Gray screen on a Windows 2003 system

About this task

When a remote desktop user uses the /admin or /console option to start a remote desktop session with a Windows® Server 2003 system and a remote control user starts a remote control session before, during or after the remote desktop session, the target display cannot be captured. The result is that a gray screen is displayed in the controller window. This issue is a limitation in Windows Server 2003 operating system. Use the Automatically reset the console after a Remote Desktop console session attribute as a workaround to reset the Windows session either after each remote desktop session ends, or before a remote control session starts, depending on the value that is selected.
Note: The attribute is not set to any value by default.
To configure this attribute and for a definition of its values see Creating target groups.
Note:
  1. The workaround is defined through a target group attribute and not a policy. Therefore, if you start a session immediately after you change the setting, it might not be updated in the target yet.
  2. If a target belongs to more than one target group with different values for this attribute, the higher value takes precedence with After console is logged out having the highest value.

    For example:

    A target belongs to groups A and B. The value of the attribute is set to At session start for group A and After console is logged out for group B. Therefore, the final value that is applied to any sessions with this target is After console is logged out.

  3. If an admin or console remote desktop session is in progress when the controller attempts to connect to a target, a message is displayed on the controller. The message provides details of the remote desktop user and the IP address or computer name that the session is running from.
  4. The workaround can also be configured in the trc.properties file by using a server policy. If both the server property and target group attribute is set to different values, the target group value takes precedence over the server value.
The following messages are displayed depending on the value that selected for the properties and whether a user is logged at the target computer.
Table 1. Workaround messages
Message #1 Message ID Message text Message parameters
1

workaround.w2k3rdp.
console.unavailable

 IBM® BigFix® Remote Control is unable to control this target system because the Windows console is in a Remote Desktop session with user {0} connected from {1} ({2}) {0} Remote Desktop Client's user name {1} Remote Desktop Client's computer name {2} Remote Desktop Client's IP address
2

workaround.w2k3rdp.
console.reset

 IBM BigFix Remote Control is unable to control this target system because the Windows console is unavailable while it is being reset. This might take a few minutes. You can stop the Remote Control session at any time.
3

workaround.w2k3rdp.
disabled

 IBM BigFix Remote Control is unable to control this target system because the Windows console is unavailable and the automatic reset is not enabled.
4

target.capture.
failed.start

 IBM BigFix Remote Control is unable to control this target system because the display capture process failed to start.
The following table details when the message is displayed.
Table 2. When the workaround messages are displayed
Message #1 Session 0 - user logged in Session 0 - user logged off
The workaround is disabled Message #1 Message #3
Reset session automatically when a remote control session is started. Message #1 Message #2 and reset session
Reset session automatically when the remote desktop user has logged out. Message #1 Message #2 if the reset was less than 2 minutes ago
Target not running on Windows Server 2003 - workaround does not apply #4 Message #4 Message #4