Parallels Desktop Enterprise Edition - 10.0 Administrator’s Guide

Parallels Desktop Enterprise Edition

IT Administrators Guide

Build 10.1.2-28859 or later

Parallels IP Holdings GmbH Vordergasse 59 8200 Schaffhausen Switzerland Tel: + 41 52 632 0411 Fax: + 41 52 672 2010 www.parallels.com Copyright © 1999-2014 Parallels IP Holdings GmbH and 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/trademarks. Microsoft, Windows, Windows Server, Windows NT, Windows Vista, and MS-DOS are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Apple, Mac, the Mac logo, Mac OS, iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, FaceTime HD camera and iSight 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 ...............................................................................................................6

Enterprise Features Overview............................................................................................ 6

Parallels Business Account and License Management ...........................................8

Registering a Parallels Business Account and Adding License Keys .................................. 8

Deploying Parallels Desktop Enterprise Edition on Macs.................................................. 10

Managing Mac Computers Using a Parallels Business Account....................................... 10

Signing In and Viewing License Key and Computer Information ............................................ 11

Deactivating a License........................................................................................................... 12

Blacklisting a Computer......................................................................................................... 12

Exporting Computer Information to a CSV File....................................................................... 14

Documentation and Support ................................................................................................. 15

Parallels Desktop Enterprise Edition Features.......................................................16

Setting Asset Tag in Virtual Machine BIOS ......................................................................16

Customizing Parallels Desktop Control Center User Interface .......................................... 17

Protecting Virtual Machine Configuration ......................................................................... 18

Locking Virtual Machine on Suspend............................................................................... 20

Encrypted Virtual Machines ............................................................................................. 20

Running Virtual Machines in the Background (head-less mode).......................................22

System Requirements ........................................................................................................... 22

Configuring Parallels Desktop to Run as a Service................................................................. 22

Configuring Virtual Machines to Run in the Background ........................................................ 24

Managing the Parallels Desktop Service ................................................................................ 26

Configuring Expiring Virtual Machine ............................................................................... 27

Resetting Guest OS User Password................................................................................ 28

Creating Linked Clones ................................................................................................... 29

NetBoot Support for OS X Virtual Machines .................................................................... 31

Setting Up Local Update Server ...................................................................................... 31

Installing Web Server............................................................................................................. 32

Creating Parallels Update XML File........................................................................................ 32

Configuring Individual Macs................................................................................................... 34

Contents

Customizing Request Support Option ............................................................................. 36

Participating in Customer Experience Program................................................................ 37

Parallels Desktop License Renewal ................................................................................. 37

Mass Deployment of Parallels Desktop and Virtual Machines .............................. 39

Prerequisites ................................................................................................................... 39

Supported Deployment Tools.......................................................................................... 40

Preparing Parallels Desktop Deployment Package ..........................................................41

Adding Parallels Desktop Installation Image........................................................................... 41

Adding Virtual Machines ........................................................................................................ 42

Supplying Parallels Desktop License Key .............................................................................. 44

Changing Deployment Configuration Options........................................................................ 45

Deploying Parallels Desktop and Virtual Machines on Macs ............................................ 50

Deploying with Parallels Mac Management for SCCM 2012 .................................................. 50

Deploying with Apple Remote Desktop ................................................................................. 52

Deploying OS X Image Using NetBoot................................................................................... 56

Parallels Desktop Command Line Interface...........................................................57

Parallels Desktop Management ....................................................................................... 57

General Syntax...................................................................................................................... 57

prlsrvctl info........................................................................................................................... 58

prlsrvctl install-license............................................................................................................ 59

prlsrvctl deactivate-license..................................................................................................... 59

prlsrvctl net............................................................................................................................ 59

prlsrvctl problem-report......................................................................................................... 62

prlsrvctl set............................................................................................................................ 63

prlsrvctl shutdown ................................................................................................................. 64

prlsrvctl statistics ................................................................................................................... 65

prlsrvctl usb........................................................................................................................... 65

prlsrvctl user list..................................................................................................................... 67

Virtual Machine Management .......................................................................................... 68

General Syntax...................................................................................................................... 68

prlctl backup ......................................................................................................................... 69

prlctl backup-delete............................................................................................................... 69

prlctl backup-list.................................................................................................................... 70

prlctl capture ......................................................................................................................... 71

Contents

prlctl change-passwd ............................................................................................................ 71

prlctl convert.......................................................................................................................... 72

prlctl clone............................................................................................................................. 72

prlctl create ........................................................................................................................... 73

prlctl delete............................................................................................................................ 76

prlctl encrypt, decrypt............................................................................................................ 76

prlctl enter ............................................................................................................................. 77

prlctl exec.............................................................................................................................. 78

prlctl installtools ..................................................................................................................... 78

prlctl list ................................................................................................................................. 79

prlctl pause, suspend, resume............................................................................................... 80

prlctl problem-report.............................................................................................................. 80

prlctl register, unregister ........................................................................................................ 81

prlctl restore .......................................................................................................................... 82

prlctl server............................................................................................................................ 82

prlctl set ................................................................................................................................ 83

prlctl snapshot....................................................................................................................... 96

prlctl snapshot-delete............................................................................................................ 97

prlctl snapshot-list ................................................................................................................. 97

prlctl snapshot-switch ........................................................................................................... 98

prlctl start, stop, restart, reset, status .................................................................................... 98

Index ...................................................................................................................... 100

C HAPTER 1

Introduction

Welcome to Parallels Desktop for Mac Enterprise Edition. Built on the world’s best-selling, toprated, most-trusted solution for running Windows applications on the Mac, Parallels Desktop Enterprise Edition adds the capabilities that help IT administrators and purchasing agents save time and money.

In This Chapter

Enterprise Features Overview ................................................................................... 6

Enterprise Features Overview

With Parallels Desktop for Mac, your Mac users can seamlessly run both Windows and OS X 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 Enterprise Edition Features Highlights

• Simplified license management.

• Maintain corporate compliance with restricted virtual machines.

• Set an expiration date for a virtual machine.

• Run virtual machines in the background (“head-less” mode).

• Mass deployment of virtual machines and management through Microsoft SCCM.

• Business-level support including 24/7 phone and email support options.

Parallels Desktop Enterprise Edition Feature Matrix

See how Parallels Desktop Enterprise Edition compares to Parallels Desktop standard edition.

Feature

Enterprise Edition

Standard Edition

World’s most powerful, best-performing solution for running Windows applications on a Mac

X X

Introduction

Full support for OS X 10.9 Mavericks, 10.10 Yosemite and Windows 8.1

Coherence view mode allows to run Windows applications on a Mac, just like if they were native Mac applications

In-product downloads of security and anti-virus trial software for Windows and Mac

Licensing and Support

License management via Licensing Portal (coming Fall 2014)

Simple deployment with unified volume license key

Business class support with 24/7 priority phone and email access

Annual subscription includes free upgrades

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

X X

Restrict end-users from creating new virtual machines

Create expiring virtual machines

Enforce USB device policies

Configurable policies via SCCM and Parallels Mac Management

Advanced

Run virtual machines in "head-less" mode

Support for mass-deployment of virtual machines

Ability to assign Asset ID to a virtual machine BIOS

NetBoot and FileVault 2 support in Mac X OS virtual machines

Configurable boot delay for a virtual machine

Customizable Parallels Control Center user interface

C HAPTER 2

Parallels Business Account and License Management

Parallels Business Account provides functionality to help you better manage your Parallels Desktop Enterprise Edition licenses.

With Parallels Business Account you can:

• Register you Parallels Desktop Enterprise Edition license keys.

• Automatically add licensed computer information to the account during Parallels Desktop

Enterprise Edition deployment.

• See the detailed license key information including the number of licenses it provides, the number of licenses used and remaining, and the license key expiration date.

• See the list of computers with active licenses.

• Export the computer list to a CSV file.

• Deactivate a license on a computer.

• Blacklist a computer.

• Download Parallels Desktop Enterprise Edition documentation and the latest build.

• Contact Parallels Support.

The chapter describes how to register a Parallels Business Account, add a license key to it, and then manage licensed computers in your organization.

In This Chapter

Registering a Parallels Business Account and Adding License Keys ......................... 8

Deploying Parallels Desktop Enterprise Edition on Macs........................................... 10

Managing Mac Computers Using a Parallels Business Account................................ 10

Registering a Parallels Business Account and Adding License Keys

To register a Parallels Business Account, enter the following URL into your Web browser:

https://account.parallels.com/#/register_ba

Parallels Business Account and License Management

The URL opens the Business Account registration page:

Use the page to provide information about yourself and your company and click Register.

Once the account is registered, you will see the following page.

Parallels Business Account and License Management

Click the Manage license keys link located in the Parallels Desktop for Mac Enterprise Edition section. On the page that opens, click the Add License Key tab.

Enter your license key in the box provided and then click the Add License Key button. The license information will appear on the License Keys tab page. If you are not redirected to the page automatically, click the License Keys tab.

Deploying Parallels Desktop Enterprise Edition on Macs

After you register your Parallels Business Account and add one or more Parallels Desktop Enterprise Edition license keys to it, you can deploy Parallels Desktop Enterprise Edition on Macs in your organization. Please read the Mass Deployment of Parallels Desktop and Virtual Machines section (p. 39) to learn how to do it. Once Parallels Desktop Enterprise is deployed on a Mac, the Mac information will be automatically section describes how you can manage your Macs using your Parallels Business Account.

added to your Parallels Business Account. The following

Managing Mac Computers Using a Parallels Business Account

This section describes how to use your Parallels Business Account to manage licensed Mac computers in your organization.

Parallels Business Account and License Management

Signing In and Viewing License Key and Computer Information

If you are not currently signed in to your Parallels Business Account, please do so by entering to following URL into your web browser:

https://account.parallels.com

The URL opens the Sign In page.

Enter your Parallels Business Account email address and password and click Sign In.You will see your Parallels Business Account page:

The License Keys tab page contains your license key information and the list of licensed computers. You may need to scroll the list horizontally to see the complete computer information. Please read the following sections to learn how to work with licensed computers using your Parallels Business Account.

Parallels Business Account and License Management

Deactivating a License

To deactivate a license on a Mac computer:

1 Make sure you are on the License Keys tab page.

2 In the computer list, select the computer on which you want to deactivate the license.

3 Click the Actions drop-down menu and then click Deactivate.

Note: Parallels Desktop Enterprise Edition will continue to run on the affected computer until the computer checks in with the 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 in to it and run the following command in Terminal:

prlsrvctl deactivate-license

After the license is deactivated, it goes back to the license key pool and can be used to activate Parallels Desktop Enterprise Edition on a different (or the same) computer. You can monitor the available licenses for a given license key at the top of the License Keys tab page.

Blacklisting a Computer

If you want to deactivate a given license key on a computer without the possibility of re-activating it later, you can add it to the blacklist. Please note that Parallels Desktop Enterprise Edition will continue to run on the affected computer until the computer checks in with the licensing server. This could be anywhere from a few minutes to seven days.

To blacklist a computer:

1 On the License Keys tab page, select the computer that you want to blacklist.

Parallels Business Account and License Management

2 Click the Actions drop-down menu and then click Add to blacklist.

To view the list of blacklisted computers, click the Blacklisted Computers tab. To remove a computer from the list, select it and then click Remove from blacklist in the Actions drop-down menu.

Parallels Business Account and License Management

Exporting Computer Information to a CSV File

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

Parallels Business Account and License Management

Documentation and Support

The Support tab page provides download links to the latest build of Parallels Desktop Enterprise Edition and the documentation. The page also provides Parallels contact information that you can use to talk to or email with Parallels Support.

C HAPTER 3

Parallels Desktop Enterprise Edition Features

This chapter explains how to use the advanced features of Parallels Desktop Enterprise Edition.

In This Chapter

Setting Asset Tag in Virtual Machine BIOS................................................................ 16

Customizing Parallels Desktop Control Center User Interface ................................... 17

Protecting Virtual Machine Configuration .................................................................. 18

Locking Virtual Machine on Suspend........................................................................ 20

Encrypted Virtual Machines ...................................................................................... 20

Running Virtual Machines in the

Configuring Expiring Virtual Machine......................................................................... 27

Resetting Guest OS User Password ......................................................................... 28

Creating Linked Clones ............................................................................................ 29

NetBoot Support for OS X Virtual Machines.............................................................. 31

Setting Up Local Update Server ............................................................................... 31

Customizing Request Support Option ...................................................................... 36

Participating in Customer Experience Program ......................................................... 37

Parallels Desktop License Renewal........................................................................... 37

Background (head-less mode) ................................ 22

Setting Asset Tag in Virtual Machine BIOS

Asset tags help identify, control, and track computer assets in the organization. Parallels Desktop Enterprise 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 Parallels Desktop GUI:

1 On the Parallels Desktop menu bar, select Actions > Configure to open the virtual machine

configuration dialog.

2 Select Hardware > CPU & Memory.

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:

Parallels Desktop Enterprise Edition Features

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.

Customizing Parallels Desktop Control Center User Interface

Parallels Desktop Control Center is a part of the Parallels Desktop graphical user interface. It's a window that lists registered virtual machines that the Mac user can run and use. By default, the design of this window (graphics, text, etc) is provided by Parallels and looks like the following:

You can customize the design by specifying a URL to your own HTML document that will be displayed as a banner at the top of the window. The HTML page can contain text, graphics, and links such as your company logo, a welcome message, 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. 39). Specific variables in the mass deployment configuration file (deploy.cfg):

• control_center_banner_url

• control_center_banner_height

• control_center_banner_min_width

ally, you need to specify the URL string and the HTML page size using the following

Parallels Desktop Enterprise Edition Features

For the description of how to specify the variables and their values, please see Changing Deployment Configuration Options (p. 45). The variables are described in the Virtual Machines section.

The following is an exa top.

You can download a sample HTML document defining the banner from the following URL:

mple of Parallels Desktop Control Center displaying a custom banner at the

http://download.parallels.com/desktop/tools/header.zip

Protecting Virtual Machine Configuration

Parallels Desktop Enterprise Edition provides the ability to password-protect the configuration settings of a virtual machine. When deploying Parallels Desktop, you can set the password in the source virtual machine before adding it to the deployment package. The deployed virtual machines will retain the password and the Mac users will not be able to modify the configuration without providing the correct password.

Using Parallels Desktop Graphical User Interface to Set the Password

The password is set using the Parallels Desktop graphical user interface as follows:

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 Security. 18

Parallels Desktop Enterprise Edition Features

4 Click the Restrict Editing: Turn On button.

5 Enter the password, then enter it again to verify and click OK.

To change or remove the password:

• To change the password, click Restrict Editing: Change Password, then enter the old and the new passwords.

• To remove the password, click Restrict Editing: 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, a dialog will be displayed asking to provide the password. Without the correct password, the user will be denied access to the virtual machine configuration dialog.

Using Command Line Tools 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.

Please 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

Parallels Desktop Enterprise Edition Features

Compatibility with Other Parallels Desktop Versions

The configuration protection 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 the Enterprise Edition of Parallels Desktop. However, if the password is set and the virtual machine is opened in the Standard Edition of Parallels Desktop, the password will continue to work (i.e the virtual machine configuration will remain locked).

Locking 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.

Encrypted Virtual Machines

A Parallels virtual machine can be encrypted using 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

Parallels Desktop Enterprise Edition Features

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... 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

Parallels Desktop Enterprise Edition Features

Running Virtual Machines in the Background (head-less mode)

Parallels Desktop Enterprise Edition allows to run virtual machines as background processes without the graphical user interface displayed on the Mac desktop. This is sometimes called the head-less mode. Parallels Desktop is also run as a background process (service) in this mode and is able to 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 via VNC, RDP, SSH, or other remote 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 build 9.0.23350 or later.

• OS X 10.7.4 or later.

Configuring Parallels Desktop to Run as a Service

By default, Parallels Desktop is installed as an OS X application with a graphical user interface. To configure it to run as a service, do the following:

Parallels Desktop Enterprise Edition Features

1 Open Parallels Desktop and click Parallels Desktop > Preferences in the menu bar. The

preferences window opens.

2 On the General tab page, select the On Mac Startup: [ ] Start Parallels Desktop as a

service option.

3 Select the On Quit: [ ] Disable Resume for Parallels Desktop option. When this option is

selected, a virtual machine will be shut down according to its startup and shutdown settings. If this option is cleared, the virtual machine will be either suspended or stopped regardless of its startup and shutdown settings or the user input. The rule of thumb is, if you want your virtual machines to continue running after the Parallels Desktop application is closed, you should select the Disable Resume for Parallels Desktop option.

To better understand this feature, consider the following scenario:

1. Parallels Desktop is running as a service.

2. The Mac user opens the Parallels Desktop application (the graphical user interface) to

change some setting or to look at the virtual machine window.

Parallels Desktop Enterprise Edition Features

3. The user then closes the virtual machine window. Depending on the virtual machine startup

and shutdown settings (see Configuring Virtual Machines to Run in the Background (p.

24)), it will be either kept running in the background, suspended, stopped, or a message will be displayed

4. Suppose the message above is displayed and the user clicks Keep Running to keep the

virtual machine running in the background. If the user then closes the Parallels Desktop application and the Disable Resume for Parallels Desktop option is cleared, the virtual machine may be suspended or stopped depending on the OS X system preferences settings. This can happen regardless of the virtual machine startup and shutdown settings or the user input. The OS X system setting that control this behavior can be found in System Preferences > General > Closing windows when quitting an application.

to the user asking what to do.

This option is disabled by default in OS X 10.7 and enabled in OS X 10.8. The Disable Resume for Parallels Desktop option, when selected, overrides this OS X setting for Parallels Desktop (other OS X applications are not affected). Therefore, if you don't want your virtual machines to be suspended or stopped, you should either disable the Closing

windows when quitting an application setting in OS X preferences or select the Disable Resume for Parallels Desktop option in Parallels Desktop preferences.

4 Restart the Parallels Desktop application to start the Parallels Desktop service.

You now need to configure your virtual machines to run in the background. The following section describes how to do it.

Configuring Virtual Machines to Run in the Background

To configure a virtual machine to run in the background, follow these steps:

1 Open the virtual machine configuration dialog.

Parallels Desktop Enterprise Edition Features

2 Click Options and then select Startup and Shutdown.

3 In the Start Automatically menu, select When Mac starts. This tells the Parallels Desktop

service to start the virtual machine automatically when OS X starts.

4 In the Startup delay field, set 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).

5 In the On Mac Shutdown menu, select Suspend. This tells the Parallels Desktop service to

suspend the virtual machine when the Mac is shut down or restarted.

6 In the On Windows Close menu, select Keep running in background (or Ask me what to do

if you want a dialog displayed when you close the virtual machine window). This way the virtual machine will not be accidentally shut down or suspended when you open and close its window while Parallels Desktop is running as a service.

7 Set the rest of the options according to your usual preferences.

8 Close the virtual machine configuration dialog and start the virtual machine.

Parallels Desktop Enterprise Edition Features

You may now close the virtual machine window and the Parallels Desktop application. This will only close the graphical user interface. The Parallels Desktop service and the virtual machines will continue to run in the background (provided the virtual machines and Parallels Desktop were configured correctly as described in this and previous sections of this guide).

Setting Startup Delay Using CLI

To set an automatic startup delay for a virtual machine using a command line interface:

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 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

If Parallels Desktop is running as a service and you want to change the Parallels Desktop or a virtual machine preferences (or you simply want to see a virtual machine window), you can open the Parallels Desktop application (the graphical user interface) 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 application. The Parallels Desktop service will keep running in the background. The virtual machine will keep running if configured to do so (described in the previous sections of this document).

You can also view and modify Parallels Desktop and virtual machine settings using the standard Parallels Desktop command line tools. This may be helpful if you can't access the Mac directly (e.g. it is located in a different building, it doesn't have a monitor and keyboard, etc.). Simply connect to the Mac using SSH (or some other client) and use the prlsrvctl utility to manage Parallels Desktop and prlctl utility to manage virtual machines. The documentation for both utilities is included with Parallels Desktop and is available via command line.

Parallels Desktop Enterprise Edition Features

If Parallels Desktop is running as a service and you want to change it to run as an application, open the Parallels Desktop application (by double clicking the Parallels Desktop icon) and modify the Start Parallels Desktop as a service option as described in the previous section. Restart the Parallels Desktop application for the changes to take effect.

Configuring Expiring 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.

7 Click OK when done entering the expiration info.

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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 Guest OS User Password

If a virtual machine user forgets the password of their guest OS account (e.g. 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

• 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

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.

Parallels Desktop Enterprise Edition Features

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.

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.

Parallels Desktop Enterprise Edition Features

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.

• 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.

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