Client Does Not Automatically Reconnect to Session Directory-Managed Network Load Balancing Cluster

A Windows Terminal Services client computer that is reconnecting back to a Session Directory-managed Network Load Balancing cluster may not automatically reconnect to the original open session if the following conditions are true:

• The original connection session is the first time ever that the client has logged on to the cluster.
• When the client is trying to reconnect to the cluster, it first contacts a server other than the server that it originally had the session with.

The client displays a logon dialog box instead of automatically reconnecting. After you type the appropriate credentials, the client is redirected to the open session.

This problem occurs because the Session Directory is not updated completely with the hosting server's information when the client connects to the load balanced cluster the very first time. If the client is disconnected because of network problems, when the client tries to automatically reconnect, the Session Directory passes the virtual cluster name instead of the Internet Protocol (IP) address for the client to use to connect. Therefore, the client does not have the information that it must have to automatically connect to the correct server.

If the client rejoins the same server to which it had the original session, it automatically reconnects to the disconnected session. If the client connects to any of the other servers in the farm, it is not redirected back to the original server. Instead, the server starts its own session and a logon dialog box appears on the client. After you type the appropriate credentials, the client is redirected back to the original session.

On later connections, the appropriate information is updated in the Session Directory database. As a result, this problem only occurs when you log on for the first time. If the client is disconnected from a session and rejoined to another server, the Session Directory can pass the full information for the client to transfer back to the original session. At this point, the client automatically connects to the session.

To resolve this problem, reconnect back to the cluster. When you log on the next time, this problem does not occur and the automatic reconnection functionality works as expected.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.