement#
The quantity is the maximum number of remote connections you expect; I randomly filled in 500, with a maximum of 9999. The enterprise agreement number I filled in is 6565792, which I found online. The enterprise agreement numbers can be 6565792, 4954438, or 5296992. Choose either per user or per device access license.#
After completing the above steps, use the shortcut "win+R" to open the Run panel, enter "licmgr" and press Enter to open the RD Licensing Manager, and you will see a green check indicating it is activated.
Mission accomplished, fill in the License Key Package ID in the activation interface, first fill in the License Server ID, click Next, then click Next again, and a new interface similar to the previous one will appear asking you to enter the License ID.#
The last step, configure the licensing: use the shortcut "win+R" to open the Run panel, enter "lsdiag.msc" and press Enter to open the "RD Licensing Diagnoser", check that the current server is not licensed. Use the shortcut "win+R" to open the Run panel, enter "gpedit.msc" and press Enter → Computer Configuration—Administrative Templates—Windows Components—Remote Desktop Services—Remote Desktop Session Host—Licensing, find "Use the specified Remote Desktop license servers", set it to Enabled, and in "License servers to use", set the hostname of the current server, view it using the hostname command.#
The above two settings will show as Enabled 
Use the shortcut "win+R" to open the Run panel, enter "gpedit.msc" and press Enter → Computer Configuration—Administrative Templates—Windows Components—Remote Desktop Services—Remote Desktop Session Host—Licensing, find "Set Remote Desktop licensing mode", set it to Enabled, and in "Select the licensing mode for the RD Session Host server", choose "Per User", because the license obtained earlier is "per user".#
Run "lsdiag.msc" to reopen the RD Licensing Diagnoser to check, and a green check will indicate success.#
Finally, restart the server once to ensure the local group policy refreshes. All configurations are complete, and I must say, it is indeed quite troublesome.