PowerEdge: Remote Desktop License popup warning sessions are disconnected

Summary: When users connect to a Remote Desktop session host, they receive a popup indicating that their session will be disconnected in 60 minutes.

This article applies to This article does not apply to This article is not tied to any specific product. Not all product versions are identified in this article.
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Symptoms

The following popup appears shortly after a user establishes a connection to a Remote Desktop session host:


Popup window showing 60-minute Remote Desktop session disconnection warning 
Figure 1: A popup window indicating that a Remote Desktop session will be disconnected in 60 minutes.

Users' Remote Desktop sessions are indeed disconnected after 60 minutes.

Cause

There are several possible causes for this issue, with these two being the most common:
  • The Remote Desktop Session Host server uses Per User licensing and is in a workgroup.
  • The Remote Desktop Session Host server uses Per User licensing and is in a domain, but affected users are logging into local accounts on the server rather than domain accounts.

Resolution

Cause 1: The Remote Desktop Session Host server uses. Per User licensing, and is in a workgroup.
As stated by Microsoft hereThis hyperlink is taking you to a website outside of Dell Technologies. and in other locations, Per User licensing does not function properly in a workgroup. In order to use Per User licensing, an Active Directory (AD) domain is required. If a domain is already present in the environment, the session host should be made a domain member, after which Per User licensing functions properly.

If there is no AD domain present in the environment, there are two options for resolving the issue:

  1. This is the simplest option by far. Convert the installed Per User client access licenses (CALs) to Per Device CALs by following the steps in How to Convert Windows Remote Desktop CALs from Per User to Per Device or Vice Versa. As stated in that article, it is also necessary to change the licensing mode of the deployment from Per User to Per Device.
  2. Create an AD domain by promoting a server in the environment (preferably not the session host) to a domain controller, then join the session host to the domain. This is not a trivial process, and the domain requires ongoing administration.
     

Cause 2: The session host server uses. Per User licensing, and is in a domain, but affected users log in to local server accounts rather than domain accounts.

Whether this is occurring can be confirmed by running the whoami command from a command prompt within a user's Remote Desktop session. The output is in domain\username format. If the domain portion of the output is equal to the name of the session host server, the user is logged into a local account.

Resolving Cause 2 is simple: Ensure that users have accounts in the AD domain and log in to those accounts when connecting to the Remote Desktop session host. When prompted for credentials, specifying the username in domain\user format accomplishes this.

Affected Products

Microsoft Windows Server 2016, Microsoft Windows Server 2019, Microsoft Windows Server 2022, Microsoft Windows Server 2025, OEMR R440, OEMR R450, OEMR R540, OEMR R550, OEMR R5500, OEMR R640, OEMR XL R640, OEMR R6415, OEMR R650, OEMR R650xs , OEMR R6515, OEMR R6525, OEMR R660, OEMR R660xs, OEMR R6615, OEMR R6625, OEMR R740, OEMR R740xd, OEMR R740xd2, OEMR R7415, OEMR R7425, OEMR R750, OEMR R750xa, OEMR R750xs, OEMR R7515, OEMR R7525, OEMR R760, OEMR R760xa, OEMR R760XD2, OEMR R760xs, OEMR R7615, OEMR R7625, OEMR R840, OEMR R860, OEMR R940, OEMR R940xa, OEMR XR4510c, OEMR XR4520c, OEMR XR5610, OEMR XR8610t, OEMR XR8620t, PowerEdge R440, PowerEdge R450, PowerEdge R540, PowerEdge R550, PowerEdge R640, PowerEdge R6415, PowerEdge R650, PowerEdge R650xs, PowerEdge R6515, PowerEdge R6525, PowerEdge R660, PowerEdge R660xs, PowerEdge R6615, PowerEdge R6625, PowerEdge R740, PowerEdge R740XD, PowerEdge R740XD2, PowerEdge R7415, PowerEdge R7425, PowerEdge R750, PowerEdge R750XA, PowerEdge R750xs, PowerEdge R7515, PowerEdge R7525, PowerEdge R760, PowerEdge R760XA, PowerEdge R760xd2, PowerEdge R760xs, PowerEdge R7615, PowerEdge R7625, PowerEdge R840, PowerEdge R860, PowerEdge R940, PowerEdge R940xa, PowerEdge XR4510c, PowerEdge XR4520c, PowerEdge XR5610, PowerEdge XR8610t, PowerEdge XR8620t ...
Article Properties
Article Number: 000200873
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 16 July 2025
Version:  5
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