The terminal server has exceeded the maximum number of allowed connections. The system cannot log you on (1B8E). Please try again or consult your system administrator.

Yes! This is a solution to the dreaded problem “The terminal server has exceeded the maximum number of allowed connections.”

Every system administrator knows what it means, and yes – it gives us shivers, especially when we don’t have physical acess to the machine, and we can’t log in.

There are (at least) two ways to solve the problem, the easy one and the hard one, as usual.

The easy one – applies if TS runs on a Windows 2003 machine, and Console session is logged off but two active (or disconnected) sessions block further access.

From the client machine, go to Start -> Run and type

mstsc -v:0.0.0.0 /f –console

Replace 0.0.0.0 with TS server’s IP.

After you log in, go to Terminal Server Management and disconnect active, idle and other remote sessions. Logg of and then log on as you would normally do.

The hard way – applies in cases when the easy way fails (Windows 2000 runs as a TS server, Console session logged in, etc.)

Conditions to be met for the hard way to succeed:

  - telnet service must not be disabled on the TS machine, it must be set to either automatic or manual startup.
  - you must have the "netsvc.exe" tool from the windows 2000 resource kit if you need to start telnet on the terminal  services machine if it is not running. If you don’t have it, you can download it here.

Authenticate to the terminal server from the remote machine with the "net use" command:

Start->Run->cmd

C:\>net use \\<ip address>\admin$ /user:<admin username>  

Example:

C:\>net use \\192.168.1.1\admin$ /user:paja

Use regedt32 to modify the registry entry to allow telnet without NTLM.

Start->Run->regedt32

connect to the remote machine:

Registry->Select Computer

in the "Computer" field, enter "\\<ip address"

Set the following key to 0:

\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE on <ipaddress>\SOFTWARE\Microsoft \TelnetServer\1.0\NTLM

Use netsvc.exe to start telnet service (tlntsvr):

c:\>netsvc tlntsvr \\<ip address> /start

From the telnet session, use the "logoff" command with session IDs of "1" and "2" to end the disconnected but active sessions:

C:\>logoff 1
C:\>logoff 2
C:\>exit

(Be patient. Logoff takes some time.)

Use netsvc.exe to stop the telnet service if you want:

C:\netsvc tlntsvr \\<ip address> /stop

Enjoy.

Vladimir Milovanovic

System administrator

e-male: vmilovanovic_at_chfserbia.org