How to Configure Terminal Services Session Directory Service

This article describes the different methods you can use to configure the Terminal Services Session Directory service.

The Terminal Services Session Directory service is a database that keeps track of sessions on terminal servers in a cluster and provides the information that is used at connection time to connect users to previously-existing sessions.

The Session Directory server can be any Windows Server 2003-based computer that is visible on the network and that is running the Terminal Services Session Directory service. As a best practice, the Session Directory server should be a highly available network server that is not a terminal server.

There are two methods you can use to configure Session Directory settings:

Use Group Policies (Best Practice)

1. Click Start, click Run, type gpedit.msc, and then press ENTER.
2. Double-click the following items, and then enable the Session Directory Active policy:
   • Computer Configuration
   • Administrative Templates
   • Windows Components
   • Terminal Services
   • Session Directory
3. Enable the Session Directory Server policy, and then type the name of the server where the Terminal Services Session directory service is running in Session Directory Server.
4. Enable the Session Directory Cluster Name policy, and then type the name of the cluster to which the Terminal Server belongs in Session Directory Cluster Name.

NOTE: Use this method to configure the local Group Policy Object. To change a policy for a domain or an Organizational Unit, you must log on to the first domain controller as an administrator. Then, you must invoke the Group Policy through the Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in. For information about how to apply a Group Policy to groups of users or computers, see Configuring Terminal Services with Group Policies. Note that a Group Policy overrides a configuration that is set with the Terminal Services Configuration tool.

Use the Terminal Services Configuration Tool

1. Click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Terminal Services Configuration.
2. In the console tree, click Server Settings.
3. In the Details pane, right-click Session Directory, and then click Properties.
4. Click to select the Join session directory check box.
5. In the Cluster name box, type the name of the terminal server cluster for this terminal server.
6. In the Session directory server name box, type the DNS name or IP address of the domain server where the Terminal Services Session Directory service is running. Note that the server name must be a valid server name, and you cannot leave this box empty. Also, the server name cannot be localhost or 127.0.0.1.