Force RDP idle timeout

I have some users that regularly refuse to log off their RDP sessions and
leave me wondering at midnight whether they are still working when I need to
do a server update.

Is there a way to force an idle timeout for RDP? All PC's are XP Pro in a
Windows 2003 domain.

I would like to impose a 1-hour-idle force-logoff for RDP sessions (except
for administrators, just to throw a wrinkle into the matter - all the other
users are just Users or Power Users). I don't want the force-logoff to apply
to me as a system admin.

I know the server-side AD user profiles has user-level session settings, but
I do not know if this can be made to apply to their station RDP logins or
just true TS logons. Also, I have seen the Session settings fail to log users
off (or perhaps just fail to detect idle time correctly).

Sure, you can setup group policy. This how to may help.

Setup TS Group PolicyHow to Setup Terminal Services Group Policy Objects for
Windows 2003 and XP ... Set time limit for active sessions. •. Set time
limit for idle sessions ...
www.howtonetworking.com/grouppolicy/tsgp4.htm


--
Bob Lin, MS-MVP, MCSE & CNE
Networking, Internet, Routing, VPN Troubleshooting on
http://www.ChicagoTech.net
How to Setup Windows, Network, VPN & Remote Access on
http://www.HowToNetworking.com
"Brian" <Brian@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:6AF074D0-1F7F-4682-AA9B-0375C568AACA@microsoft.com...
>I have some users that regularly refuse to log off their RDP sessions and
> leave me wondering at midnight whether they are still working when I need
> to
> do a server update.
>
> Is there a way to force an idle timeout for RDP? All PC's are XP Pro in a
> Windows 2003 domain.
>
> I would like to impose a 1-hour-idle force-logoff for RDP sessions (except
> for administrators, just to throw a wrinkle into the matter - all the
> other
> users are just Users or Power Users). I don't want the force-logoff to
> apply
> to me as a system admin.
>
> I know the server-side AD user profiles has user-level session settings,
> but
> I do not know if this can be made to apply to their station RDP logins or
> just true TS logons. Also, I have seen the Session settings fail to log
> users
> off (or perhaps just fail to detect idle time correctly).

Disclaimer... I don't work in an AD environment so...

There are some group policies that you can configure to log off idle
sessions, etc.

To look at the Group Policies run gpedit.msc on the Remote Desktop host
machine and navigate to the Local Computer Policy | Computer Configuration |
Administrative Templates | Windows Components | Terminal Services | Sessions
policies.

There are also policies that apply on a user basis no matter what machine
they happen to log onto.

To look at the Group Policies run gpedit.msc on the Remote Desktop host
machine and navigate to the Local Computer Policy | User Configuration |
Administrative Templates | Windows Components | Terminal Services | Sessions
policies

--
Al Jarvi (MS-MVP Windows – Desktop User Experience)

Please post *ALL* questions and replies to the news group for the
mutual benefit of all of us...
The MS-MVP Program - http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights...
How to ask a question
http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375


"Brian" <Brian@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:6AF074D0-1F7F-4682-AA9B-0375C568AACA@microsoft.com...
>I have some users that regularly refuse to log off their RDP sessions and
> leave me wondering at midnight whether they are still working when I need
> to
> do a server update.
>
> Is there a way to force an idle timeout for RDP? All PC's are XP Pro in a
> Windows 2003 domain.
>
> I would like to impose a 1-hour-idle force-logoff for RDP sessions (except
> for administrators, just to throw a wrinkle into the matter - all the
> other
> users are just Users or Power Users). I don't want the force-logoff to
> apply
> to me as a system admin.
>
> I know the server-side AD user profiles has user-level session settings,
> but
> I do not know if this can be made to apply to their station RDP logins or
> just true TS logons. Also, I have seen the Session settings fail to log
> users
> off (or perhaps just fail to detect idle time correctly).