Cannot Remote Desktop into Windows 2016 server after adding many Windows users

remote desktopwindows-server-2016

Hoping you can help. I am running a brand new Windows 2016 server image on AWS EC2.

I run a bat file which adds about 2000 sites into IIS (using appcmd.exe) an equal amount of FTP virtual directories and a windows user (netuser.exe) for each one. Everything is works fine, however when I log off the server and try to reconnect with Remote Desktop, I get a blue screen now that says, "Please wait for local session manager", but the connection always time's out and eventually closes.

I have done this two times on two brand new instances with new images. In other words, I can replicate this issue with different hardware. The second instance was a much more powerful one, so it's not RAM related as with some of the articles I've read while trying to see what could be the problem.

The server is still responsive. I can see websites it runs and I am also in the middle of copying files to it from another server which I can is still working.

I have tried rebooting, and stopping and then starting my instance.

Does anyone have any ideas how I may gain access to the server again? Since this is AWS I can't call anyone :/

I have tried RDPing with /admin flag but that still does not help.

I have tried RDPing from another IP and Machine and still no love.

This server is not in an AD.

Best Answer

Well it would seem that there is actually no problem at all. Just that Remote Desktop was timing out before the Local Session Manager had completed.

To keep the connection open, I just kept clicking on the center of the window every 10 seconds or so (very high tech solution).

Related Solutions

Windows – Reconnect a Remote Desktop connection after rebooting the host

Quick and dirty Powershell script that I use daily:

<#
.Synopsis
Checks for and connects to RDP on a given server.
.Description
This script tests for an open port 3389 (standard Windows RDP), and if it finds it, passes the IP to mstsc.exe. Otherwise it retries indefinitely. Ctrl+C will halt the script.
.Parameter ip
IP or FQDN of a Windows machine to test. Only takes one argument.
.Parameter wait
Will assume that the machine is still up, wait until it stops responding (even once), and then try to connect. Good for machines that are about to reboot.
.Parameter Verbose
Will print a line each time it tries unsuccessfully.
.Example
rdpupyet.ps1 ITG-SRV-INF01 -Verbose
#>
[CmdletBinding()]
param($ip, [switch]$wait)

function Get-DownYet ($ip) {
    Write-Verbose "Waiting for $IP to shut down."
    do {
        try {$up = New-Object System.Net.Sockets.TCPClient -ArgumentList $ip,3389}
        catch {$up = $false}
    }
    until ($up -eq $false)
    Write-Verbose "$IP no longer responding."
}

Write-Verbose "Testing RDP Connection... Ctrl+C to quit."

if ($wait) {Get-DownYet $ip}
do {
    try {$success = New-Object System.Net.Sockets.TCPClient -ArgumentList $ip,3389}
    catch {Write-Verbose "RDP not active. Retrying."}
}
while (!$success)

mstsc.exe /v:$ip /admin

Doesn't time out, I'm afraid. But that could be easily added, along with a quick beep on successful response.
The bit I'm more happy with (taken from a currently unremembered source on the internet) is that this won't try and connect when the server comes responds to ping - instead, only when the standard RDP port is accessible.

Windows 8.1 remote desktop connection into multiple servers simultaneously

While you're remoted into another computer, minimize your current RDP session, then right click on the Remote Desktop icon on the taskbar and select Remote Desktop Connection. See my screenshot (it's Server 2012, but it's the same concept exactly).

enter image description here

Alternatively you can:

Minimize your current RD session and hit Start+R on your keyboard which brings up the Run box. Here you can type MSTSC and hit Enter which will bring up a new RDC window.
Right-click on the Start button (Windows button) and select Run, then type MSTSC and hit enter again.

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