Background

There are many circumstances where you will need to remove a RDS CALs from an RDS Server, or in some cases you want to rebuild the entire RD licensing database.  Microsoft allows you to remove an individual CAL license pack using powershell, or rebuild the entire database.  However, if neither of those work, it’s quite easy to manually rebuild the RD licensing database.  I’ve included directions for all 3 methods below, and have tested this on Windows Server 2008, 2008R2, 2012, 2012R2, and 2016.

Remove An Individual RDS CAL License Pack Using Powershell (User or Device CAL)

• Open powershell elevated as an administrator
• Type the following command to list the RDS Licenses and note the KeyPackID
  • Alternatively, open RD Licensing Manager and note the Keypack ID

Get-WmiObject Win32_TSLicenseKeyPack

• Run the below command to remove the licenses pack from your RD Server
  • Replace KEYPACKID with the number you obtained above

wmic /namespace:\\root\CIMV2 PATH Win32_TSLicenseKeyPack CALL UninstallLicenseKeyPackWithId KEYPACKID

Rebuild the RD Licensing Database

Microsoft provides directions on how to do this automatically, via a web browser, or via the phone:

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd851428.aspx

Manually Rebuild the Licensing Database (Guaranteed to Work if the Previous 2 methods Fail)

• Make sure you have documentation of your MS License agreement that includes Authorization number, License number, License type (User/Device CAL), and Quantity before proceeding
• Stop the Remote Desktop Licensing service

• Rename C:\Windows\System32\lserver\TLSLic.edb to C:\Windows\System32\lserver\TLSLic.old
• Start the Remote Desktop Licensing service
• All licenses will now be cleared out of RD Licensing Manager, and you’ll need to re-install the licenses you want to add back in