Thursday, 13 September 2007

SBS - Lost CAL recovery or reset CAL count to 5

Chris Knight mentions a situation where his SBS server had its CAL count reset to 5: Small Business Server 2003 - The Dreaded 5 CAL Reset Issue.

The following KB refers to the methodology to recover your CALs if they were somehow lost as was the case in Chris' case:

Microsoft KB 888818: The number of client access licenses may be reset to five in Windows Small Business Server 2003.

If none of the methods in the KB article can work for you, then there is a fall back: The autolicstr.cpa backup licensing file that is created by SBS.

To recover your CALs via this file:
  1. Stop the License Logging Service.
  2. Rename the existing licstr.cpa to licstr.cpa.old
  3. Copy the autolicstr.cpa to %Windir%\System32
  4. Rename the autolicstr.cpa to licstr.cpa
  5. Restart the License Logging Service.
One only has to verify that the existing licenses are back by opening Licensing in the Server Management Console.

There is another good use for this information: For one who has setup the server, and installed the CALs as the wrong type. Indicated Device CALs instead of User CALs or vice versa?

Stop the License Logging Service, rename both autolicstr.cpa and licstr.cpa, restart the License Logging Service, and open the Licensing in the Server Management Console.

You will get a 1016 error in the event viewer when the service cannot find the license file, but it will create a new one back at the default of 5.

When you go to reenter your CALs as the correct type, keep in mind that the online method of registration may not work. You may need to call into Microsoft to register the CALs.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.
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14 comments:

  1. Anonymous11 July, 2008 04:06

    Great tip.. Just a new customer call with this issue and they weren't backed up.

    I've found that the CAL's tend to disappear when the drive space on C gets low.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous18 August, 2008 15:41

    This Works!! Thanks you saved my job.. My Backups were Corrupt and this saved the day.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous24 February, 2010 12:57

    whew.. this just saved the day!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Rudy @ Tekworks16 March, 2010 15:17

    Thank you!!!

    We had the same issue of the OS drive filling up.

    If you were local to Vancouver BC, we would be buying you a TON of drinks ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous07 April, 2010 15:38

    This is what I was looking for! None of the other solutions were an option.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Roland Hall27 May, 2010 08:51

    I imaged my server and put it on new hardware so MSFT wants me to put the codes back in to add the licenses through a license transfer, so this will not work for me. That seems a little excessive.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Zeeshan Murtaza malik13 June, 2010 01:30

    Thanks Philips,
    I also retrieve the CALS.
    Regards,
    Zeeshan

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous31 August, 2010 01:41

    Excellent Tip. Just had this issue due to low space, on a customers machine. A great 5 minute instant fix.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous15 August, 2011 18:01

    Excellent !!!! Still works in Aug 2011. Customer lost CALS due to low disk space & no CALs backup. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous05 January, 2012 04:52

    Thank you very much ! You saved my life :D

    ReplyDelete
  11. PridePC26 March, 2012 10:59

    OMG spot on, thanks a bunch. Saved my bacon with a client this morning ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Steve19 April, 2012 12:44

    Thanks for a well written help that actually works!!

    Now I can leave and have a beer :D

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous02 October, 2012 05:23

    Absolute life saver! Didn't think anyone could help with a 2003 SBS server...keys were lost and license had reverted back to 5 cals. Worked perfectly!! Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous06 March, 2013 12:45

    Thanks.
    Saved my day.

    ReplyDelete

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