I find it difficult to discuss M$ licensing and business practice
without wanting to scream but, as far as I've been able to work out
(after _many_ hours of research), if you want to run M$ Windows in a VM
and access it remotely you can do this with:
- a VDA (Virtual Desktop Access) license
- Enterprise with SA 'software assurance'
I believe both of these require an annual fee (something that's an
anathema to my clients, and me).
Trying to understand and explain this cr*p to clients is a nightmare.
Quite reasonably one asked me just a couple of days ago 'why can't I
just buy two normal licenses for the two remote machines I want to
connect to my accounting package?'. Oh my! - that's all the poor guy
wants to do, and the fact that it's _easy_ to do technically (either 2 x
VM's or use the termiserv.dll to allow multiple connects [that M$
released]) , but is complicated to to hell and gone by M$ rapaciousness
really makes me spit.
Grrrr [sound of deep breathing and counting to 1000].
Anyway, that's my read of it, but you'd really need to consult M$ to be
sure. In practice I expect many just give up and either do it anyway, or
find an alternative.
In the absence of a Linux application and with regard to the latter if
anyone has any experience of 'TSPlus'
(https://www.terminalserviceplus.com) or Graphon go-global
(https://www.graphon.com/) I'd be pleased to hear from you - I'd still
like to get this guy access to his package without having to interact
with M$ and have it cost the earth, forever, and these two application
publishing systems appear to offer a possible way forward....
On 19/09/2019 6:41 a.m., Nick Couchman wrote:
On Wed, Sep 18, 2019 at 7:12 AM James Allsopp
<jamesaalls...@googlemail.com.invalid> wrote:
Hi,
I was wondering what Windows 10 licences people were using for
Guacamole? We want to have users logging in one at a time, but
have the windows 10 machine installed as a VM on a VMware Esxi
server, with Guacamole connecting to the server via RDP. We're
planning on buying retail Windows licences.
Section 2c v.) of the Windows Licence (
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/Useterms/Retail/Windows/10/Useterms_Retail_Windows_10_English.htm
)
seems to prohibit this;
/ install the software on a server and allow users to access it
remotely, or install the software on a device for use only by
remote users; /
This seems to contradict 2d v.)
/Other users, at different times, may access the licensed device
from another device using remote access technologies, but only on
devices separately licensed to run the same or higher edition of
this software. /
/
/
But does that mean that it's only within licence terms to access
the machines from a Windows 10 Home pc?
It's been a while since I dealt directly with Windows workstation
licensing, but my recollection of the license terms are as follows:
- You can use the remote desktop feature of a Windows workstation on a
standard PC to access that system from a Windows edition of equal or
greater (e.g. Pro -> Pro, Enterprise -> Pro, etc. - 2d).
- You *cannot* run any edition of Windows lower than Enterprise on a
server to use in a "VDI"-type scenario. This means using Retail
edition for VDI-like functionality is a no-go in Microsoft licensing
terms.
- Not only do you need Enterprise Edition or higher (I think Ultimate
is higher), you also need to maintain Software Assurance on the
licenses you use for VDI.
Again, that's my recollection. I'm also not sure how much of that
guidance was "reseller guidance" (someone who's in it for the $$) and
how much of that was honest legal guidance (if you do this, you're
actually in violation of the EULA). I'd recommend you consult someone
intimately familiar with Microsoft licensing, but who's not in it to
get your money (good luck finding said person).
-Nick
