Lsview

Overview

Terminal Services License Server Viewer (LSView) is a GUI tool that displays information about all available Terminal Services license servers in the current domain and current site of the computer. It is useful for monitoring and logging the status of license servers.

LSView displays the following information:

The names of all license servers in the current domain and site. This includes new license servers added to the domain and all license servers from the current Active Directory Site within the domain.
The types of all license servers in the domain. There are two types of license servers, Enterprise License Servers and Domain License Servers. The Workgroup License Server type for workgroups is Domain. It is important to know the type of license server when troubleshooting.
The date and time each license server is available. By default, LSView updates server availability every five minutes.

Corresponding Operating System Features

Concepts

Terminal servers allow unlicensed clients to connect for 120 days from the date of the first client logon. After this evaluation period ends, a terminal server can no longer allow clients to connect unless it locates a Terminal Server License Server to issue client licenses.

A Terminal Server License Server stores all client licenses that have been installed for a Terminal Server and tracks the licenses that have been issued to client computers or terminals.

Three types of license servers are available:

Enterprise License Server. This type of license server is appropriate when a network includes several domains. An Enterprise License Server can serve terminal servers on any domain, but the domain must be a Windows Server 2003 domain or Windows 2000 domain.
Domain License Server. This type of license server is appropriate when a separate license server must be maintained for each domain. Keep in mind that terminal servers can access domain license servers only if they are in the same domain as the license server. If your network includes workgroups or Windows NT 4.0 domains, the domain license server is the only type of license server that you can install and use.
Workgroup License Server. This type of server is appropriate when a server is in a workgroup, and not joined to a domain. A Workgroup License Server can serve Terminal Servers in the same workgroup and in the same subnet.

System Requirements

The following are the system requirements for LSView.exe:

Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 operating systems

File Required

LSView.exe

Remarks

Using LSView

You can run LSView from the command line or by double-clicking LSView.exe in Windows Explorer. After LSView starts, it runs a terminal server discovery process to acquire a list of Terminal Services license servers in the current domain. By default, LSView updates this list every five minutes.

You can change the default polling interval when you create a log file. See step 6 in the following "To create a log file" procedure.

To create a log file:

Start LSView.

Wait for LSView to finish polling for license servers. The traffic light icon in the status area changes from yellow to green when polling is complete.

In the License Server Viewer dialog box, click File, and then click Create Log File.

In the Save As window, in the File name box, type a name for the LSView log file and, in the Save as type drop-down box, select Log files, if it is not already selected.

Create one of the following files:

A basic log file, by clearing the Log Diagnostic Information check box.
A diagnostic log file, by checking the Log Diagnostic Information check box.

To automatically save changes to the log file whenever LSView updates the server list, check Use the file for automatic log.

To change the frequency with which LSView updates the server list and the log file, in the Search for license server interval (in minutes) box, select or type a number for the new polling interval.

To create the log file, click Save.

Displaying the Results

You can access the list of license servers found by LSView in three ways. You can:

Monitor the server status in the License Server Viewer window
Double-click the traffic light icon to open the License Server Viewer window
Open a log file to view the latest polling results

The License Server Viewer Window

When you start LSView, the License Server Viewer window opens. If you minimize this window, you can open it again by double-clicking the traffic light icon. The License Server Viewer window contains one pane with three columns that display the polling results. You can sort the polling results by name, time, or type by clicking the corresponding column heading.

File menu

Two file menu options are available:

Option	Description
Create Log File	Opens a dialog box to create a basic or diagnostic log file with a specific name, and saves the file in a specific location. LSView creates the following types of log files: A basic log file that records the most recent polling results displayed in the License Server Viewer window. In the log file, each available server name is listed, followed by the last date and time available, and the type of server. A diagnostic log file that records information about the discovery process. You can use it for troubleshooting. The diagnostic log file lists data such as the type of discovery, (Enterprise, Domain, or Registry-bypass), the remote calls made on the server, and their return values. Choose the type of log file you want to create in the Create Log File dialog box. If you check Log Diagnostic Information, LSView creates a diagnostic log file. If you clear the Log Diagnostic Information check box, LSView creates a basic log file. For either type of log file, you can specify whether or not you want updates saved automatically to the log file, and how often you want LSView to update the information.
Exit	Closes the License Server Viewer window, removes the traffic light icon from the status area of your Start bar, and stops polling for servers.

Option

Description

Create Log File

Opens a dialog box to create a basic or diagnostic log file with a specific name, and saves the file in a specific location. LSView creates the following types of log files:

A basic log file that records the most recent polling results displayed in the License Server Viewer window. In the log file, each available server name is listed, followed by the last date and time available, and the type of server.
A diagnostic log file that records information about the discovery process. You can use it for troubleshooting. The diagnostic log file lists data such as the type of discovery, (Enterprise, Domain, or Registry-bypass), the remote calls made on the server, and their return values.

Choose the type of log file you want to create in the Create Log File dialog box. If you check Log Diagnostic Information, LSView creates a diagnostic log file. If you clear the Log Diagnostic Information check box, LSView creates a basic log file. For either type of log file, you can specify whether or not you want updates saved automatically to the log file, and how often you want LSView to update the information.

Exit

Closes the License Server Viewer window, removes the traffic light icon from the status area of your Start bar, and stops polling for servers.

Help menu

The following Help menu option is available:

Option	Description
About License Server Viewer	Opens a dialog box that displays the current version of the operating system and LSView. You can also view copyright information, the End End License Agreement, and check to see the name of the individual to whom LSView is licensed. The bottom of the dialog box displays the current amount of physical memory available to Windows for troubleshooting purposes.

The Traffic Light Icon

When you start LSView, a traffic light icon is added to the status area of your Start bar. You can monitor the polling status of LSView from the traffic light icon.

Discover the Current State of LSView Polling

Allow your cursor to hover over the traffic icon. This action displays the current state of LSView polling.

If LSView is currently polling, the traffic icon displays a yellow light and a status of Querying license servers.
If LSView is waiting for the next polling interval to occur, it displays a green light and a status of Preparing to poll for servers.

Use the Color of the Traffic Light to Get Quick Indication of Polling Status

The table below shows the meaning of each traffic light color.

Color	Meaning
Green	LSView is running and waiting for the next polling interval.
Yellow	LSView is busy polling for available license servers.
Red	LSView has encountered errors and is unable to poll for license server availability.

The Log File

You can save an LSView log file in any location. The default location is in My Documents. The basic log file records each available server name, followed by the last date and time available, and the type of server. The diagnostic log file records data such as the type of discovery, (Enterprise, Domain, or Registry-bypass), and the remote calls made on the server and their return values.

Note

This log file does not contain a history of polling results; it only contains the most recent results.

Examples

Check Availability of Terminal Services License Servers in the //cohowinery Domain

The task in this example is to use LSView to check the availability of Terminal Services license servers in the //cohowinery domain.

To run LSView, type the following at the command line:

lsview

Press ENTER. This opens the License Server Viewer window. When the traffic light icon turns green, the window is populated with information about all available license servers in the current domain. The same information is also written to a log file.

COHO-DC-06	Thursday, October 17, 2002 3:31 PM	Enterprise
COHO-TSLS-01	Thursday, October 17, 2002 3:31 PM	Enterprise

Related Tools

Tools related to LSView include:

LSReport.exe: Terminal Services Licensing Reporter
LSView.exe: Terminal Services Licensing Server Viewer
RControlAD.exe: Active Directory Remote Control Add-On
Tsctst.exe: Terminal Server Client License Dump Tool
TSSCalling.exe: Terminal Services Scalability Planning Tools

LSView.exe: Terminal Services License Server Viewer