All Answers

On April 9th, 2019 Microsoft released a new set of Windows Updates (across their entire lineup of Windows Server products) that broke the “enable simultaneous connections” feature in WSE RemoteApp. Within a few hours of their release, I put out new versions of WSE RemoteApp (i.e. Version 1.255.1708.0) that corrected the issue.

Therefore, all you need to do is install the latest release of WSE RemoteApp on your Essentials server (i.e. Version 1.255.1708.0 or greater), restart the server Dashboard (if it happened to be open/running when you installed the latest version of WSE RemoteApp), go to the “WSE REMOTEAPP” page in the server Dashboard, click on the “Enable Simultaneous Connections” task, and then follow the prompts (and be sure to restart the server when you are prompted to do so). That should get you up and running again.

As for your license renewal purchase issue… I believe that we’ve now resolved that matter via private support correspondence. If not, then please do let me know.

I’m not exactly sure what’s going on there, but off the top of my head, I suggest that you look at the following suggestions in order to try and resolve the issue:

1. Start a standard Remote Desktop connection to your Essentials server, sign in as an administrator, and then from the administrator’s desktop, open:

Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Services

From the Services applet, scroll down the list of available services and ensure that all of the “Windows Server Essentials … Service” services are running on your server (with exception of the “Windows Server Essentials Email Service“). In particular, ensure that the “Windows Server Essentials Management Service” service is running, because if it’s not, then you will indeed receive that particular error message you’re seeing in your attached screenshot.

2. Make sure that you haven’t disabled TLS 1.0 on your Essentials server. Despite the (potential) security risk of having the (now defunct) TLS 1.0 security protocol enabled on a server, many of the Essentials features still require/use it (including the ability to install add-ins). For more info see:

https://windowsserveressentials.com/?s=TLS

3. Lastly, try downloading the WSE RemoteApp 2016 installer again just to make sure that the download you’re using hasn’t been corrupted in some way (although, I doubt that it is).

EDIT: And yes, as per the WSE RemoteApp add-in’s description, it does indeed provide full RemoteApp functionality to any Essentials-based server.

Yes, that information (and a whole lot more!) is available for the server administrator to view over on the “WSE REMOTEAPP” page of the server Dashboard.

When you click on one of your “allowed” users, the details pane will show you all the information about the user’s current connection (both Active and Disconnected connections).

Both “Logon Time” and “Connect/Disconnect Time” are given in full date/time, as well as in a time duration for both types of connections.

There’s even information provided about the amount of data sent/received in the user’s Active session, as well as the quality of the connection, the processes that the user is running within their session, etc., etc.

Alas, I’m afraid not. WSE WorkFolders (and the Work Folders server role in general) is designed to work over a secure HTTPS (TCP port 443) connection, and not a VPN connection.

While you certainly can manually configure IIS on Windows Server 2019 Essentials in order to set up your own webserver, WSE WorkFolders makes the assumption that a website has not been set up on the Essentials server unless the Anywhere Access / Remote Web Access feature of WSEE has been properly configured. And since that cannot be done on Windows server 2019 Essentials, WSE WorkFolders cannot be used on it.

However, since Windows Server 2019 Essentials does not actually include “Essentials” (LOL – I can’t believe that I have to actually type that nonsense – stupid Microsoft!), you don’t need to worry about the Work Folders server role conflicting with the WSEE server role. Therefore, if you just leave the “Essentials” bits off of the server, then you can configure the Work Folders server role on Windows Server 2019 Essentials as usual (i.e. just as you would under a stock Windows Server 2019 Standard install).

WSE WorkFolders was developed in order to resolve the issue where the WSEE server role and the Work Folders server role conflict with each other since they are both webservers that fight over the HTTPS port 443 connection. Obviously, since Windows Server 2019 Essentials doesn’t contain the “Essentials” bits, there’d be no conflict, and so you can use the Work Folders server role on it just as the role exists within the Server Manager (after you’ve manually configured your server to be a webserver via IIS that is).

So basically, if the main focus of your Windows Server 2019 Essentials server is to use Work Folders, then you don’t need to install WSEE nor WSE WorkFolders on it. You can just set up the Work Folders server role on it normally. However, if you’re actually wanting the “Essentials” functionality (Remote Web Access, Client PC backups, etc., etc.), then you’ll need to use Windows Server 2019 Standard/Datacenter with WSEE installed, and then use WSE WorkFolders in order to get the Work Folders functionality.

I personally wouldn’t worry about CALs. There’s no pace to enter them (even if you do buy them), and no one is ever going to come knocking on your door looking for them (i.e. they’re a complete waste of money unless you just need them for the “piece of mind” comfort that they’d offer you). The only thing that stinks here is the large price difference between Windows Server 2019 Essentials and Windows Server 2019 Standard.

I hope that makes sense.

WSE RemoteApp sets up a task on each of your client computers that validates its RADC default connection whenever a user logs on to the client computer (it’s just a simple validation check that happens very quickly and nothing continues to run on the client afterwards). For whatever reason, that particular client computer is running into an access denied error when the task executes (i.e. when the “C:\Program Files\The Office Maven\RADCDefaultConnectionValidator2.exe” program is run by the scheduled task and attempts to validate the RADC default connection registry settings on the client computer). I’ve never seen that particular error pop up before, and so I’m not exactly sure what’s going on there.

You might want to try running the following program on that particular client computer (and follow the prompts it gives) just to see if doing that happens to correct the issue for you:

C:\Program Files\The Office Maven\RADCDefaultConnectionSetup.exe

NOTE: There’s actually a shortcut setup for quickly running the above mentioned program (named “RADC Default Connection Setup“) that’s located within the “WSE RemoteApp 2016” program group on the client computer’s Start menu.

If that doesn’t resolve the issue for you (i.e. if you continue to get the same error), then probably the best thing for you to do is to simply disable the task so that it no longer runs on that one particular client computer. To do that, open up the Task Scheduler applet (on the client computer), and then go to the following location:

Task Scheduler Library\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Server Solutions

Then right-click on the “RADC Default Connection Validator” task, and click on “Disable” in the context menu that appears.

Doing that should stop the scheduled task from running, and hence, stop the error from popping up each time a user logs on to that client computer. That being said… You’ll probably need to repeat the process any time you install an updated version of WSE RemoteApp seeing as it will probably re-enable the task again.

Unfortunately, it looks like there’s a bug Windows 10 1903 when it comes to encrypting work files over on the client-side (i.e. via the native Work Folders sync client applet). For a bit more info see:

Work Folders can’t encrypt files on Windows 10 1903

Workfolders Issues on 1903

From what I can gather, it looks like Microsoft is aware of the issue, but who knows when they’ll fix it (seeing as there’s no official response from them anywhere). We haven’t yet upgraded any of our Windows 10 clients to 1903 since it appears that it’s just not quite ready for prime time (especially with all the problems folks are having with getting the Windows Server Essentials Connector software to work after upgrading to 1903!). Microsoft always seems to make it really painful for their early adopters (sigh).

You’ll need to stick to using the iOS/Android/Mac clients until Microsoft steps up and fixes the issue under 1903. Sorry that I don’t have a better answer for you on this one, but that’s just how things go in Microsoft’s newfangled Windows 10 world I’m afraid.

WSE RemoteApp does indeed have a 21-day evaluation period where you can use it free of charge for up to 21 days in order to evaluate the product before you commit to purchasing it. To do so, simply download the version of WSE RemoteApp that exactly matches the version of Windows Server that you are running on your server (e.g. 2016, 2012 R2, or 2012).

And yes, if you are using Windows Server 2016 or Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard or Datacenter, then you will indeed need to have the Windows Server Essentials Experience (WSEE) server role added (via Server Manager) and successfully configured on your server prior to installing the WSE RemoteApp add-in.

Lastly, if you are running Windows Server 2019 Standard or Datacenter on your server, then you will need to follow this guide in order to install WSEE on it before you install WSE RemoteApp 2016. If you purchase WSE RemoteApp 2016, then you can request a password to download our WSEE Installer (which automates the installation of WSEE on Windows Server 2019). Otherwise, you can just manually install WSEE on your server by following the steps that are provided within the article.

AFAIK, WSE RemoteApp shouldn’t have anything to do with the behavior that you’re seeing there (i.e. I’ve never come across a case where it has).

Did you set up your Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate by following the steps that I’ve listed here:

How To Manually Set Up A Custom / Vanity Domain Name In Windows Server Essentials

Also, you may want to make sure that your SSL certificate is properly configured on your Essentials server, by taking a look at the answer that I’ve posted on this one:

SSL Certificate Error – Mismatched Address

I’m not sure about the “Remote Desktop Services is busy” error that you’re getting, as I’ve not come across that one before. Hopefully, a server restart (see below) will resolve that issue for you as well.

As for only 2 users being able to log on to WSE RemoteApp… Open the server Dashboard, go to the “WSE REMOTEAPP” page, click on the “Enable Simultaneous Connections” task, follow the prompts, and be sure to restart your server when you are prompted to do so. If for some reason the task tells you that multiple simultaneous connections are already enabled on your server (when you know for certain that they aren’t), then try holding down the SHIFT key on your keyboard while you click on the “Enable Simultaneous Connections” task. Doing that will force the task to go ahead and enable itself once again.

Contact us via our email support page with the User Name from your existing WSE RemoteApp license, and we can then reset it for you from our end.

You CANNOT rename an Essentials server once it has been configured via the “Configure Windows Server Essentials” wizard. Doing so will completely trash the Essentials configuration (hence the issues you’re seeing). You can try putting it back to its original name to see if that fixes things, but more than likely, you’ll need to restore your Essentials server from a recent backup in order to get it back into working condition (you do have server backup enabled on your server now don’t you???).

EDIT: As a last resort, you may want to have a look at the following (although I’ve never tried reinstalling the CA in Essentials, and so I have absolutely no idea if it will actually work for you or not): Cannot rename server

Yes, as is stated within the main article, if you own any of our products, then you can indeed request access to the WSEE Installer for use in installing Windows Server Essentials Experience (WSEE) on Windows Server 2019.

That being said… If you do not need/want to own any of our products, then you can manually install WSEE on Windows Server 2019 by simply following the detailed list of steps that have been provided.