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Desktop Business Edition - 12.0
Quick Start Guide
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Parallels Desktop Business Edition - 12.0 Administrator’s Guide

Parallels Desktop for Mac Business Edition
IT Administrator's Guide
Version 12
Copyright © 1999-2016 Parallels International GmbH or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
This product is protected by United States and international copyright laws. The product’s underlying technology, patents, and trademarks are listed at http://www.parallels.com/about/legal/.
Microsoft, Windows, Windows Server, Windows Vista are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Apple, Mac, the Mac logo, OS X, macOS, iPad, iPhone, iPod touch are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the US and other countries. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.
Contents
Introduction ...............................................................................................................5
Parallels Desktop Business Edition Features Overview ......................................................5
Register a Subscription.............................................................................................7
Create a Parallels My Account........................................................................................... 7
Register a Subscription ................................................................................................... 10
View Licensed Mac Computers....................................................................................... 11
Export the Computer List to a File ......................................................................................... 13
Blacklist a Mac ...................................................................................................................... 13
Deactivate Parallels Desktop on a Mac.................................................................................. 14
Parallels Desktop for Mac Business Edition Features ...........................................15
Restricting User Actions in Parallels Desktop with a Custom Password........................... 15
Restricting a Virtual Machine Configuration with a Custom Password..............................16
Locking a Virtual Machine on Suspend............................................................................ 18
Setting an Asset Tag in the Virtual Machine BIOS............................................................ 19
Using Custom Graphics and Links in the Control Center ................................................. 20
Hiding Developer's Features in Parallels Desktop GUI .....................................................21
Encrypting a Virtual Machine ........................................................................................... 22
Running Virtual Machines in the Background ("headless" mode)...................................... 23
System Requirements ........................................................................................................... 23
Configuring Virtual Machines to Run in the Background ........................................................ 23
Managing the Parallels Desktop Service ................................................................................ 25
Setting an Expiration Date for a Virtual Machine ..............................................................26
Resetting the Guest OS Password ..................................................................................27
Creating Linked Clones ...................................................................................................28
NetBoot Support for Virtual Machines ............................................................................. 30
Setting Up a Local Update Server ................................................................................... 30
Installing a Web Server .......................................................................................................... 31
Creating the Parallels Update XML File .................................................................................. 31
Configuring Individual Macs................................................................................................... 33
Contents
Customizing the Request Support Option ....................................................................... 35
Participating in the Customer Experience Program.......................................................... 36
Parallels Desktop License Renewal ................................................................................. 36
Mass Deployment of Parallels Desktop and Virtual Machines
..............................38
Prerequisites ................................................................................................................... 38
Supported Deployment Tools.......................................................................................... 39
Preparing Parallels Desktop Deployment Package ..........................................................39
Adding Parallels Desktop Installation Image........................................................................... 40
Adding Virtual Machines ........................................................................................................ 41
Supplying a Parallels Desktop License Key............................................................................ 43
Changing Deployment Configuration Options........................................................................ 43
Deploying Parallels Desktop and Virtual Machines to Macs .............................................50
Deploying with Parallels Mac Management for Microsoft SCCM............................................ 50
Deploying with Apple Remote Desktop ................................................................................. 52
Deploying OS X Image Using NetBoot................................................................................... 56
Parallels Desktop Command Line Interface........................................................... 57
Parallels Desktop Management ....................................................................................... 57
prlsrvctl Commands .............................................................................................................. 58
Virtual Machine Management .......................................................................................... 68
prlctl Commands................................................................................................................... 68
Index ........................................................................................................................96
C HAPTER 1

Introduction

Welcome to Parallels Desktop for Mac Business Edition. Built on the world’s best-selling, top-rated, most-trusted solution for running Windows applications on the Mac, Parallels Desktop Business Edition adds the capabilities that help IT administrators and purchasing agents save time and money.
Note: This guide refers to version 12 of Parallels Desktop. If you are using a newer version of Parallels Desktop (including updates), please download the latest guide from the Parallels website.
In This Chapter
Parallels Desktop Business Edition Features Overview .............................................. 5

Parallels Desktop Business Edition Features Overview

With Parallels Desktop for Mac, your Mac users can seamlessly run both Windows and Mac applications side-by-side with speed, control and confidence. Business users can experience as much or as little Windows as they want. Multiple view modes make it possible for users to customize the level of integration between Mac and Windows without compromising performance. Best of all, IT can lock down, secure, and control the settings that matter most.
Parallels Desktop Business Edition Feature Highlights
• License management portal.
• Split license keys into sublicenses.
• Maintain corporate compliance with restricted virtual machines.
• Set an expiration date for a virtual machine.
• Run virtual machines in the background (“headless” mode).
• Mass deployment of virtual machines and management through Microsoft SCCM.
• Business-level support including 24/7 phone and email support options.
Introduction
Parallels Desktop Business Edition Feature Matrix
See how Parallels Desktop Business Edition compares to Parallels Desktop Pro and Standard editions.
Feature
World’s most powerful, best-performing solution for running Windows applications on a Mac
Merge the coolness of Mac with the utility of Windows. Seamlessly utilize Mac features inside Windows and leverage Windows' strengths on your Mac.
Microsoft Visual Studio Plug-in. A Microsoft Visual Studio plug-in enables rapid debugging of apps inside your VM.
Support for popular development, design, and test tools including Docker, Jenkins, and Chef. Leverage popular productivity tools to reduce time spent on development and testing.
Advanced networking tools. Create virtual networks for complex network scenarios and testing, including simulating various network scenarios.
Mass deploy and mass manage Parallels Desktop and Windows VMs for your employees.
Licensing and Support
Premium 24/7 phone and email support
Centralized license management via Licensing Portal
Simple deployment with unified volume license key
Standard
•
•
First 30 days
Pro
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Business
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•
•
•
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•
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Customizable in-product “Request Support” option
Removed in-product notifications and third-party offerings
Configurable software update policy and local update server options
Security
Restrict end-users from changing virtual machine settings
Restrict end-users from creating new virtual machines
Create expiring virtual machines
Enforce USB device policies
Configurable policies via SCCM and Parallels Mac Management
6
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C HAPTER 2

Register a Subscription

After you purchase a Parallels Desktop for Mac Business Edition subscription, you must register it in Parallels My Account. Read this chapter to learn how to create a Parallels My Account and how to register a subscription.
In This Chapter
Create a Parallels My Account.................................................................................. 7
Register a Subscription ............................................................................................ 10
View Licensed Mac Computers ................................................................................ 11

Create a Parallels My Account

Parallels My Account is a web application that enables Parallels customers (consumers and organizations) to view and manage licenses for various Parallels products. The instructions below describe how to quickly get started with Parallels My Account.
You can create an account for your company or organization when you first create a Parallels My Account, or after you already created a private account.
Create a Parallels My Account from scratch
If you are a new customer and don't have a Parallels My Account, you can create one for yourself and for your organization as follows:
1 Visit Parallels My Account at https://account.parallels.com
Register a Subscription
2 Click Register. The registration page opens.
3 Select the I represent a company or an organization option. This step is required to create a
business account for your organization.
4 Specify your personal and your company info (all fields are required) and click Create Account.
This creates an account for you personally and a business account for your organization to which you are assigned as the account administrator. When you log in to your account using you email address and password, you can manage personal and business products from the same account.
Creating a Parallels business account from an existing account
If you already have a personal Parallels My Account, follow these steps to create a business account for your organization:
8
Register a Subscription
1 Log in to Parallels My Account using your email address and password.
2 Click
displayed, click Dashboard in the side menu.
3 On the Dashboard page, click Create a business account in the Quick Actions section.
4 A message box opens with an explanation of what a business account is. Read it and then click
Proceed.
5 In the Registering a Business Account dialog, type the name of your organization and then
specify your country, state/city (if applicable), ZIP or postal code, and your business phone number.
next to your user name to open a side menu. If the Dashboard page is not already
6 When done, click Create a Business Account.
9

Register a Subscription

A business account is created for your organization to which you are assigned as the account administrator. When you log in to your personal account, you can manage personal and business products from the same account.
Register a Subscription
To register your Parallels Desktop for Mac Business Edition subscription in Parallels My Account:
1 Sign in to Parallels My Account using your email address and password.
2 Click
displayed, click Dashboard in the side menu.
3 Click the Register a license key link in the Quick Actions section. The Register a License
Key page opens.
You can also open this page by expanding Subscriptions and Licenses section in the side menu, then clicking Corporate Subscriptions, and finally clicking the Register a License Key link.
next to your user name to open a side menu. If the Dashboard page is not already
4 Type the license key that you received with your subscription and click Register.
5 When your license key is registered, you will see a confirmation message.
10
Register a Subscription
6 If you would like to view your subscription information, click the Open Corporate
Subscriptions button. This will open the Subscription Details page where you can view the
information.
Your subscription is now registered and your license key can be used to activate the Parallels product to which it applies.

View Licensed Mac Computers

After you install and activate Parallels Desktop for Mac Business Edition on Mac computers, your Parallels Account is updated with the information about these computers.
To view the computer information:
1 Open a side menu by clicking
2 In the side menu, click Dashboard.
3 In the product box, click Manage corporate computers. The Corporate Computers page
opens.
next to your user name.
11
Register a Subscription
You can also open this page by expanding Parallels Desktop for Mac in the side menu and clicking Corporate Computers.
4 Select a subscription in the upper section of the page to display the computers that use its
license key. The computers are displayed in the lower section of the page.
• If your subscription has sublicenses, click the triangle icon in front of the subscription name to display them, and then click a sublicense to see computers that were activated using its license key.
5 You may need to scroll the computer list horizontally to see all columns.
6 Click the Show / Hide Columns drop-down menu and select or deselect columns. Columns
that are not selected will not show up in the list.
7 The Actions drop-down menu allows you to:
• Export the computer list to a CSV file.
• Blacklist a computer.
• Deactivate a license on a computer.
Read on to learn more about these actions.
12
Register a Subscription

Export the Computer List to a File

To export the complete computer table to a CSV file, click the Actions drop-down menu and select Export all to a SCV file.

Blacklist a Mac

Blacklisting a Mac deactivates Parallels Desktop on it and makes it impossible to activate the same Mac using the same license key. The only way to activate Parallels Desktop on a blacklisted Mac is to use a different license key.
To blacklist a Mac, select it and then click Actions > Add to blacklist.
To view the list of blacklisted computers, click the View Blacklisted Computers link at the top of the Corporate Computers page. The Blacklisted Computers page opens.
To cancel blacklisting of a computer, select the computer and then click Actions > Remove from the blacklist. The computer can be activated again using the same license key.
13
Register a Subscription

Deactivate Parallels Desktop on a Mac

Deactivating a Parallels Desktop license on a Mac computer disables Parallels Desktop on it. To deactivate a license, select a computer and then click the Actions > Deactivate.
Note: Parallels Desktop for Mac Business Edition will continue to run on the affected computer until the computer checks in with the Parallels Licensing Server. This could be anywhere from a few minutes to seven days. If you want to deactivate the license on a computer immediately, you can log into it and run the following command in Terminal: prlsrvctl deactivate-license
14
C HAPTER 3

Parallels Desktop for Mac Business Edition Features

This chapter describes the Parallels Desktop for Mac Business Edition features.
In This Chapter
Restricting User Actions in Parallels Desktop with a Custom Password .................... 15
Restricting a Virtual Machine Configuration with a
Locking a Virtual Machine on Suspend ..................................................................... 18
Setting an Asset Tag in the Virtual Machine BIOS ..................................................... 19
Using Custom Graphics and Links in the Control Center .......................................... 20
Hiding Developer's Features in Parallels Desktop GUI............................................... 21
Encrypting a Virtual Machine .................................................................................... 22
Running Virtual Machines in the Background ("headless" mode)
Setting an Expiration Date for a Virtual Machine........................................................ 26
Resetting the Guest OS Password ........................................................................... 27
Creating Linked Clones ............................................................................................ 28
NetBoot Support for Virtual Machines....................................................................... 30
Setting Up a Local Update Server ............................................................................ 30
Customizing the Request Support Option ................................................................ 35
Participating in the Customer Experience Program ................................................... 36
Parallels Desktop License Renewal........................................................................... 36
Custom Password ....................... 16
............................... 23

Restricting User Actions in Parallels Desktop with a Custom Password

As an administrator of Parallels Desktop Business Edition, you have the ability to restrict the following user actions in Parallels Desktop:
• Creating a new virtual machine.
• Adding an existing virtual machine.
• Removing a virtual machine.
• Cloning a virtual machine or converting it to a template.
• Opening the Parallels Desktop Preferences dialog.
Parallels Desktop for Mac Business Edition Features
This functionality allows you to set a custom password and specify which user actions from the list above should require it. Once you apply these settings, even the local Mac administrator will not be able to perform these actions without specifying the password that you set.
To set the password and specify the actions:
1 In the Parallels Desktop menu bar, click Parallels Desktop > Preferences.
2 Click the Security tab.
3 Click the Restrict user actions with password: Turn On... button.
4 In the dialog that opens, type a custom password. This becomes the password that will be
required to perform actions that you will select in the next step. Click OK.
5 Back in the Security dialog, select the user action(s) you want to restrict.
6 Close the dialog to apply the settings.
If a Mac user now tries to perform any of the actions that were password-protected (e.g. creating a virtual machine, etc.), they will be required to enter the password. To select or deselect an action in the Parallels Desktop Preferences dialog will also require the password.
The steps described above allow you to set the password and restrict user actions in Parallels Desktop on a particular Mac. If you want to apply these settings on multiple Mac computers in your organization, you can do it using the mass deployment process. For more information, please see Mass Deployment of Parallels Desktop and Virtual Machines (p. 38). Specifically, these options are set in the Configuration Options (p. 43).
Security section of the deploy.cfg file, as described in Changing Deployment

Restricting a Virtual Machine Configuration with a Custom Password

Parallels Desktop Business Edition provides you with the ability to protect the configuration of a virtual machine with a custom password. When a password is set, a Mac user will be required to enter it in order to modify virtual machine settings.
Using the Parallels Desktop graphical user interface to set the password
To set a password in the Parallels Desktop graphical user interface:
1 Open Parallels Desktop and select a virtual machine.
2 On the Parallels Desktop menu bar, select Actions > Configure to open the virtual machine
configuration dialog.
3 Select Security.
4 Click the Prevent changes to settings: Turn On... button.
16
Parallels Desktop for Mac Business Edition Features
5 Enter the password, then enter it again to verify and click OK.
To change or remove the password:
• To change the password, click Prevent changes to settings: Change Password, then enter the old and the new passwords.
• To remove the password, click Prevent changes to settings: Turn Off, then enter the current password to remove the configuration lock.
If the password is set and the user tries to view or modify the virtual machine configuration, they will be required to enter the password.
Using the command line utility to set the password
In addition to the graphical user interface, you can use the prlctl command-line utility to set, reset, and view the password protection of a virtual machine.
To set the password, type the following command in Terminal:
prlctl set "vm_name" --password-to-edit
where vm_name is the virtual machine name in quotes.
You'll be asked to enter a password and then confirm it.
Please enter a new password: Please confirm password:
To change or remove the password, type the following command:
prlctl set "vm_name" --password-to-edit
where vm_name is the virtual machine name in quotes.
You'll be asked to enter the current password.
lease enter current password:
You will then be asked to enter and confirm a new password. To remove the password, leave the line blank and press Enter twice (when asked to enter and confirm the password).
Please enter a new password: Please confirm password:
To view the current protection status, type the following command:
prlctl list "vm_name" -i
The output will look similar to the following:
Encrypted: no Edit restricted: yes
17
Parallels Desktop for Mac Business Edition Features
Using the mass deployment process to set the password
If you are mass deploying Parallels Desktop and one or more virtual machines, you can set the password in the deploy.cfg file. The password will be applied to all virtual machines included in the deployment package.
For more information, please see Mass Deployment of Parallels Desktop and Virtual Machines (p. 38). Specifically, the password is set in the Virtual Machines section o
f the deploy.cfg file
using the vm_password_to_edit parameter, as described in Changing Deployment
Configuration Options (p. 43).
Compatibility with Other Parallels Desktop Versions
The described functionality works only in Parallels Desktop 7 or later. If you set a password in a virtual machine and then open the virtual machine in an earlier version of Parallels Desktop, the protection will NOT work (i.e. the user will be able to view and modify the virtual machine configuration).
You can only set or remove the password in Parallels Desktop Business Edition. However, if the password is set and the virtual machine is opened in the Parallels Desktop Standard Edition, the password will continue to work (i.e the virtual machine configuration will remain locked).

Locking a Virtual Machine on Suspend

To avoid possible security and privacy issues, a suspended Windows virtual machine can be completely locked from user interaction and viewing. When this option is enabled and a virtual machine is suspended, the Windows desktop in the virtual machine window (and in the Parallels Desktop Control Center) is replaced with a black background and the Windows session is interrupted. When the virtual machine is resumed, the Windows session is remained locked and the user will have to enter their user ID and password to unlock it and to see the Windows desktop.
To enable or disable this option:
1 In OS X, open Parallels Desktop and select the desired virtual machine (e.g. the source virtual
machine when preparing it for mass deployment).
2 On the Parallels Desktop menu bar, select Actions > Configure to open the virtual machine
configuration dialog.
3 Click the Security tab.
4 Depending on your needs select or clear the On Suspend: [ ] Always lock Windows option.
5 Close the dialog.
Note: The On Suspend: [ ] Always lock Windows option is available only for virtual machine running Windows with Parallels Tools installed. For all other virtual machines, the option will be hidden.
18
Parallels Desktop for Mac Business Edition Features

Setting an Asset Tag in the Virtual Machine BIOS

Asset tags help identify, control, and track computer assets in an organization. Parallels Desktop for Mac Business Edition provides the ability to set an asset tag in the virtual machine BIOS, which can then be read using the standard tools of the guest operating system. You can set an asset tag using the Parallels Desktop graphical user interface or the prlctl command line utility that comes with Parallels Desktop.
To set an asset tag using the Parallels Desktop GUI:
1 On the Parallels Desktop menu bar, select Actions > Configure to open the virtual machine
configuration dialog.
2 Select Business.
3 Use the Asset tag field to specify the desired tag.
To set an asset tag using the prlctl command line utility, use the following syntax:
prlctl set ID|name --asset-id tag
where ID|name is the virtual machine ID or name, and tag is the asset tag to set.
To obtain the asset tag in Windows, use the WMIC.exe command:
WMIC SystemEnclosure get SMBIOSAssetTag
For the complete syntax of the WMIC utility please see the Microsoft documentation.
Once set, the asset tag never changes. Even if you perform such virtual machine operations as cloning, template manipulation, registering, or any other, the asset tag always stays the same. If you do want to change an existing asset tag for any reason, you can do it manually using of the methods described above.
19
Parallels Desktop for Mac Business Edition Features

Using Custom Graphics and Links in the Control Center

Parallels Desktop Control Center is a part of the Parallels Desktop graphical user interface. It's a window from which a Mac user launches virtual machines. By default, the Control Center displays the list of the available virtual machines, as in the following example:
You can customize the Control Center by specifying a URL to your own HTML document, which will be embedded at the top of the Control Center window. The HTML page can contain text, graphics, and links such as your company logo, some custom text, a link to a support page, etc. The HTML document format doesn't have any specific requirements.
The URL must be specified during the preparation stage of the Mass Deployment process (p. 38). Specific variables in the mass deployment configuration file (deploy.cfg):
• control_center_banner_url
• control_center_banner_height
• control_center_banner_min_width
For the description of how to specify the variables and their values, please see Changing Deployment Configuration Options (p. 43). The
section.
ally, you need to specify the URL string and the HTML page size using the following
variables are described in the Virtual Machines
20
Parallels Desktop for Mac Business Edition Features
The following is an example of Parallels Desktop Control Center displaying a custom banner at the top.
You can download a sample HTML document defining the banner from the following URL:
http://download.parallels.com/desktop/tools/header.zip

Hiding Developer's Features in Parallels Desktop GUI

Some of the features available in Parallels Desktop Business Edition are aimed at software developers using Parallels Desktop as their development platform. The same features are also available in the Parallels Desktop Pro Edition, which is the edition aimed at software development. If your users will not be using these features, you can disable them in the Parallels Desktop graphical user interface. The reason you would want to do it is, some of these features (if used accidentally) may start a debugging session or some other development-specific operation that may disrupt a normal Parallels Desktop operation.
To hide the Parallels Desktop Pro Edition features in the GUI, you need to modify the com.parallels.Parallels Desktop.plist file located in the ~/Library/Preferences folder. The following command-line examples demonstrate how to do it.
To hide the Pro Edition features in the GUI, execute the following command:
defaults write "com.parallels.Parallels Desktop" "Advanced.TraditionalLook" -bool yes
To show the features in the GUI, execute the following:
defaults write "com.parallels.Parallels Desktop" "Advanced.TraditionalLook" -bool no
21
Parallels Desktop for Mac Business Edition Features
After executing the command, you'll need to restart Parallels Desktop for the changes to take effect.

Encrypting a Virtual Machine

A Parallels virtual machine can be encrypted from the Parallels Desktop graphical user interface. You can also use the prlctl command line utility (included with Parallels Desktop) to perform the full set of encryption operations on a virtual machine.
The following encryption command line options are available:
• Encrypt a virtual machine
prlctl encrypt <ID | NAME>
• Decrypt a virtual machine
prlctl decrypt <ID | NAME>
• Change the encryption password
prlctl change-passwd <ID | NAME>
The <ID | NAME> parameter can be either the virtual machine ID or the virtual machine name. When encrypting a virtual machine, you'll be asked to enter a password phrase, which will be used to encrypt the machine. When decrypting a virtual machine, you will be asked to enter the current password. When changing the password, you'll be asked to enter the old password and then the new password.
The encryption password will also be required to perform any other command line operation on an encrypted virtual machine, including starting, stopping, restarting, pausing, suspending, cloning, deleting a virtual machine, etc. For example, to start an encrypted virtual machine, you'll use the following command:
$ prlctl start my_virtual_machine
After executing the command above, you'll be asked to enter the password:
Virtual machine "my_virtual_machine" is encrypted - password required to continue operation Please enter password:
After typing in the correct password, you'll see the following output:
Starting the VM... The VM has been successfully started.
If you need to execute a command remotely without having to enter the password on every Mac, you can send the password via standard input (stdin) as shown in the following example:
$ echo mypass | prlctl start my_virtual_machine Virtual machine 'my_virtual_machine' is encrypted - password required to continue operation Please enter password: Starting the VM...
22
Parallels Desktop for Mac Business Edition Features
The VM has been successfully started.
If you need to provide two passwords (as with the change-passwd command that changes the password), you can save the passwords to a text file and then use the following syntax:
$ cat /tmp/pass | prlctl change-passwd my_virtual_machine Virtual machine 'my_virtual_machine' is encrypted - password required to continue operation Please enter password: Please enter new password: The password has been successfully changed.
The /tmp/pass file in the example above should contain the old password on the first line and the new password on the second line:
$ cat /tmp/pass mypass newpass

Running Virtual Machines in the Background ("headless" mode)

Parallels Desktop Business Edition allows to run virtual machines as background processes without the graphical user interface displayed on the Mac desktop. This is sometimes called the "headless" mode. Parallels Desktop also runs as a service in this mode and can start the virtual machines automatically on Mac startup.
With this functionality you can run multiple virtual machines on a single high-performance Mac providing virtual machine access to your users. The users can connect to their designated virtual machines using VNC, RDP, SSH, or other remote control tools.
This chapter describes how to set up and run Parallels Desktop and the virtual machines as background processes.

System Requirements

To run Parallels Desktop as a service, you need:
• Parallels Desktop for Mac Business Edition build 11.1.0-32138 or later.
• OS X 10.7.4 or later.

Configuring Virtual Machines to Run in the Background

To enable the headless mode, you need to configure at least one virtual machine to run in the background. To do so:
23
Parallels Desktop for Mac Business Edition Features
1 Open the virtual machine configuration dialog and then select Options > Startup and
Shutdown.
2 Select Custom.
3 The headless mode is automatically turned on if one of the following options are set for at least
one virtual machine:
• Start Automatically: When Mac starts. This tells Parallels Desktop to start a virtual
machine in the background even before the user is logged on.
• On Windows Close: Keep running in background. When this option is set, the virtual
machine will keep running in the background even if the Parallels Desktop GUI is closed.
4 After making the changes, restart Parallels Desktop GUI to enable the headless mode.
Other custom options that you can set in this window are as follows:
24
Parallels Desktop for Mac Business Edition Features
• Startup delay: sets the automatic startup delay, in second. If you have multiple virtual machines with no autostart delay set, they will start concurrently when you start or restart the host computer. By using the autostart delay you can reduce the load on the host during startup. The autostart delay option can also be helpful when one or more virtual machines depend on a service running in another virtual machine. By setting the autostart delay option for virtual machines, you can ensure that the virtual machine providing the service is up and running before the other virtual machines are started. You can also set the startup delay using a command line interface (see below).
• Startup View: select Headless if you want the virtual machine to start with no GUI showing up.
• On Mac Shutdown: select Suspend to suspend the virtual machine when the Mac is shut
down or restarted.
Using the Command-Line Interface
You can use the following command to enable or disable the headless mode:
prlsrvctl set --headless-mode-feature <on|off>
To set an automatic startup delay for a virtual machine, execute the following command:
prlctl set ID|name --autostart-delay number
where ID|name is the virtual machine ID or name, and number is the startup delay in seconds.

Managing the Parallels Desktop Service

You can manage the Parallels Desktop service using launchctl, the standard OS X command line utility that allows you to manage daemons, applications, processes, etc. The name of the Parallels Desktop service is com.parallels.desktop.launchdaemon. See usage examples below.
Examples of using launchctl:
To see if the Parallels Desktop service is running:
$ sudo launchctl list | grep parallels 8421 - com.parallels.desktop.launchdaemon
To stop the Parallels Desktop service:
$ sudo launchctl stop com.parallels.desktop.launchdaemon
To start the service
$ sudo launchctl start com.parallels.desktop.launchdaemon
25
Parallels Desktop for Mac Business Edition Features
If Parallels Desktop is running as a service and you want to change the Parallels Desktop or a virtual machine preferences (or if you simply want to see a virtual machine window), you can open the Parallels Desktop GUI at any time by double-clicking the Parallels Desktop icon. While the application is running, you can work with it as usual. When you are done, you can close the virtual machine window and the Parallels Desktop GUI. The Parallels Desktop service will keep running in the background. The virtual machine will keep running if configured to do so.

Setting an Expiration Date for a Virtual Machine

You can set an expiration date for a virtual machine. This can be a useful option if you are preparing a virtual machine for a contractor (or a third party user) and want to make sure that it works only for the duration of the contract.
To set an expiration date for a virtual machine:
1 In OS X, open Parallels Desktop and select the desired virtual machine.
2 On the Parallels Desktop menu bar, select Actions > Configure to open the virtual machine
configuration dialog.
3 Select the Security tab.
4 An expiration date can only be set on an encrypted virtual machine. If your machine is not yet
encrypted, click Encryption: Turn On, specify an encryption password, and click OK. Make sure to record the password or you will not be able to start the virtual machine. Wait until the encryption process finishes.
5 To set an expiration date for the virtual machine, click Expiration Date: Set Date, specify a
password and click OK. Make sure to record the password to be able to change the expiration settings later. You should keep this password secret to prevent the prospective user of the virtual machine from changing the expiration date.
6 On the next screen, specify the following options:
• Do not allow this VM start after: specifies the virtual machine expiration date.
• Contact info: specifies the system administrator email, phone number, or other contact
information. This information will be included in the message that will be displayed to the user when the virtual machine is about to expire. You can include each piece of information on a separate line.
• Time Server: specifies the time server URL. The virtual machine expiration time will be
checked against this server. The default time server is https://parallels.com.
• Date Check Frequency: specifies how often the date and time should be verified against
the time server. You can specify it in minutes, hours, or days.
• If unable to check date, use VM for: specifies for how long the virtual machine should be
kept working if the time server cannot be reached. For the duration of this period, the virtual machine will continue to check the date. If it succeeds before this period is over, the counter is reset and the virtual machine will continue to work normally.
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Parallels Desktop for Mac Business Edition Features
7 Click OK when done entering the expiration info.
8 To modify the current expiration date or password, click Expiration Date: Change Date or
Expiration Date: Change Password and enter the new values.
Note: When giving the virtual machine to a contractor, make sure to provide them the encryption password, which is needed to start the virtual machine. Please note that this is NOT the expiration date password you've set in step 5 above. This is the password you set when you encrypted the virtual machine.
When the expiration date approaches, the virtual machine user will be notified as follows: a message will begin to be displayed seven days before the expiration date. The message will be shown to the user every 24 hours and additionally on every virtual machine startup. Once the date is reached, the virtual machine will be locked, so the user will not be able to start or resume it anymore.

Resetting the Guest OS Password

If a virtual machine user forgets the password of their guest OS account (e.g. a Windows user password), it can be reset outside the virtual machine using the command line interface.
To use this functionality the following conditions must be met:
• Parallels Tools must be installed in the guest OS.
• The virtual machine must be running. If it's stopped, start it and wait until you see the guest OS
login prompt.
• Depending on your requirements, the following option can be selected or cleared in the virtual machine configuration dialog: Security > Require Password to: [ ] Change guest OS password via CLI. If this option is selected, you will be asked to provide the OS X administrator password to change the guest OS password from the OS X command line. If the option is cleared, the administrator password will not be required. By default, the option is cleared.
To reset the password, open Terminal in OS X and enter the following command:
prlctl set vm_name --userpasswd username:new_password
where:
• vm_name is the virtual machine name. To obtain the list of virtual machines installed on this Mac, type prlctl list.
• username is the guest OS user name.
• new_password is the new password.
Example:
prlctl set My_Win8_VM --userpasswd JohnDoe:A12345
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Parallels Desktop for Mac Business Edition Features
If the Require Password to: Change guest OS password via CLI option is selected in the virtual machine configuration dialog (see above), the command will display the following text and prompt:
Only host administrator can change user password in the guest OS. Confirm your administrator credentials. Username:
Enter the name of the OS X user with administrative privileges and press the Enter key. Type the user password and press Enter again.
Once the new password is set, you can use it to log in to the guest OS.

Creating Linked Clones

A clone is a copy of an existing virtual machine. The result of a cloning operation is a virtual machine that is identical to the original virtual machine. A clone has the same configuration as the original, the same guest OS, and the same installed applications and data. The only exception is the virtual machine UUID and the MAC address of the network adapter, which are reset automatically during the cloning operation.
There are two types of cloning operations in Parallels Desktop:
• Full cloning. When you create a full clone, all of the files comprising the virtual machine are copied, so the new virtual machine is created as completely independent from the original virtual machine.
• Linked cloning. A linked clone is a virtual machine that shares the read-only areas of the virtual hard disk with the original virtual machine. When you create a linked clone, the original virtual hard disk file is not copied. Instead, both the original virtual machine and the clone use the same hard disk with the shared areas of it marked as read-only. When any of the virtual machines make any changes to the hard disk data, a new independent storage is created for it which only that virtual machine can read from and write to. The unaffected areas of the original virtual hard disk are continued to be shared between the original virtual machine and the clone. This functionality allows to save a considerable amount of disk space on the Mac hosting the virtual machines.
Before Your Create a Linked Clone
Before creating a linked clone of an existing virtual machine, make sure that:
• The original virtual machine is stopped.
• The original virtual machine is not encrypted.
Creating a Linked Clone
To create a linked clone of an existing virtual machine:
1 In Parallels Desktop Control Center, select the virtual machine you want to clone.
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Parallels Desktop for Mac Business Edition Features
2 On the Parallels Desktop menu bar, select File > New Linked Clone.
3 Select the target folder. By default, Parallels Desktop saves clones in the Documents >
Parallels folder.
4 Click Save to begin the cloning operation.
Creating a Linked Clone from a Snapshot
In addition to creating a linked clone from the current virtual machine state, you can choose an existing snapshot of a virtual machine and create a linked clone from it. You don't have to revert the original virtual machine to the snapshot to create a clone from it.
To create a linked clone from a snapshot:
1 In Parallels Desktop Control Center, select the virtual machine you wish to clone and open its
window.
2 On the Parallels Desktop menu bar, select Actions > Manage Snapshots.
3 Select a snapshot from which you wish to create a clone.
4 Click the New Linked Clone button.
5 Select the target folder. By default, Parallels Desktop saves clones in the Documents >
Parallels folder.
6 Click Save to begin the cloning operation.
Working with Linked Clones
From the user point of view, a linked clone is just like a regular, completely separate virtual machine. A user of a linked clone doesn't see what's going on in the original virtual machine and other linked clones, and vice versa. The virtual hard disk sharing and independent storage management is done in the background transparently to the virtual machine users.
When you create a linked clone, the virtual hard disk is shared almost completely between the original and the clone(s). When the users of the linked clones begin to install applications, add data, or make any other changes inside their virtual machines, a dedicated disk space is allocated to them where these changes are saved. As a result, the total usage of the host's disk space increases. Still, a large portion of the system and application data on the original virtual disk continues to be shared between the original virtual machine and the linked clones, so the overall host's disk usage remains much lower than if these were independent virtual machines. Provided that the virtual machine users don't do anything drastic, like installing a different operating system, the linked clones normally take much less disk space than independent virtual machines.
For the linked clones to work, the following must be observed:
• You must not delete the original virtual machine. If you do, the linked clones will no longer work.
• If you created a linked clone from a virtual machine snapshot, the snapshot and its entire history
in the original virtual machine must not be deleted.
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Parallels Desktop for Mac Business Edition Features
• You should not encrypt the original virtual machine if there are existing linked clones that were created from it. Doing so will make the linked clones inoperable.

NetBoot Support for Virtual Machines

NetBoot is a technology from Apple that allows to boot a Mac computer from a network. Parallels Desktop Business Edition supports NetBoot for virtual machines running OS X or macOS Sierra as a guest OS. Using this functionality, you can boot a virtual machine from a network and install (or reinstall) a desired operating system from Apple on it.
To NetBoot a virtual machine, the following requirements must be met:
1 A NetBoot server hosting a NetBoot or NetInstall image must be set up and running on your
network. If you don't know how to do it, read the NetBoot documentation from Apple first.
2 Parallels virtual machines can boot from the default image only, which means that the default
image on the NetBoot server must be the one you want your VMs to boot from.
3 A virtual machine must be of the OS X type. When creating a new virtual machine, select OS X
as the operating system.
4 Unlike physical Macs, a virtual machine will NOT boot from a network if you hold down the N
key. A virtual machine will choose a boot device (hard disk, CD/DVD, network) according to its boot order list. The following scenarios need to be considered:
• If a virtual machine is blank (OS X is not installed on it yet), it will try to boot from the hard
disk first, then the CD/DVD, and then the network (the default boot order). Since there's no OS X on either the hard disk or the CD/DVD, the boot from these devices will fail and the VM will boot from the network (NetBoot).
• If a virtual machine has a bootable disk but you want it to boot from a network instead,
Network must be specified as the first item in the VM's boot order list. To make this modification, open the virtual machine configuration dialog, select Hardware > Boot Order, and then move the Network item to the top of the boot order list.
5 When the virtual machine boots from the network, you can use the standard OS X utilities to
install or reinstall the operating system on it.

Setting Up a Local Update Server

With the Business Edition of Parallels Desktop you can set up a local update server on your network from which Mac users can get Parallels Desktop updates. Updates are released periodically to improve the performance and reliability of Parallels Desktop. To reduce Internet traffic when downloading updates, you can set up a local update server, download the available updates to it, and then set up individual Macs on your network to take the updates from it instead of the Internet. Read on to learn about setting a local update server.
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