I'm currently installing a test-bed for my firms Infrastructure replacement. 10 or so Windows/Linux servers will be replaced by 2 physical servers running Hyper-V server. All services (DC, RDS, SQL) will be on Windows 2012 R2 Server Core VMs, Exchange on Server 2012 R2 GUI, and the rest are things like Elastix, MailArchiver etc, which aren't part of the equation thus far.

I have installed Hyper-V server on a test box, and sucessfully got two virtual DC's running, SQL 2014 running, and 8.1 which I use for the RSAT tools. When trying to install RDS (The old fashioned kind, not the newer VDI(?) style), I get a failed installation due to the server not being able to reboot. A couple of articles have said not to do it locally, so I've moved on.

Sitting at the Powershell prompt on the Domain Controller or SQL server (Both Server Core), I run the following commands:

Import-Module RemoteDesktop

New-SessionDeployment -ConnectionBroker "AlstersTS.Alsters.local" -SessionHost "AlstersTS.Alsters.local"

The installation begins, carries on for 2 or 3 minutes, then I receive the following error message:

New-SessionDeployment : Validation failed for the "RD Connection Broker" parameter. AlstersTS.Alsters.local Unable to connect to the server by using WindowsPowerShell remoting. Verify that you can connect to the server. At line:1 char:1 + NewSessionDeployment -ConnectionBroker "AlstersTS.Alsters.local" -SessionHost " ... + + CategoryInfo : NotSpecified: (:) [Write-Error], WriteErrorException + FullyQualifiedErrorID : Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.WriteErrorException,New-SessionDeployment

So far, I have:

1. Triple, triple checked syntax.
2. Tried various other commands, and a script to accomplish the same task.
3. Checked DNS is functioning as it should.
4. Checked to the best of my knowledge that AD is working as it should.
5. Checked that the Network Service has the needed permissions.
6. Created another VM and placed the two roles on different servers.
7. Deleted all VMs, started again with a new domain name (Lather, rinse, repeat)
8. Performed the whole installation on a second physical box running Hyper-V Server
9. Pleaded with it

Interestingly, if I perform the installation via a GUI installation, the thing just works! Now I know I could convert this to a Server Core role after installation, but this wouldn't teach me what was wrong in the first instance.

I've probably got 10 pages through various Google searches, each page getting a little less relevant. The closest matches seem to have good information, but it doesn't seem to be the fix for my set-up.

As a side note, I expected to be able to "tee" or "out-file" the error message into a text file, but couldn't get that to work either, so I've typed in the error message manually.

Chaps, any suggestions, from the glaringly obvious, to the long-winded and complex?

Thanks!