Below, all error messages etc. are given here as translated by myself from German. The English original may differ
We have the following setup
- Server A: Windows 2016 with RDP Session Broker and RDP Licensing for two RDP farms
- Server B1, B2, ...: Windows 2016, RDP Session Host, members of first RDP farm
- Server C1, C2, ...: Windows 2016, RDP Session Host, members of second RDP farm
Until recently, I could manage the farms (e.g., disable logins for single farm members, manage and shadow user sessions, ...) from Server A and its Server Manager. However, today the following happens and I cannot get rid of it:
On Server A, in Server Manager, I have A, B1, B2, ..., C1, C2, ... in the server pool (i.e., listed under "All Servers" as well as under "Remote desktop Services" - "Servers").
When selecting Remote Desktop Services, the menu shows "Overview" and "Servers", whereas the expected behaviour is that there should be a third item "Collections" with the two farms as sub-items
In "Overview", it says
There is no remote desktop server deployment in the server pool. In order to create a deployment, run the wizard to install roles and features and select "remote desktop services".
However, all that I think is needed, is already installed: the role remote Desktop Service (with sub-roles licensing, session host, session broker, web access)
Just for fun, I went to another server (Server B1), started Server Manager, added the same servers to the server pool, and - voilà! - everything works there ("Overview" shows the graphical overview etc., "Collections" has all farms below it, I can configure and manage the farms and their member servers as well as individual sessions)
On Server A, I tried to remove some of the session hosts from the server pool. Then "Overview" correctly noticed that these were missing and urged me to add them to the server pool, which I did. But the original problem did not go away. Of course I also rebooted server A, but that did not help, either. EventLog shows nothing of interest.
Q: What got broken on Server A?
Update: Doing more research, also including hints from the comments, I tried the following: In Add Roles and Features, I pick "Installation of RDP" and am told "There already is a Remote Desktop Deployment in the server pool ...", so the exact opposite of what the messages say elsewhere! Any attempts to continue, however, (no matter if standard or quickstart or multipoint) lead to an error "Deployment information could not be retrieved from RD connection broker 'Server A'"
