Parallels Remote
Application Server
Administrator's Guide
v16
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Contents
Introduction ............................................................................................................. 10
About Parallels Remote Application Server ...................................................................... 10
About This Guide ............................................................................................................ 11
Terms and Abbreviations Used in This Guide .................................................................. 11
Installing Parallels Remote Application Server ...................................................... 14
System Requirements ..................................................................................................... 14
Hardware Requirements ........................................................................................................ 14
Software Requirements ......................................................................................................... 15
Install Parallels Remote Application Server ...................................................................... 17
Log In and Activate Parallels RAS .................................................................................... 18
Getting Started with Parallels Remote Application Sever ..................................... 21
The Parallels RAS Console .............................................................................................. 21
Set Up a Basic Parallels RAS Farm ................................................................................. 23
Add an RD Session Host Server ............................................................................................ 24
Publish Applications .............................................................................................................. 25
Invite Users ............................................................................................................................ 26
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 30
Parallels RAS Farm and Sites ................................................................................. 31
Connecting to a Parallels RAS Farm ................................................................................ 31
About Sites ..................................................................................................................... 32
Viewing Sites in the RAS Console ................................................................................... 33
Adding a Site to the Farm ............................................................................................... 35
Managing Sites ............................................................................................................... 37
Managing Farm Administrative Accounts ......................................................................... 38
Adding an Administrator Account .......................................................................................... 38
Configuring Administrator Accounts Permissions .................................................................. 39
Managing Administrator Accounts ......................................................................................... 40
Using Instant Messaging for Administrators ........................................................................... 41
Joining Customer Experience Program ................................................................................. 42
Contents
RD Session Hosts .................................................................................................... 43
Viewing RD Session Host Servers ................................................................................... 43
Adding an RD Session Host Server ................................................................................. 44
Installing RAS RD Session Host Agent Manually .................................................................... 46
Configuring an RD Session Host ..................................................................................... 47
Check RAS RD Session Host Agent Status ........................................................................... 47
Change RD Session Host Site Assignment ............................................................................ 48
View and Modify RD Session Host Properties ....................................................................... 48
Grouping RD Session Hosts ............................................................................................ 53
Using Scheduler .............................................................................................................. 53
Managing Sessions ......................................................................................................... 55
Managing Logons ........................................................................................................... 57
Publishing from an RD Session Host ............................................................................... 58
Publishing a Desktop from an RD Session Host .................................................................... 58
Publishing an Application from an RD Session Host .............................................................. 59
Publishing a Web Application from an RD Session Host ........................................................ 60
Publishing a Network Folder from an RD Session Host ......................................................... 61
Publishing a Document from an RD Session Host ................................................................. 62
Publishing Containerized Applications ............................................................................. 63
Viewing Published Resources Hosted by RD Session Hosts ........................................... 66
VDI Hosts ................................................................................................................. 67
Supported Hypervisors ................................................................................................... 67
Adding a VDI Host .......................................................................................................... 68
Checking the RAS VDI Agent Status ..................................................................................... 70
Installing RAS VDI Agent Manually ......................................................................................... 71
Change VDI Host Site Assignment ........................................................................................ 72
Modifying VDI Host Configuration .................................................................................... 72
Parallels RAS Templates ................................................................................................. 74
Creating a RAS Template ...................................................................................................... 75
Configuring a RAS Template ................................................................................................. 76
How Guest VMs Are Created From a Template ..................................................................... 80
Managing Guest VMs ............................................................................................................ 80
RAS Template Maintenance .................................................................................................. 83
Contents
VDI Host Pool Management ............................................................................................ 85
Adding and Deleting Pools .................................................................................................... 85
Adding and Deleting Pool Members ...................................................................................... 86
Configuring Guest VMs in a Pool ........................................................................................... 86
Using a Wildcard to Filter VMs ............................................................................................... 88
Persistent Guest VMs ...................................................................................................... 88
Publishing from a Guest VM ............................................................................................ 89
Publishing a Desktop from a Guest VM ................................................................................. 89
Publishing an Application from a Guest VM ........................................................................... 90
Publishing a Web Application from a Guest VM ..................................................................... 91
Publishing a Network Folder from a Guest VM ...................................................................... 92
Publishing a Document from a Guest VM .............................................................................. 93
Viewing VDI Host Summary ............................................................................................. 94
Remote PCs ............................................................................................................. 95
Adding a Remote PC ...................................................................................................... 95
Installing Remote PC Agent Manually .............................................................................. 96
Configuring a Remote PC ............................................................................................... 97
Viewing Remote PC Summary ........................................................................................ 98
Publishing from a Remote PC ......................................................................................... 98
Publishing a Desktop from a Remote PC ............................................................................... 99
Publishing an Application from a Remote PC ........................................................................ 99
Publishing a Web Application from a Remote PC ................................................................ 100
Publishing a Network Folder from a Remote PC .................................................................. 100
Publishing a Document from a Remote PC ......................................................................... 101
Contents
Managing Published Resources ........................................................................... 102
General Management Tasks .......................................................................................... 102
Manage Published Applications .................................................................................... 104
Manage Published Desktops ......................................................................................... 106
Manage Published Documents ..................................................................................... 108
Manage Folders ............................................................................................................ 110
Using Filtering Rules ...................................................................................................... 111
Checking Effective Access ............................................................................................ 114
Specifying Icon Settings ................................................................................................ 115
Quick Keypad ............................................................................................................... 116
RAS Secure Client Gateways ................................................................................ 118
RAS Secure Client Gateway Overview ........................................................................... 118
Adding a RAS Secure Client Gateway ........................................................................... 119
Manually Adding a RAS Secure Client Gateway ............................................................ 120
Checking the RAS Secure Client Gateway Status ......................................................... 120
Configuring RAS Secure Client Gateway ....................................................................... 121
Enable or Disable a Gateway ............................................................................................... 121
Set the Gateway Mode and Forwarding Settings ................................................................. 121
Set IP Address for Incoming Connections ........................................................................... 122
Configure RAS Secure Client Gateway Network Options ..................................................... 122
Configure SSL Encryption on a Gateway ............................................................................. 123
Configure HTML5 Connectivity ............................................................................................ 126
Enable Support for Wyse Thin Client OS ............................................................................. 128
Filter Access to a RAS Secure Client Gateway .................................................................... 128
Specifying a URL for Web Requests .................................................................................... 128
Contents
Gateway Tunneling Policies ........................................................................................... 129
Viewing Gateway Overview ........................................................................................... 129
Parallels HTML5 Client .......................................................................................... 131
Configure HTML5 Connectivity ...................................................................................... 131
Configure HTML5 Client Themes .................................................................................. 131
Open Parallels HTML5 Client ......................................................................................... 133
Main Menu Options ....................................................................................................... 135
Launching Remote Applications and Desktops ............................................................. 135
Using the Toolbar .......................................................................................................... 136
Using the Toolbar on Desktop Computers ........................................................................... 137
Using the Toolbar on Mobile Devices ................................................................................... 139
Using the Remote Clipboard ......................................................................................... 141
RAS Web Portal ..................................................................................................... 143
RAS Web Portal: Prerequisites and Installation .............................................................. 143
Log In to RAS Web Portal ............................................................................................. 145
Farm Settings ................................................................................................................ 146
General Settings ........................................................................................................... 149
RAS Publishing Agents ......................................................................................... 155
Viewing and Configuring RAS Publishing Agents ........................................................... 155
Secondary Publishing Agents ........................................................................................ 157
Managing Secondary Publishing Agents ....................................................................... 159
Load Balancing ...................................................................................................... 160
Resource Based & Round Robin Load Balancing .......................................................... 160
Load Balancing Advanced Settings ............................................................................... 162
High Availability Load Balancing .................................................................................... 162
Deploying a Parallels HALB Appliance ................................................................................. 163
Configuring HALB in the RAS Console ................................................................................ 164
Changing HALB Appliance Password .................................................................................. 165
Contents
Universal Printing .................................................................................................. 167
Managing Universal Printing Servers.............................................................................. 167
Universal Printing Filtering ............................................................................................. 168
Font Management ......................................................................................................... 169
Universal Scanning ................................................................................................ 171
Managing Universal Scanning ....................................................................................... 171
Managing Scanning Applications................................................................................... 172
User Device Management ..................................................................................... 173
Inviting Users to Connect to Parallels RAS .................................................................... 173
Enabling Help Desk Support ......................................................................................... 174
Monitoring Devices ........................................................................................................ 175
Windows Device Groups ............................................................................................... 176
Managing Windows Devices ......................................................................................... 178
Windows Desktop Replacement.......................................................................................... 182
Scheduling Windows Devices & Groups Power Cycles.................................................. 184
Managing Client Policies ............................................................................................... 185
Add a New Client Policy ...................................................................................................... 186
Configure Connection Properties ......................................................................................... 187
Configure Client Policy Options ........................................................................................... 195
Configure Control Settings .................................................................................................. 197
Configure Gateway Redirection ........................................................................................... 198
RAS Reporting ....................................................................................................... 200
Deploy and Configure RAS Reports .............................................................................. 200
Advanced Settings .............................................................................................................. 202
RAS Reports ................................................................................................................. 203
Connection and Authentication Settings .............................................................. 206
RAS Publishing Agent Connection Settings ................................................................... 206
Remote Session Settings .............................................................................................. 207
Restricting Access by Parallels Client Type and Build Number ...................................... 208
Second Level Authentication ......................................................................................... 208
Using RADIUS ..................................................................................................................... 209
Using SafeNet ..................................................................................................................... 210
Using Deepnet ..................................................................................................................... 212
Contents
Configuring Exclusion Rules ................................................................................................ 226
Managing Parallels Remote Application Server ................................................... 228
Parallels Remote Application Server Status ................................................................... 228
Licensing ...................................................................................................................... 228
Configuring Monitoring Counters and Email Alerts ......................................................... 229
Configuring Monitoring Counters ......................................................................................... 230
Configuring SMTP Server Connection for System Notifications via Email ............................. 230
Viewing Parallels RAS Configuration Changes ............................................................... 231
Configuring Auditing Logging ........................................................................................ 231
Parallels Remote Application Server Logging Per Server ..................................................... 232
Parallels Remote Application Server Logging Per Site ......................................................... 232
Maintenance and Backup ............................................................................................. 233
Exporting and Importing Farm Settings via Command Line ........................................... 234
Problem Reporting and Troubleshooting ....................................................................... 235
Appendix ................................................................................................................ 238
Port Reference .............................................................................................................. 238
Index ...................................................................................................................... 243
C HAPTER 1
Introduction
Welcome to Parallels Remote Application Server, an integrated solution to virtualize your
applications, desktops and data. Parallels Remote Application Server publishes applications and
delivers remote and virtual desktops to any device on your network, anywhere.
In This Chapter
About Parallels Remote Application Server ............................................................... 10
About This Guide ..................................................................................................... 11
Terms and Abbreviations Used in This Guide ............................................................ 11
About Parallels Remote Application Server
Parallels Remote Application Server provides vendor independent virtual desktop and application
delivery from a single platform. Accessible from anywhere with platform-specific clients and web
enabled solutions, like the Parallels RAS HTML5 Gateway, Parallels Remote Application Server
allows you to publish remote desktops, applications and documents within a virtual environment,
improving desktop manageability, security and performance.
Parallels Remote Application Server extends Windows Remote Desktop Services by using a
customized shell and virtual channel extensions over the Microsoft RDP protocol. It supports all
major hypervisors from Microsoft, VMware, and other vendors enabling the publishing of virtual
desktops and applications to Parallels Client.
The product includes powerful universal printing and scanning functionality, as well as high capacity
resource based load balancing and management features.
With Parallels Client Manager Module for Parallels Remote Application Server you can also centrally
manage user connections and PCs converted into thin clients using the free Parallels Client.
How does it work?
When a user requests an application or a desktop, the system finds a least loaded RD Session
Host or a guest VM on one of the least loaded VDI hosts and establishes an RDP connection with
it. Using Microsoft RDP protocol, the requested application or desktop is presented to the user.
Users can connect to Parallels Remote Application Server using Parallels Client (available at no
charge), which can run on Windows, Linux, macOS, Android, Chrome, and iOS. Users can also
connect via an HTML5 browser or Chromebook.
Introduction
As newer versions of Windows keep on being developed as time goes by, you need to defend the
migration cost to your business. Parallels Remote Application Server can help. Desktop
replacement allows you to extend the lifespan of your hardware and delay migration to the latest
OSs to a time that suits you best. The Parallels Remote Application Server solution allows you to be
very flexible: you can lock machine configurations on the user side, placing your corporate data in
an extremely secure position; or you can opt to allow users to run some local and remote
applications. Parallels Client Desktop Replacement is able to reduce the operability of the local
machine by disabling the most common local configuration options, while guaranteeing the same
level of service and security afforded by thin clients, directly from your existing PCs.
About This Guide
This guide is intended for system administrators responsible for installing, configuring, and
administering Parallels Remote Application Server. This guide assumes that the reader is familiar
with Microsoft Remote Desktop Services and has an intermediate networking knowledge.
Terms and Abbreviations Used in This Guide
The following terms and abbreviations are used in this guide:
Term/Abbreviation Description
Parallels Remote Application Server Console.
RAS Console
Category
Farm
The RAS console is the primary interface you use to
configure, manage, and run Parallels Remote
Application Server. As an administrator, you use the
RAS console to manage farms, sites, RD Session
Hosts, published resources, client connections, etc.
In the RAS console, categories are displayed in the
left pane of the main window. Each category consists
of a number of settings related to a specific task or
operation.
The categories include Start, Farm, Load Balancing,
Publishing, Universal Printing, Universal Scanning,
Connection, Client Manager, and others.
A Parallels RAS farm is a logical grouping of objects
for the purpose of centralized management. A farm
configuration is stored in a single database which
contains information about all objects comprising the
farm.
A farm consists of at least one site, but may have as
many sites as necessary.
Site
A site consists of at least one RAS Publishing Agent,
RAS Secure Client Gateway (or multiple gateways),
and RAS agents installed on RD Session Hosts, VDI
hosts, and Windows PCs. Note that a given RD
11
Introduction
Session Host, VDI host, or PC can be a member of
Licensing Site
RAS Secure Client Gateway
HTML5 Client
Publishing
only one site at any given time.
The site that manages Parallels RAS licenses in a
Parallels RAS farm. By default, the server on which
you install Parallels RAS becomes the Licensing Site.
If you create additional sites later, you can designate
any one of them as the Licensing Site.
There can be only one Licensing Site in a given farm.
All other sites are called secondary sites.
Note: Parallels RAS updates or upgrades must be
applied to the Licensing Site first.
RAS Secure Client Gateway tunnels all traffic needed
by applications on a single port and provides secure
connections.
HTML5 client allows users to view and launch remote
applications and desktops in a web browser. The
HTML5 client functionality is a part of RAS Secure
Client Gateway.
The act of making items installed on a Remote
Desktop Server, VDI host or Remote PC available to
the users via the Parallels Remote Application Server.
RAS Publishing Agent
RAS RD Session Host Agent
Remote PC Agent
RAS Guest Agent
RAS VDI Agent
RAS Web Portal
RDS
RAS Publishing Agent provides load balancing of
published applications and desktops.
RAS RD Session Host Agent collects information from
the MS RDS hosts required by the Publishing Agent
and transmits to it when required.
Remote PC Agent collects information from Remote
PC hosts required by the Publishing Agent and
transmits to it when required.
RAS Guest Agent collects information from the VDI
desktop required by the Publishing Agent and
transmits to it when required.
RAS VDI Agent collects information from the Parallels
Remote Application Server Infrastructure and is
responsible for controlling VDI through its native API.
It also acts as a gateway between the Secure Client
Gateway or the client in direct mode and the RDP
server from the guest VM or VDI depending on VDI
implementation.
RAS Web Portal is a web page with auto client
detection and a client distribution point. It provides
access to published resources via web browser.
Remote Desktop Services is a Microsoft Windows
component that makes applications and the entire
desktop of a server running RDS accessible to a
remote client device that supports Remote Desktop
Protocol (RDP). RDS replaced Terminal Services
beginning with Windows 2008 R2.
12
HALB
Parallels RAS PowerShell
Introduction
High Availability Load Balancing (HALB) is an
appliance that provides load balancing for RAS
Secure Client Gateways. Parallels HALB virtual
appliance is available for the following hypervisors:
Hyper-V, VMware, XenServer. HALB deployment is
per site, which means that a site must have at least
one Parallels HALB appliance deployed. Multiple
HALB deployments can run simultaneously, one
acting as the master and others as slaves. The more
HALB deployments a site has, the lower the
probability that end users will experience downtime.
Master and slave HALB deployments share a
common or virtual IP address (VIP). Should the master
HALB deployment fail, a slave is promoted to master
and takes its place.
Parallels RAS PowerShell allows you to perform
Parallels RAS administrative tasks using PowerShell
cmdlets. You can execute cmdlets in the Windows
PowerShell console or you can write scripts to
perform common Parallels RAS administrative tasks.
A complete guide to Parallels RAS PowerShell is
available on the Parallels website together with other
Parallels RAS documentation.
13
C HAPTER 2
Installing Parallels Remote Application Server
This chapter describes how to install and activate Parallels Remote Application Server.
In This Chapter
System Requirements .............................................................................................. 14
Install Parallels Remote Application Server ................................................................ 17
Log In and Activate Parallels RAS ............................................................................. 18
System Requirements
Before installing Parallels RAS, please verify that your hardware and software meet or exceed
hardware and software requirements described below. Please note that although Parallels RAS can
be used in Workgroup environment, Parallels recommends using Active Directory to manage users,
groups, and machine accounts via group polices.
Hardware Requirements
Parallels Remote Application Server is extensively tested on both physical and virtual platforms. The
minimum hardware requirements approved to run Parallels Remote Application Server are outlined
below.
• Physical Machines – Dual Core Processor and a minimum of 4GB RAM.
• Virtual Machines – Two Virtual Processors and a minimum of 4GB of virtual hardware memory.
The server hardware requirements to install and configure Parallels Remote Application Server can
vary according to end-user requirements.
Typically for an installation of 30 users or under, Parallels Remote Application Server can be
installed on one high specification server and the resources published directly from it. For more
than 30 users, multiple servers may be required.
The below should be considered during the planning stage of a Parallels Remote Application Server
deployment:
Installing Parallels Remote Application Server
• High specification servers should be used, consisting of multiple CPU cores, a high
specification disk transfer rate and plenty of RAM.
• A hypervisor-based virtual machine can be used as long as the resources required by the end-
users are calculated accordingly.
• RD Session Hosts should not exceed 50 users per RD Session Host in usage.
• The Secure Client Gateway should not exceed 200 users per server for incoming connections.
• When planning VDI Hypervisor resource requirements, extra requirements such as RAM usage
per virtual machine and disk space should be taken into account.
For port requirements, please see the Port Reference section (p. 238).
Software Requirements
RAS Publishing Agent and RAS Secure Client Gateway
RAS Publishing Agent and RAS Secure Client Gateway are supported on the following operating
systems:
• Windows Server 2008
• Windows Server 2008 R2
• Windows Server 2012
• Windows Server 2012 R2
• Windows Server 2016
As a note, RAS Secure Client Gateway runs as a 64-bit process and takes advantage of multi-core
and multi-CPU hardware.
Note: Parallels Remote Application Server should NOT be installed on a domain controller or any other
server where a DHCP server is running.
RAS RD Session Host Agent
RAS RD Session Host Agent is supported on the following operating systems:
• Windows Server 2003 SP1 and newer
• Windows Server 2008
• Windows Server 2008 R2
• Windows Server 2012
• Windows Server 2012 R2
• Windows Server 2016
15
Installing Parallels Remote Application Server
RAS VDI Agent
RAS VDI Agent is supported on the following operating systems:
• Windows Server 2008
• Windows Server 2008 R2
• Windows Server 2012
• Windows Server 2012 R2
• Windows Server 2016
VMware, Nutanix, and Xenserver can use Windows-based VDI agent installed on Windows Server
2012 R2 and Windows Server 2016
Parallels RAS PowerShell
Windows Server 2008 with Service Pack 2. Windows Management Framework 3.0 must also be
installed.
Parallels RAS Console
• Windows Server 2008 and newer
• Windows 7 and newer
RAS Guest Agent
• Windows XP SP3 and newer. Please note that only Windows workstations are supported. The
component cannot be installed on a Windows server.
Remote PC Agent
• Windows XP SP3 and newer. Please note that only Windows workstations are supported. The
component cannot be installed on a Windows server.
Parallels Client
Parallels Client is approved for the following operating systems (both 32 bit and 64 bit systems are
supported, where applicable):
• Windows XP SP3, Vista, 7, 8.x, 10
• Windows Server 2003 SP1 and newer
• Windows Embedded
• macOS 10.7.3 and newer
• iOS 7.0 and newer (iPhone and iPad)
16
Installing Parallels Remote Application Server
• Android 2.2 and newer
• Chrome OS
• Ubuntu 12.04 LTS
• Ubuntu 14.04 LTS
• Open Suse 12.3
• OpenSuse 13.2
• Fedora 20
• Xubuntu 15.10
• Raspbian OS Wheezy
• Raspbian OS Jessie
Install Parallels Remote Application Server
To install Parallels Remote Application Server:
1 Before proceeding, make sure that you are logged in to the computer where you'll be
performing the installation with an account that has administrative privileges.
2 Download the latest version of Parallels Remote Application Server from the Parallels website.
3 Double click the RASInstaller.msi file to launch the Parallels Remote Application Server
installation wizard.
4 Read the info on the Welcome page of this wizard and click Next.
5 Review and approve the end-user license agreement and click Next.
6 Specify the location where Parallels Remote Application Server will be installed and click Next.
7 Select the installation type:
• Parallels Remote Application Server. Run the default installation, which will install all
necessary components for a fully functional Parallels RAS farm. Note that you must run the
installer on one of the supported Windows Server operating systems to perform the full
Parallels RAS installation.
• Custom. Select and install only the components that you require. You can specify the
components you wish to install after clicking Next. The list of components available for
installation depends on the type of the operating system on which the installer is running.
See the Note below for the explanation.
17
Installing Parallels Remote Application Server
Note: The core Parallels RAS components (RAS Publishing Agent, RAS Secure Client Gateway, RAS
VDI Agent, RAS RD Session Host Agent) can only be installed on a Windows Server OS (but not on a
Windows desktop). The installer automatically detects the type of the Windows OS on which it is
running. If it's a Windows desktop (e.g. Windows 10) then the core components will not be available for
installation. Components that can be installed on both Windows Server and Windows desktop operating
systems include Parallels RAS Console, Parallels RAS PowerShell, RAS Guest Agent, Remote PC
Agent.
8 Click Next.
9 Review the notice on the Important Notice wizard page. If there's a port conflict on your
computer, this information will be displayed here. You can resolve the conflict later.
10 Click Next.
11 On the Firewall Settings page, select Automatically add firewall rules to configure the
firewall on this computer for Parallels RAS to work properly.
12 Click Next and then click Install.
13 Wait for the installation to finish and click Finish.
When you need to install a Parallels RAS component on a different server, run the installation
wizard again, select Custom when asked to select the installation type, and choose the
component you wish to install. For example, you can install Parallels RAS Console on any computer
from which you would like to administer Parallels Remote Application Server. For this, you would
run the installer on that computer and select just the RAS Console to install.
Log In and Activate Parallels RAS
You administer Parallels Remote Application Server from the Parallels RAS Console. After you've
installed Parallels RAS, you need to run the console and activate your new Parallels RAS farm.
Start the Parallels RAS Console
By default, the Parallels RAS Console is launched automatically after you click Finish on the last
page of the installation wizard. To launch the console manually, navigate to Start > Apps >
Parallels and click on Parallels Remote Application Server Console.
When the Parallels RAS Console is launched for the first time, you are presented with the Parallels
Remote Application Server dialog where you need to specify the following information:
• Farm: A Parallels RAS farm to connect to. Enter the FQDN or IP address of the server where
you have RAS Publishing Agent installed. If you've installed all core RAS components
(Publishing Agent, Secure Client Gateway, etc.) on the same server, enter that server name or
address. If you've installed all Parallels RAS components on the local server, you can enter
"Localhost".
18
Installing Parallels Remote Application Server
• Username: A user account with administrative privileges on the server where Parallels RAS is
installed (usually a domain or local administrator). The account name must be specified using
the UPN format (e.g. administrator@domain.local). The specified user will be
automatically configured as the Parallels Remote Application Server administrator with full
access rights.
• Password: The user account password.
• If you select the Remember credentials option, this dialog will not be shown the next time you
launch the Parallels RAS Console.
Click the Connect button to connect to the specified Parallels RAS farm.
Sign in to Parallels My Account
To activate Parallels RAS, you must register for a Parallels business account. After you logged in to
Parallels RAS, you'll see the Sign In to Parallels My Account dialog. If you already have an
account, type the email address and password you used to register the account and click Sign In.
If you don't have a Parallels business account, you can register for one as follows:
1 In the Sign In to Parallels My Account dialog, click Register. The Register Parallels My
Account dialog opens.
If you have an existing 2X Remote Application Server license and are upgrading to the new
Parallels Remote Application Server, the Register Parallels My Account dialog will be prefilled
with the information from your existing license. If you don't have an existing license (or if you've
installed Parallels Remote Application Server on a new server), you need to fill in the registration
information as described in the next step.
2 Enter your name and email address, choose and type a password, and enter your company
info (all fields are required).
3 Click Register to register an account. This will create a personal account for yourself and a
business account for your organization to which you will be assigned as administrator.
If you are upgrading an existing 2X license, the Migrating license key window will open and your
license will be migrated to the new Parallels Remote Application Server format. When the migration
is completed, your upgraded license key will be registered with Parallels My Account and your
Parallels Remote Application Server will be activated.
If you don't have an existing 2X license, you should see the confirmation message saying that your
account has been registered successfully. Click OK to close the message box. In the Sign In to
Parallels My Account dialog, provide the email address and password and click Sign In. You'll
see the Activate Product dialog.
Activate Parallels Remote Application Server
After you sign in to Parallels My Account, the Activate Product dialog opens asking you to activate
the Parallels RAS farm.
19
Installing Parallels Remote Application Server
If you already have a Parallels RAS license key, select the Activate using license key option and
enter the key in the field provided. You can click the button next to the field to see the list of
subscriptions and/or permanent license keys you have registered in Parallels My Account. If the list
is empty, it means that you don't have any subscriptions or license keys and need to purchase one
first.
Note: You can manage your Parallels RAS license using the Licensing category in the Parallels RAS
console. The management tasks include viewing the license information, switching to a different Parallels
My Account, and activating the Parallels RAS farm using a different license key. For more information,
please see the Licensing section (p. 228).
If you don't have a Parallels RAS subscription or license key, you have the following options:
• Purchase a subscription online by clicking the Purchase a license link.
• Activate Parallels RAS as a trial by selecting the Activate trial version option.
After entering a license key (or selecting to activate a trial version), click Activate. You should see a
message that the Parallels RAS farm was activated successfully. Click OK to close the message
box. The Parallels RAS Console opens where you can administer Parallels Remote Application
Server.
The first dialog that you see informs you that you have no servers configured that can be used to
host published resources. This means that to begin using Parallels RAS, you need at least one RD
Session Host, VDI Host, or a Remote PC configured. We'll talk about configuring a Parallels RAS
farm in the next chapter. For now, click OK to close the message box. You will then see the
Applying Settings dialog. Wait for the initial configuration of Parallels RAS to complete and click
OK. You will now see the main Parallels RAS Console window where you can begin configuring the
Parallels RAS farm.
Read on to learn how to quickly add an RD Session Host, publish resources, and invite your users
to Parallels RAS.
20
C HAPTER 3
Getting Started with Parallels Remote Application Sever
This chapter will help you get started with Parallels Remote Application Server. Read it to learn how
to use the Parallels RAS Console and how to set up a simple RAS environment.
In This Chapter
The Parallels RAS Console ....................................................................................... 21
Set Up a Basic Parallels RAS Farm ........................................................................... 23
The Parallels RAS Console
The Parallels RAS Console is a Windows application that you use to configure and administer
Parallels Remote Application Server.
Getting Started with Parallels Remote Application Sever
Parallels Remote Application Server Console Layout
The Parallels RAS Console consists of the following sections:
This section lists categories. Selecting a category will populate the right pane with
elements relevant to this category.
This section becomes available only for the Farm and the Publishing categories.
The navigation tree allows you to browse through the objects related to that
category.
This section displays the selected object or category properties, such as servers in
a farm or published application properties.
This information bar displays the name of the site you are currently logged into and
your user account name. Please also note the Press Apply to commit the new
settings message in the middle (in red). The message appears when you make any
changes in the console and reminds you that you have to commit these changes to
Parallels Remote Application Server. Click the Apply button (at the bottom of the
screen) to commit the changes.
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Getting Started with Parallels Remote Application Sever
The information bar at the bottom of the screen is used to display the most recent
console notification (if one is available).
Set Up a Basic Parallels RAS Farm
In this section, we'll set up a basic Parallels RAS farm where all required components run on a
single server.
To set up a Parallels RAS farm:
1 Log in to the Parallels RAS Console.
2 In the console, select the Start category. This category gives you access to three wizards that
you can use to easily perform essential tasks, such as adding RD Session Hosts, publishing
applications, and inviting users to Parallels RAS.
Read on to learn how to add an RD Session Host server (p. 24).
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Getting Started with Parallels Remote Application Sever
Add an RD Session Host Server
First, you need to add an RD Session Host server to the farm. In this tutorial, we'll add the local
server on which Parallels RAS is installed.
To add an RD Session Host server to the farm:
1 Click the Add RD Session Hosts item. The Add RD Session Hosts wizard opens.
2 Select one or more servers. You can also type a server name in the edit box at the bottom of
the page and then click the plus-sign icon. In this tutorial, we install all Parallels RAS
components on a single server, so you can type "localhost".
3 Click Next.
4 On the next page, specify the following options:
• Add firewall rules. Add firewall rules required by Parallels RAS in Windows running on the
server.
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Getting Started with Parallels Remote Application Sever
• Install RDS role. Install the RDS role on the server if it's not installed. You should always
select this option.
• Enable Desktop Experience. Enable the Desktop Experience feature in Windows running
on the server. This option is enabled only if the Install RDS role option (above) is selected.
The option applies to Windows Server 2008 R1/R2 and Windows 2012 R1/R2 on which the
Desktop Experience feature is not enabled by default.
• Restart server if required. Automatically restart the server if necessary. You can restart the
server manually if you wish.
• Add server(s) to group. Add the server (or servers) to a group. Select the desired group in
the list box located below this option. Groups are described in detail in the Grouping RD
Session Hosts (p. 53) section. If you are just learning how to use this wizard, you can skip
this option.
5 Click Next.
6 The next page allows you to add users and groups to the Remote Desktop Users group in
Windows running on the server. This is necessary for your Parallels RAS users to be able to
access published resources hosted by an RD Session Host. To specify users and/or groups,
select the option provided and then click the [+] icon. In the Select Users or Groups dialog,
specify a user or a group and click OK. The selected user/group will be added to the list on the
wizard page.
Note: If you skip this step and your users are not members of the Remote Desktop Users group on the
RD Session Host server, they will not be able to access resources published from this server. If you
wish, you cay add users to the group using the standard Windows tools. For more information, please
consult the Microsoft Windows documentation.
7 Click Next.
8 On the next page, review the settings and click Next.
9 The Install RAS RD Session Host Agent dialog opens. Follow the instructions and install the
agent. When the installation is finished, click Done to close the dialog.
10 Back in the wizard, click Finish to close it.
If you would like to verify that the RD Session Host server has been added to the farm, click the
Farm category (below the Start category in the left pane of the Parallels RAS Console window) and
then click RD Session Hosts in the navigation tree (the middle pane). The server should be
included in the RD Session Hosts list. The Agent State column may display a warning message. If
it does, reboot the server. The Agent State column should now say, "Agent OK", which means
that your RD Session Host is functioning properly.
Read on to learn how to publish an application from an RD Session Host server (p. 25).
Publish Applications
Now that you have an RD Session Host server in the farm, you can publish applications from it.
To publish an application:
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Getting Started with Parallels Remote Application Sever
1 In the Parallels RAS Console, select the Start category and click the Publish Applications item
in the right pane.
2 The Publish Applications wizard opens.
3 If you have more than one RD Session Host server, a page will be displayed where you can
select one or more servers from which the application should be published. Select one or more
servers and click Next.
4 On the next page, select one or more applications you want to publish.
If you have more than one RD Session Host server and selected more than one server on the
previous screen, the Show applications not available on all target servers option becomes
enabled. If the option is cleared (default), the folder tree will contain applications that are
available on each and every server that you selected. If the option is enabled, the tree will
contain applications that may be available on some server(s), but not on the others.
5 Click Next. Review the summary information and click Next again.
6 Click Finish when ready.
To verify that an application has been successfully published, select the Publishing category in the
RAS Console. The application should be included in the Published Resources list (the middle
pane).
Invite Users
Your Parallels RAS farm is now fully operational. You have an RD Session Host and published
application(s). All you need to do now is invite your users to install the Parallels Client software on
their devices and connect to the Parallels RAS farm.
To invite users:
1 In the Parallels RAS Console, select the Start category and click the Invite Users item.
26
2 The Invite Users wizard opens:
Getting Started with Parallels Remote Application Sever
3 Specify the mailbox information which should be used to send invitation emails to users:
• Mailbox Server: Enter the mailbox server name. For example, mail.company.com:500
• Sender Address: Enter the email address.
• TLS / SSL: Choose whether to use the TLS/SSL protocol.
• SMTP server requires authentication: Select this option if your SMTP server requires
authentication. If it does, also type the username and password in the fields provided.
4 In the Test Email section, type one or more email addresses to which a test email should be
sent (separate multiple address with a semicolon). Click the Send Test Email button to send
the email.
5 Click Next.
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Getting Started with Parallels Remote Application Sever
6 On the next page of the wizard, specify target devices and connection options:
• In the target devices list, select the types of devices to send an invitation to. Each target
device of a particular type will receive an email with instructions on how to download, install,
and configure the Parallels Client software on that device type.
• In the Public Gateway IP field, specify the RAS Secure Client Gateway FQDN or IP
address. Please note that this can be a public IP address so it can be reached by a remote
user. You can click the [...] button to select a gateway from the list.
• In the Connection Mode drop-down list, select the RAS Secure Client Gateway connection
mode. Please note that SSL modes require the gateway to have SSL configured. More
information can be found in the Configuring RAS Secure Client Gateway (p. 121) section.
• Click the Advanced button to open the Advanced Settings dialog. This dialog allows you
to specify a third-party credential provider component. If you use such a component to
authenticate your users, specify its GUID in this dialog. For more information, see Configure
Client Policy Options > Single Sign-On (p. 195).
7 Click Next.
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Getting Started with Parallels Remote Application Sever
8 On the next page, specify the email recipients. Click the [...] button to select users or groups.
9 Review the invitation email template displayed in the Review the invitation e-mail box. You
can modify the template text as needed. The template also uses variables, which are explained
below.
• %RECIPIENT% — Specifies the name of a recipient to whom the email message is
addressed.
• %SENDER% — The sender's email address that you specified in the first step of this wizard
when you configured the outgoing email server settings.
• %INSTRUCTIONS% — Includes a script for automatic configuration of Parallels Client and a
link that will run it.
• %MANUALINSTRUCTIONS% — Includes instructions for manual configuration of Parallels
Client.
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Getting Started with Parallels Remote Application Sever
The variables are defined dynamically depending on the type(s) of the target devices and other
settings. Normally, you should always include them in the message, so your users will receive all
the necessary instructions and links. To preview the message, click the Preview button. This
will open the HTML version of the message in a separate window. This is the email message
that your users will receive.
10 Click Next, review the settings that you specified, and click Next again to send the invitation
email to the selected users.
After you send the invitation email to your users, they'll be able to follow the instructions in it and
install Parallels Client on their devices. They will then be able to connect to Parallels Remote
Application Server and use the application that you published for them.
Conclusion
In this tutorial, we have configured a simple Parallels RAS farm with a single RD Session Host and
one published application. We then configured a mailbox for outgoing emails and sent an invitation
email to end users with instructions on how to install Parallels Client, connect to the Parallels RAS
farm, and run the published application. Essentially, we've created a fully functional Parallels RAS
farm serving remote applications to end users.
If you wish, you can repeat the tutorial and add more RD Session Host servers, publish more
applications, or send an invitation email to users who use different types of devices. The
instructions remain essentially the same.
The rest of this guide explains in detail how to configure and use various features of Parallels
Remote Application Server.
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C HAPTER 4
Parallels RAS Farm and Sites
Parallels RAS farm is a logical grouping of objects for the purpose of centralized management. A
farm configuration is stored in a single database which contains information about all objects
comprising the farm. A site is the next level grouping in the farm hierarchy which contains servers
and other objects providing connection and remote application services.
In This Chapter
Connecting to a Parallels RAS Farm ......................................................................... 31
About Sites .............................................................................................................. 32
Viewing Sites in the RAS Console ............................................................................. 33
Adding a Site to the Farm ......................................................................................... 35
Managing Sites ........................................................................................................ 37
Managing Farm Administrative Accounts .................................................................. 38
Connecting to a Parallels RAS Farm
When you run the Parallels RAS installer and install core Parallels RAS components, you are
creating a Parallels RAS farm. If later you install Parallels RAS on another server, you create one
more farm. The Parallels RAS Console, which is used to administer a farm, is capable of connecting
to any farm that you have in your organization and allow you to administer the farm it is connected
to.
When you run the Parallels RAS Console for the first time, you specify the Parallels RAS farm you
wish to connect to. We've already talked about this in the Log In and Activate Parallels RAS
section (p. 18). If you need to connect to a different farm while in the RAS Console, do the
following:
1 Click on the arrow icon next to your user name in the upper right-hand corner of the RAS
Console window and then choose Log Off in the context menu.
2 After you are logged off, you will see the dialog where you can select a farm you wish to
connect to.
3 Enter the FQDN or IP address of the server where you have the RAS Publishing Agent installed
or click the [...] button for more options. Read below for details.
4 Enter the user account name and password to connect to the farm and click Connect. Once
the connection is established, the Parallels RAS Console will re-appear and will be connected to
the specified farm.
Parallels RAS Farm and Sites
Customizing how the Parallels RAS Console connects to a farm
When connecting to a farm (step 3 in the instructions above), you can click the [...] button next to
the Farm field to define how the Parallels RAS Console connects to a farm. The button opens a
dialog, which is described below.
The left pane of the dialog lists known Parallels RAS farms. Select a farm you wish to connect to. If
a farm is no longer relevant, you can remove it from the list by clicking the [-] icon above the list.
The right pane of the dialog has the following elements:
Site: Displays the name of the Licensing Site in the selected farm.
Master Publishing Agent: Displays the name of the master RAS Publishing Agent to which the
RAS Console connects by default.
Check Connection (button). Click the button to verify that the RAS Console can connect to the
specified RAS Publishing Agent.
Alternative Publishing Agents: Lists one or more alternative RAS Publishing Agents. If the master
RAS Publishing Agent is not available (for any reason), the RAS Console will try to connect to an
alternative Publishing Agent. You can add an alternative Publishing Agent to the list by clicking the
[+] icon and then entering its hostname or IP address. The columns in the list are as follows:
• Publishing Agent. RAS Publishing Agent hostname or IP address.
• State. Indicates whether the RAS Publishing Agent is functioning properly.
• Site. Site name to which the RAS Publishing Agent belongs.
• Priority. Indicates whether it's a master or secondary RAS Publishing Agent. For more
information, see the RAS Publishing Agents chapter (p. 155).
Renaming a farm
To change a farm name, select the Farm category in the Parallels RAS Console and then select the
Farm node in the middle pane. Click the Rename button in the right pane (next to the Farm name
field) and enter a new name.
About Sites
A Parallels RAS farm consists of at least one site, but may have as many sites as necessary.
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Parallels RAS Farm and Sites
Sites are often used to separate management and/or location functions. For example, by creating a
site, you can delegate permissions to a site administrator without granting them full farm
permissions. Or you can have separate sites for different physical locations with the ability to copy
the same settings to each site while using RD Session Hosts, VDI hosts, or PCs that are closer to
end users or (depending on your needs) to back-end servers. For instance, it would make sense for
a client/server application querying a database to be published from an RD Session Host which is
located closer to the database server.
Each site is completely isolated from other sites within the same farm. The farm simply groups the
sites logically and stores configuration properties of each site (and the objects that comprise it) in a
single database. Sites don't communicate with each other and don't share any objects or data.
The only exception to this rule is the RAS Licensing Site which periodically communicates with
other sites to obtain statistics.
Individual object settings in a given site can be replicated to all other sites. This does not mean that
settings will be shared between sites. The settings that you choose will simply be applied to other
sites. For more information, see the Managing Sites section (p. 37).
When you install Parallels Remote Application Server, a farm with a single site is created
automatically. This first site becomes the RAS Licensing Site and the host for the main Parallels
RAS configuration database. When you add more sites to the farm, the data in this database is
automatically synchronized with every site that you add. When changes are applied to a particular
site, the main configuration database is automatically updated to reflect the changes.
Each site must have at least the following components installed in order to publish remote
applications and desktops for end users:
• Master RAS Publishing Agent
• RAS Secure Client Gateway
• RD Session Host, VDI, or PC
When you install Parallels RAS using default installation options, the master RAS Publishing Agent
and the RAS Secure Client Gateway are automatically installed on the server on which you perform
the installation. You can then add one or more RD Session Hosts to the site to host published
resources. You can also add more sites to the farm if needed and configure individual components
for each site as you desire.
Viewing Sites in the RAS Console
To view existing sites, open the Parallels RAS Console and select the Farm category in the left
pane. Existing sites are listed in the right pane.
Note: The Farm node will only be visible to an administrator who has full permissions to manage the
farm. For more information about farm/site permissions, please refer to Managing Farm Administrative
Accounts (p. 38).
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Parallels RAS Farm and Sites
The Farm category displays the configuration of only one site at a time. If you login as the farm
administrator, the configuration of the RAS Licensing Site will be displayed. If you login as an
administrator who has access to a specific site (but not the farm), the configuration of that site will
be displayed.
Current site
The site which configuration is currently displayed in the console is marked as "Current Site" in the
Type column. The column also displays other site attributes. For example, "Licensing Site / Local
Site / Current Site".
Switching between sites
If you have multiple sites and want to manage a particular one, right-click it in the right pane and
choose Switch to this Site. The site configuration will be loaded into the RAS Console, so you can
see its components and configure them as you require.
You can also switch to a site by clicking View > Switch Site in the main menu. This will open the
Change Site dialog where you can select a desired site.
Renaming the site
To rename a site, select the Site in the middle pane and then click the Rename button next to the
Site name field in the right pane. While here, you can also view the site configuration overview,
which includes the list of the existing core components. Read more about it below.
Site configuration overview
When you select the Site node in the middle pane, the Site Info tab page in the right pane displays
the list of core Parallels RAS components that have been configured for the site. The components
are organized in the list as follows:
• RD Sessions Hosts. Lists existing RD Session Hosts servers.
• VDI Hosts. Lists existing VDI Host servers.
• Remote PCs. Lists existing Remote PCs.
• Gateways. Lists existing RAS Secure Client Gateway servers.
• Publishing Agents. Lists existing RAS Publishing Agent servers.
To collapse or expand a component group, click an "arrow up" or "arrow down" icon on the right
side of the list. Note that if no servers of a particular type have been added to the site, the group
name will not be displayed in the list.
The component list includes the following information for each server:
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Parallels RAS Farm and Sites
• Agent. Indicates whether the agent software is installed on the server and is functioning
properly.
• CPU %. Current CPU utilization.
• RAM %. Current RAM utilization.
• Sessions. The number of currently active user sessions.
• Preferred PA. The name of the RAS Publishing Agent designated as preferred for this server.
• Operating System. Operating system version installed on the server.
• Agent Version. The agent version installed on the server.
Opening component editors
The component list described above gives you just an overview. If you would like to open a
component editor (where you can configure it), right-click a component (a server) and choose
Show in the Editor in the context menu. This will take you to the area in the Parallels RAS Console
where you can configure servers of this type.
You can also open component editors by selecting a desired component type in the middle pane of
the Parallels RAS Console. The list of editors includes:
• Designer. Displays a visual representation of the site. Use the icons at the top to add more
components to the diagram (if you add a component, it will actually be added to the site). Click
Print to print the diagram.
• RD Session Hosts. Add, remove, and configure RD Session Host servers.
• VDI Hosts. Add, remove, and configure VDI Hosts.
• Remote PCs. Add, remove, and configure Remote PCs.
• Gateways. Add, remove, and configure RAS Secure Client Gateways.
• Publishing Agents. Add, remove, and configure RAS Publishing Agents.
• HALB. Configure High Availability Load Balancing.
• Themes. Configure themes for the HTML5 client.
• Settings. Configure general site settings.
Adding a Site to the Farm
To add a site to the farm:
1 In the RAS Console, select the Farm category in the left pane and then select the farm in the
middle pane.
2 In the Tasks drop-down menu (the right pane, above the Site list), click Add (or click the +
icon).
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Parallels RAS Farm and Sites
3 In the Add Site dialog:
• In the Site field, specify a site name.
• In the Server field, specify the IP address or FQDN of the server where the Master
Publishing Agent and Secure Client Gateway should be installed.
• Select the Add an SSL certificate and enable HTML5 Gateway option to automatically
create a self-signed certificate, enable SSL, and enable HTML5 support. For more info,
please see Enable HTML5 Support on the Gateway (p. 126).
4 Click Next.
5 The Site Master Properties dialog opens. First, it verifies if RAS Publishing Agent is installed
on the specified site server. If it isn't, it will indicate this in the Status field.
6 Click the Install button to install the agent.
7 In the Install RAS Publishing Agent dialog, highlight the server name on which the RAS
Publishing Agent is to be installed.
8 (Optional) Select the option Override system credentials to specify and use different
credentials to connect to the server and install the agent.
9 Click Install to install the publishing agent and gateway. Click Done once it has been
successfully installed.
Once a new site is created, you can view and manage its configuration by right-clicking the site in
the RAS Console ans choosing Switch to this Site.
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Parallels RAS Farm and Sites
Managing Sites
Replicating Site Settings to all Sites
Site-specific settings configured for a given site can be replicated to all other sites in a farm. Refer
to the table below for the information about which settings can be replicated to other sites.
To replicate site settings to all other sites, select Farm / Site / Settings and then select the
Replicate settings option (at the bottom of the Auditing tab page). Please note that this option is
disabled if you have just one site in the farm.
Overriding Site Replicated Settings
If an administrator who has permissions to enable or disable replication settings makes a change to
a specific setting, such setting is replicated to all other sites.
If an administrator has access to a particular site only, upon modifying site settings which have
been replicated, the replicated settings are overridden and the option Replicate Settings is
automatically cleared, therefore such settings will no longer be replicated to other sites.
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Parallels RAS Farm and Sites
Setting a Site as the Licensing Site
If you would like to set a different site as the Licensing Site, click on the site name in the Farm node
and then click Set Site as Licensing Site in the Tasks drop-down menu.
Managing Farm Administrative Accounts
You can have more than one Parallels RAS administrator who can manage the farm and the sites. If
needed, you can configure permissions for a specific administrator to limit access to individual
categories and sites.
If Parallels RAS is installed in an Active Directory environment, any user that has elevated privileges
and write access to the installation directory can be configured as a Parallels Remote Application
Server administrator.
If the Parallels Remote Application Server is installed on a standalone machine, any user that has
elevated privileges and write access to the installation directory can be configured as a Parallels
Remote Application Server administrator.
When creating an administrative account in Parallels RAS, you can select an individual user account
or an account group.
Default Parallels RAS Administrator
The user you specified when you logged into the Parallels RAS Console for the first time is
automatically granted full permissions and can perform any task in the farm. There must be at least
one enabled administrator with full permissions in the farm.
Adding an Administrator Account
To add an administrator account to the Parallels RAS farm:
1 In the RAS Console, select the Administration category and then click the Accounts tab in the
right pane.
2 Click the Tasks drop-down menu and choose Add (or click the [+] icon).
3 The Administrator Properties dialog opens.
4 Click the [...] button next to the Name field. In the Select User or Group dialog, select a user
or a group.
5 Specify an email address and the mobile phone number. Both fields are optional and are
disabled if the account specified in the Name field is a group.
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Parallels RAS Farm and Sites
6 The Permissions field allows you to configure permissions for this user. By default, the Full
Permissions option is selected. To grant specific permissions, click the Change Permissions
button. For further instructions, please read the Configuring Administrator Accounts
Permissions section (p. 39).
7 In the Receive system notifications via drop-down list, select Email, so any system
notifications are sent to the specified email address. Select None to disable email system
notifications for this account.
8 Click OK to add the new administrator account to the farm.
Configuring Administrator Accounts Permissions
To configure permissions for an administrator account:
• When creating a new account, click the Change Permissions button in the Administrator
Properties dialog.
• To configure permissions for an existing account, right-click it on the Accounts tab page and
choose Properties.
Use the Account permissions dialog to configure permissions. Permissions can be assigned per
category (e.g. Farm, Publishing, Universal Printing, etc.) and also per site.
In the Account permissions dialog, select the Full Permissions option (default) to enable the
administrator to modify all categories, sites, and global settings in the farm.
To set specific permissions:
1 Clear the Full Permissions option.
2 In the In Site list (on the right), select one or more sties to which these permissions should
apply.
3 Select (or clear) the following options to set permissions:
• Allow viewing of Site information. Can view (but not necessarily modify) site information.
• Allow Site changes. Can modify the following categories: Site, Load Balancing, Universal
Printing, Universal Scanning. This option is disabled if the Allow viewing of Site
information option is cleared.
• Allow Session Management. Can manage running sessions. This option is disabled if the
Allow viewing of Site information option is cleared.
• Allow Publishing changes. Can modify the Publishing category.
• Allow Connection changes. Can modify the Connection category.
• Allow viewing of RAS Reporting. Can view reports generated by the RAS Reporting
engine.
• Allow Client Management changes. Can modify the Client Manager category.
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Parallels RAS Farm and Sites
4 Allow Policies changes. Enable this option to allow the administrator to modify the Policies
category.
5 Allow access to Information. Enable this option to allow the administrator to access the
Information category.
Enabling or disabling an administrator account
To enable or disable a Parallels RAS administrator account, select or clear the checkbox in front of
the account name. You can also enable or disable an account in the Administrator Properties
dialog by selecting or clearing the Enable account option (to open the dialog, right-click an
account and choose Properties).
A disabled account cannot be used to log in to the RAS Console. If it's a group, the members of
that group will not be able to log in to the Parallels RAS Console either.
Managing Administrator Accounts
To view existing administrator accounts, select the Administration category in the RAS Console.
The Accounts tab page lists existing accounts and their properties, including:
• Group or user name. Account name, which can be a user or group name.
• Type. Account type. Can be one of the following: User, Group, Group User. The User and
Group are self-explanatory. The Group User is a user who receives Parallels RAS administrative
permissions via a group membership. When you initially add a group to the list of Parallels RAS
administrators, its members are not displayed on the Accounts tab page. As soon as a
member of the group logs in to Parallels RAS, the account name is added to the list of
administrators as a Group User and remains there. Note that you cannot change Parallels RAS
permissions for such an account individually outside the group permissions.
• Permissions. Parallels RAS permissions granted to the account. Can be one of the following:
Full Permissions, Custom Permissions (when more than one permission type is granted, but
not all), or a particular permission type if a single one was granted.
• Email. Email address.
• Mobile. Mobile phone number.
• Group. Group name. This column has a value for Group Users only (see the Type column
description above).
• Last Modification By. The name of the user who modified this account in Parallels RAS the
last time.
• Changed On. The last account modification date.
• Created By. The name of the user who created this account in Parallels RAS.
• Created On. The date when this account was added to Parallels RAS.
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Parallels RAS Farm and Sites
Modifying an account
To modify an account:
1 Right-click an account and choose Properties in the context menu.
2 Use the Administrator Properties dialog to modify the necessary information. For more info,
see Adding an Administrator Account (p. 38).
Handling Locked Categories
When an administrator is accessing a category in the Parallels RAS Console (e.g. Farm, Publishing,
Universal Printing, etc.), the category is locked for all other administrators. Therefore, upon trying to
access a locked category, an administrator will be alerted with an error that the object is locked.
You can release the lock as follows:
1 On the Administration > Accounts tab page, click the Tasks drop-down menu and choose
Show Sessions.
2 In the Sessions dialog, select the administrator who is locking a category and then click the
Send Message icon (at the top).
3 If the administrator doesn't reply and doesn't release the category, you have an option to click
Log Off, which will log them off and will unlock the category.
Using Instant Messaging for Administrators
Parallels RAS administrators logged on to the same farm can communicate with each other using a
built-in instant messenger.
To use the instant messenger:
1 In the RAS Console, select the Administration category.
2 Expand the drop-down menu next to your name (top-right corner of the console screen) and
click Chat.
3 The Parallels Remote Application Server Chat window opens.
To send a message:
1 Type the message text in the lower input panel.
2 In the Logged on administrators list box, select a specific administrator or All to send the
message to an individual or all logged on administrators.
3 Click Send.
Your message history is displayed in the Messages panel. To clear the history, click Clear All.
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Parallels RAS Farm and Sites
You can also view the chat history listing all messages between all administrators (not just your own
messages). To do so, select the Administration node in the console and then select the Chat
History tab.
Joining Customer Experience Program
Parallels Customer Experience Program helps us to improve the quality and reliability of Parallels
Remote Applications Server. If you accept to join the program, we will collect information about the
way you use Parallels Remote Application Server. We will not collect any personal data, like your
name, address, phone number, or keyboard input.
To jon the program:
1 In the RAS Console, select the Administration category.
2 In the right pane, click the CEP tab (you may need to scroll the right pane horizontally to see it).
3 Select the Join Parallels Customer Experience Program option.
After you join the program, CEP will automatically start to collect information about how you use
Parallels Remote Application Server. Data collected from you and other participants is combined
and thoroughly analyzed to help us improve Parallels Remote Application Server.
42
C HAPTER 5
RD Session Hosts
RD Session Host servers are used to publish resources (applications, desktops, documents, etc.)
to Parallels RAS users. Read this chapter to learn how to add, configure, and administer RD
Session Host servers.
In This Chapter
Viewing RD Session Host Servers ............................................................................ 43
Adding an RD Session Host Server .......................................................................... 44
Configuring an RD Session Host .............................................................................. 47
Grouping RD Session Hosts ..................................................................................... 53
Using Scheduler ....................................................................................................... 53
Managing Sessions .................................................................................................. 55
Managing Logons..................................................................................................... 57
Publishing from an RD Session Host ........................................................................ 58
Publishing Containerized Applications ...................................................................... 63
Viewing Published Resources Hosted by RD Session Hosts ..................................... 66
Viewing RD Session Host Servers
To view the list of RD Session Host servers for the current site:
1 In the RAS Console, navigate to Farm / <site-name> / RD Session Hosts.
2 The available RD Session Hosts are displayed on the RD Session Hosts tab page in the right
pane.
You can filter the RD Session Hosts list as follows:
1 Click the magnifying glass icon, which is located on a toolbar above the list.
2 An extra row is displayed at the top of the list where you can type a string in one or more
columns that will be used to filter the list.
3 For example, if you want to search for a server by its name, enter the text in the Server column.
You can type the entire server name or the first few characters until a match is found. The list
will be filtered as you type and only the matching server(s) will be displayed.
4 If you type a filter string in more than one column, they will be combined using the logical AND
operator.
5 To remove the filter and display the complete list, click the magnifying glass icon again.
RD Session Hosts
6 If you click the magnifying glass icon one more time, you'll see that the filter that you specified
earlier is still there. To remove it completely, simply delete the filter string(s) from the column(s).
Viewing RD Session Host summary
In addition to the RD Session Hosts editor described above, you can also see the summary about
the available RD Session Host servers. To do so:
1 In the RAS Console, select the Farm category and then select the Site node in the middle
pane.
2 The available servers are displayed in the RD Session Hosts group in the right pane.
3 To go to the RD Session Host editor (described above), right-click a server and choose Show
in the Editor.
For additional info, see Viewing Sites in the RAS Console (p. 33).
Adding an RD Session Host Server
RD Session Host server requirements
An RD Session Host server must have the Remote Desktop Services (RDS) role installed. RDS was
known as Terminal Services prior to Windows 2008 R2. On some older versions of Windows
Server, Terminal Services are not installed by default. If you are using such a server, you can install
RDS on it right from the RAS Console, as described later in this section.
Quickly add an RD Session Host
You can quickly add an RD Session Host server to a site from the Start category in the RAS
Console. This process is described in the Setting Up a Basic Parallels RAS Farm section (p. 23).
The rest of this section describes how to add an RD Session Host server from the Farm category.
Compared to using the Start category, this process consists of more steps but gives you more
options.
Discover RD Session Hosts on your network
Before adding RD Session Hosts, you can search for servers in your Active Directory domain that
meet the necessary Parallels RAS requirements (see System Requirements).
To search for servers:
1 In the RAS Console, navigate to Farm \ Site \ RD Session Hosts.
2 On the RD Session Hosts tab page, click Tasks > Discover RD session hosts.
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RD Session Hosts
3 The Find Servers dialog opens and begins searching for suitable servers. If no servers are
found, you'll see a message box where you can click OK to close the box and the dialog. In
such a case, you can add a server manually (jump to the Adding an RD Session Host
Manually subsection below).
4 If at least one suitable server is found, it will be displayed in the Find Servers dialog.
5 Select a server and verify whether the RAS RD Session Host Agent is installed on it by looking
at the Agent column. If the agent is not installed, click the Install Agent button and follow the
instructions.
6 Click OK.
7 On the RD Session Hosts tab page in the RAS Console, verify that the RD Session Host is
enabled (the checkbox in front of the server name is selected). If it's not, select the checkbox.
Adding an RD Session Host Manually
To add an RD Session Host manually:
1 Click Add in the Tasks drop-down menu.
2 In the Add RD Session Host dialog, specify the following options:
• Server. Specify the server IP address or FQDN.
• Add Firewall Rules. Automatically configure the firewall on the server to meet Parallels RAS
requirements.
• Install RDS role. Install the RDS role in Windows running on the server.
• Enable Desktop Experience. Enable the Desktop Experience feature in Windows running
on the server. This option is enabled only if the Install RDS role option (above) is selected.
The option applies to Windows Server 2008 R1/R2 and Windows 2012 R1/R2 on which the
Desktop Experience feature is not enabled by default.
• Restart server if required. Restart the server if necessary. Please note that this option is
ignored if a restart is pending on a local machine (i.e. the restart of a local machine will not
be forced).
• Specify users or groups to be added to the Remote Desktop Users group. This option
allows you to add Parallels RAS users or groups to the Remote Desktop Users group in
Windows running on the server. This is necessary for your Parallels RAS users to be able to
access published resources hosted by an RD Session Host. If a Parallels RAS user is not a
member of the Remote Desktop Users group on a given RD Session Host, they will be
denied access to its published resources. Select this option and then use the [+] icon below
it to specify users or groups.
3 Click Next.
4 In the next step, a checking is performed if the RAS RD Session Host Agent is installed on the
server.
If the agent is not installed:
a Click Install to push install the agent.
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RD Session Hosts
b In the Installing RD Session Host Agent dialog, select the server name on which the agent
is to be installed.
c (Optional) Select the Override system credentials option to specify and use different
credentials to connect to the server.
d Click Install to install the agent. Click Done once the agent is installed. If the push
installation of the RAS RD Session Host Agent fails (e.g. SMB share is not available, cannot
push agent due to firewall rules, etc.), please refer to the Installing RAS RD Session Host
Agent Manually section (p. 46), which follows this one.
5 In the Agent Information dialog, click Add to add the RD Session Host to the Parallels RAS
farm.
6 Click Apply in the Parallels RAS Console to commit the new settings.
Installing RAS RD Session Host Agent Manually
You may need to install the RAS RD Session Host Agent manually if the automatic push installation
cannot be performed. For instance, an SMB share may not be available or the firewall rules may
interfere with the push installation, etc.
Installing RAS RD Session Host Agent Manually
1 Log in to the server where the RAS RD Session Host Agent is to be installed using an
administrator account and close all other applications.
2 Copy the Parallels Remote Application Server installation file (RASInstaller.msi) to the
server and double-click it to launch the installation.
3 Once prompted, click Next and accept the End-User license agreement.
4 Specify the path where the RAS RD Session Host Agent should be installed and click Next.
5 Select Custom and click Next.
6 Click on RAS RD Session Host Agent and select Entire Feature will be installed on local
hard drive from the drop-down menu.
7 Ensure that all other components are deselected and click Next.
8 Click Install to start the installation.
9 Click Finish once the installation is finished.
The RAS RD Session Host Agent doesn't require any configuration. Once the agent is installed,
highlight the server name in the Parallels RAS Console and click Troubleshooting > Check Agent
in the Tasks drop-down menu to update the server status.
Uninstalling RAS RD Session Host Agent
To uninstall RAS RD Session Host Agent from a server:
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RD Session Hosts
1 Navigate to Start > Control Panel > Programs > Uninstall a Program.
2 Find Parallels Remote Application Server in the list of installed programs.
3 If you don't have any other Parallels RAS components on the server that you want to keep,
right-click Parallels Remote Application Server and then click Uninstall. Follow the
instructions to uninstall the program. You may skip the steps below.
4 If you have other RAS components that you want to keep on the server, right-click Parallels
Remote Application Server and then click Change.
5 Click Next on the Welcome page.
6 On the Change, repair, or remove page, select Change.
7 On the next page, select Custom.
8 Select RAS RD Session Host Agent, then click the drop-down menu in front of it, and click
Entire feature will be unavailable.
9 Click Next and complete the wizard.
Configuring an RD Session Host
This section describes how to configure and manage an existing RD Session Host server.
Read on to learn how to:
• Check RAS RD Session Host Agent Status (p. 47)
• Change an RD Session Host Site Assignment (p. 48)
• View and Modify RD Session Host Properties (p. 48)
Check RAS RD Session Host Agent Status
An RD Session Host server must have RAS RD Session Host Agent installed in order to serve
published resources to Parallels RAS users. In addition to this, Remote Desktop Services (formerly
Terminal Services) must be installed in Windows on the server.
Normally, when you add an RD Session Host to a site, the RD Session Host Agent and Remote
Desktop Services are installed by default. However, if you skipped the installation (or uninstalled the
agent or RDS from the server), you can check their status and take appropriate actions if needed.
To do so:
1 First, check the Agent State column in the RD session hosts list. The column should contain
the "Agent OK" value. If so, the agent is installed and functioning properly. If not, read on.
2 Right-click a server and choose Troubleshooting > Check Agent in the context menu. The
Agent Information dialog opens.
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RD Session Hosts
3 If the agent is not installed on the server, click the Install button and follow the instructions on
the screen.
4 To install RDS, right-click the server and choose Control > Install Terminal Services.
After the agent and RDS installation is complete, you may need to reboot the RD Session Host
server. You can do it right from the Parallels RAS Console by right-clicking the server and choosing
Control > Reboot.
Change RD Session Host Site Assignment
You can assign an RD Session Host to a different site in your farm if needed. Please note that this
functionality is only available if you have more than one site in your farm.
To change the site assignment:
1 Right-click an RD Session Host and then click Change Site in the context menu. The Change
Site dialog opens.
2 Select a site in the list and click OK. The server will be moved to the RD Session Hosts list of
the target site (Farm / <new-site-name> / RD Session Hosts).
View and Modify RD Session Host Properties
To configure an RD Session Host server:
1 In the RAS Console, navigate to Farm / Site / RD Session Hosts.
2 Right-click a server and click Properties in the context menu.
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RD Session Hosts
3 The Server Properties dialog opens where you can configure the RD Session Host server:
Properties
Select or clear the Enable Server in site option to enable or disable a server. By default, a server is
enabled. A disabled server cannot serve published applications and virtual desktops to clients.
Other elements on this page are:
• Server: Specifies the server name.
• Description: Specifies the server description.
• Change Direct Address: Select this option if you need to change the direct address that
Parallels Client uses to establish a direct connection with the RD Session Host.
Agent Settings
Each RD Session Host in the farm has a RAS RD Session Host Agent installed through which it
communicates with other Parallels RAS components. Use the Agent Settings tab page to
configure the agent.
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RD Session Hosts
To use default settings, select the Inherit default settings option. To view or modify the default
settings, click the Edit Defaults link.
If you want to specify custom settings for a given server, clear the Inherit default settings option
and specify agent properties as follows:
• Port. Specifies a different remote desktop connection port number if a non-default port is
configured on the server.
• Max Sessions. Specifies the maximum number of sessions.
• Publishing Session Disconnect Timeout. Specifies the amount of time each session remains
connected in the background after the user has closed the published application. This option is
used to avoid unnecessary reconnections with the server.
• Publishing Session Reset Timeout. This feature allows you to control how long it takes for a
session to be logged off after it is marked as "disconnected".
• Allow Client URL/Mail Redirection. Select this option to allow http and mailto links to be
opened using a local application on the client computer rather than the server’s resources. To
configure a list of URLs which should not be redirected, navigate to the URL Redirection tab in
the Settings node of a site.
• Preferred Publishing Agent. Select a Publishing Agent to which the RD Session Host should
connect. This is helpful when site components are installed in multiple physical locations
communicating through WAN. You can decrease network traffic by specifying a more
appropriate Publishing Agent.
• Allow 2XRemoteExec to send command to the client. Select this option to allow a process
running on the server to instruct the client to deploy an application on the client side. More
about 2XRemoteExec in the Using RemoteExec subsection below.
• Enable applications monitoring. Enable or disable monitoring of applications on the server.
Disabling application monitoring stops the WMI monitoring to reduce CPU usage on the server
and network usage while transferring the information to RAS Publishing Agent. If the option is
enabled, the collected information will appear in a corresponding RAS report. If the option is
disabled, the information from this server will be absent from a report.
• Use RemoteApps if available. Enable this option to allow use of remote apps for shell-related
issues when an app is not displayed correctly. This feature is supported on the Parallels Client
for Windows only.
Using 2XRemoteExec
2XRemoteExec is a feature that facilitates the servers ability to send commands to the client. This is
done using the command line utility 2XRemoteExec.exe. Command line options include:
Command Line Parameter Parameter Description
-s
Used to run the 2XRemoteExec command in ‘silent’ mode.
Without this parameter, the command will display pop up
messages from the application. If you include the parameter, the
messages will not be displayed.
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RD Session Hosts
-t
-?
"Path for Remote Application"
Is used to specify the timeout until the application is started.
Timeout must be a value between 5000ms and 30000ms. Note
that the value inserted is in ‘ms’. If the timeout expires the
command returns with an error. Please note that the application
might still be started on the client.
Shows a help list of the parameters that 2XRemoteExec uses.
The Application that will be started on the client as prompted
from the server.
2XRemoteExec examples:
The following command displays a message box describing the parameters that can be used.
2XRemoteExec -?
This command runs Notepad on the client.
2XRemoteExec C:\Windows\System32\Notepad.exe
In this example, the command opens the C:\readme.txt file in the Notepad on the client. No
message is shown and 2XRemoteExec would wait for 6 seconds or until the application is started.
2XRemoteExec C:\Windows\System32\Notepad.exe “C:\readme.txt”
User Profile Disks
User profile disks are virtual hard disks that store user application data on a dedicated file share.
This disk is mounted to the user session as soon as the user signs in to the RD Session Host
server, and unmounted when the user logs out.
To use the default user profile disks settings, select the Inherit default settings option. To view or
modify the default settings, click the Edit Defaults link. The Default Server Properties dialog has
the same design as the Server Properties dialog. You can use the instructions below to modify
both the default and an individual server properties.
To configure user profile disks for a given RD Session Host server, clear the Inherit default
settings option and specify the options described below.
Enable or disable user profile disks: Use the drop-down list box to specify whether to enable or
disable user profile disks on the server. Select from the following options:
• Do not change. Keep the current server settings (default).
• Enabled. Enable user profile disks.
• Disabled. Disable user profile disks.
Disk location: In the text field provided, specify a network location where user profile disks should
be created. Use the Microsoft Windows UNC format to specify a location (e.g.
\\RAS\users\disks). Please note that the server must have full control permissions on the disk
share.
Maximum size: Enter the maximum allowed disk size (in gigabytes).
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RD Session Hosts
User profile disks data settings: Click this button to open the User Profile Disks Data Settings
dialog. In the dialog, you can specify which user folders should be stored on the user profile disk.
Select one of the following:
• Store all user settings and data on the user profile disk. All folders, except those specified
in the exclusion list, will be stored on the user profile disk. To add or remove folders to/from the
exclusion list, click the [+] or [-] buttons.
• Store only the following folders on the user profile disk. Only folders specified in the
inclusion lists will be stored on the user profile disk. There are two inclusion lists. The first one
contains standard user profile folders (e.g. Desktop, Documents, Downloads, etc.) and allows
you to select the folders that you want to include. The second list (below the first list) allows you
to specify additional folders. Click the [+] or [-] buttons to add or remove folders.
Desktop Access
The Desktop Access tab page allows you to restrict remote desktop access to certain users.
By default, all users who have access to remote applications on an RD Session Host can also
connect to the server via a standard RDP connection. If you want to restrict remote desktop
access to certain users, do the following:
1 On the Desktop Access tab page, select the Restrict direct desktop access to the
following users option. If you have the Inherit default settings option selected, click the Edit
Defaults link to see (and modify if needed) the default configuration. The rest of the steps apply
to both the Server Properties and Default Server Properties dialogs.
2 Click the Add button.
3 Select the desired users. To include multiple users, separate them by a semicolon.
4 Click OK.
5 The selected users will appear in the list on the Desktop Access tab page.
Users in this list will still be able to access remote applications using Parallels Client, but will be
denied direct remote desktop access to this server.
Please note that members of the Administrator group will still be able to connect to the remote
desktop even if they are included in this list.
RDP Printer
The RDP Printer tab page allows you to configure the renaming format of redirected printers. The
format may vary depending on which version and language of the server you are using.
To use default RDP printer settings, select the Inherit default settings option. To view or modify
the default options, click the Edit Defaults link.
The RDP Printer Name Format drop-down list allows you to select a printer name format
specifically for the configured server.
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RD Session Hosts
Select the Remove session number from printer name and the Remove client name from
printer name options to exclude the corresponding information from the printer name.
Grouping RD Session Hosts
RD Session Host groups can be used to specify from which group a published resource should be
published when using the Publishing wizard. It is highly recommended to use groups in a multiserver environment to ease the management of published resources.
After you create a group and publish resources from it, you can view the list of resources by rightclicking a group and choosing Show published resources (or click Tasks > Show Published
Resources). For more information, see Viewing Published Resources Hosted by RD Session
Hosts (p. 66).
To create or modify an RD Session Host group:
1 With Farm > RD Session Hosts selected in the navigation tree, click the Groups tab.
2 To create a new group, click the Tasks drop-down menu and choose New Group (or click the
[+] icon). To modify an existing group, right-click it and then choose Properties in the context
menu.
3 In the Group Properties dialog, specify the group name and select servers to add to the
group.
4 Click OK to create or save (if modifying) the group.
Using Scheduler
The Scheduler tab page in the RD Session Hosts view allows you to reboot or temporarily disable
servers according to a schedule.
To create a new scheduler task or modify an existing one:
1 In the RAS Console, navigate to Farm / <server-name> / RD Session Hosts.
2 In the right pane, click the Scheduler tab.
3 To create a new task, click Add in the Tasks drop-down menu and select a desired task from
the following options:
• Disable Server
• Disable Server Group
• Reboot Server
• Reboot Server Group
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RD Session Hosts
To modify an existing task, right-click it and select Properties in the context menu. To delete a
task, right-click it and select Delete.
4 The schedule properties dialog will have slightly different options depending on the task type
that you choose in the Tasks > Add drop-down menu. The differences are described in the
following steps.
5 Select Enable Schedule to enable the task.
6 Specify the task name, target server (or server group if you've selected a group task), and an
optional description.
7 Specify the start date and time, duration, and the scope (the Repeat property). If you select
Never in the Repeat drop-down box, the task will run only once.
8 The Notify Users Message box allows you to type a message that will be sent to the users
before the task is executed (you can select the time period using the Send message [ ] before
action is triggered drop-down list).
9 The Options section will have different options depending on the task type:
• If a task is Disable Server or Disable Server Group, the available option is On Disable.
You can use it to specify how the active session states should be handled.
• If a task is Reboot Server or Reboot Server Group, the available options are Enable Drain
Mode and Force Server Reboot After (the options work together). If you enable the drain
mode, the following will happen. When the task triggers, new connections to a server will be
refused but active connections will continue to run. A server will be rebooted when all active
users end their sessions or when it's time to force reboot it, whichever comes first. For
active users not to lose their work, specify a message in the Notify Users Message box
advising them to save their work and log off. Please also see the RD Session Host Drain
Mode Examples subsection below.
10 Click OK to save the changes and close the dialog.
RD Session Host Drain Mode Examples
Example 1: Scheduling a server group for reboot without the drain mode
A server group contains 3 servers: A, B, C
• Date: 7/24/2015
• Start Time: 10:45am
• Send Message: 2 minutes before
Users with active sessions are notified 2 minutes before the server rebooting task is triggered.
Example 2: Scheduling a server group for reboot with the drain mode enabled
A server group containing 3 servers: A, B, C
• Date: 7/24/2015
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RD Session Hosts
• Start Time: 10:45am
• Drain mode: enabled
• Force reboot after: 3 hours
• Send Message: 2 minutes before
The session users are notified 2 minutes before the server rebooting task is triggered.
When the task is triggered:
1 The drain mode is enabled on the servers.
2 Server A and B have no active or disconnected sessions, so they are restarted immediately.
3 Server C still has open/disconnected sessions, so it continues to run until all users end their
sessions. If the server still has active sessions in three hours, the sessions are terminated and
the server is restarted.
Note: Computer Configuration / Administrative Templates / Windows Components / Remote
Desktop Services / Remote Desktop Session Host / Connection / Allow users to connect remotely
using remote desktop services must be set to Not configured, otherwise it takes precedence.
Managing Sessions
The Session Management tab page allows you to view and manage current sessions for RD
Session Host servers. To view the page, navigate to Farm / Site / RD Session Hosts / Session
Management.
Note: You can also open the Session Management tab page by right-clicking a server on the RD
Session Hosts tab page and choosing Show Sessions. This will open the Session Management tab
page with a filter applied to it to display only the sessions that belong to the selected server.
The Sessions lists displays current sessions and includes the following info for each session:
• Server. RD Session Host server name.
• Session ID. Session ID.
• User. Session owner.
• Protocol. Protocol used: Console (Parallels RAS Console connection), RDP (remote user
connected via RDP).
• State. Session state: Idle, Active, Disconnected.
• Logon Time. Last date and time the user logged on.
• Session Length. Total sessions duration.
• Idle Time. Total session idle time.
• Type. Session type: Admin, Published Application, Published Desktop.
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RD Session Hosts
• Resolution. Client display resolution.
• Color Depth. Client display color depth.
• Device Name. Client device name.
• IP Address. Client IP address.
You can sort the Sessions list by any session property. Simply click on a desired column heading
to sort the list in ascending or descending order.
You can also filter the list using a single or multiple session properties as a criteria. To do so, click
the magnifying glass icon (top right) and then type a desired string in a desired column. The list will
be filtered as you type.
To manage a session (or multiple sessions at the same time), select one or more sessions and then
use the Tasks drop-down menu to choose from the following actions:
• Refresh. Refresh the list.
• Disconnect. Disconnect the selected session(s).
• Log Off. Log off the session(s).
• Send Message. Opens the Send Message dialog where you can type and send a message to
the session owner(s).
• Remote Control. Remotely control the selected user session.
• Show Running Processes. Display and manage running processes. See below for details.
Managing running processes
The Tasks > Show running processes option opens the Running Processes dialog where you
can view running processes for one or more RD Session Host servers.
Note: You can also open the Running Processes dialog by right-clicking a server on the RD Session
Hosts tab page and choosing Show Processes. This will open the Running Processes dialog with a
filter applied to it to display only the processes that belong to the selected server.
On the Running Processes dialog, use the Show processes from drop-down menu to filter the
list using the following options:
• Selected Session. Displays processes for the session selected in the Sessions list.
• Selected Server. Displays all running processes for the server on which the selected session is
running.
• All Servers. Displays all running processes for all available servers.
You can also filter the list by specifying a search criteria for one or more columns. To do so, click
the magnifying glass icon (top right) and then type a desired text in one or more columns. The list is
filtered as you type to match the specified criteria.
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RD Session Hosts
The Tasks drop-down menu in the Running Processes dialog includes the following options:
• Refresh. Refresh the list.
• Kill Process. Kill the selected process.
• Go To Published Item. Enabled when you select a process that belongs to a running
published resource. Brings up the main Parallels RAS Console window and navigates to the
corresponding published resource.
• Disconnect. Disconnect the session.
• Log Off. Log off the session.
• Send Message. Send a message to the session owner.
Managing Logons
The logon management feature allows you to enable or disable logons from RD Session Hosts. The
feature performs the same tasks as the change logon command-line utility.
To manage logons:
1 In the Parallels Remote Application Server Console, navigate to Farm / Site / RD Session
Hosts.
2 Select an RD Session Host, click Tasks > Control and choose one of the following:
• Enable logons — enables logons. This option performs the same action as the change
logon /enable command.
• Disable logons and reconnections — disables subsequent logons. Does not affect
currently logged on users. This option performs the same action as change logon
/disable command.
• Disable logons until server reboot — disables logons until the computer is restarted, but
allows reconnections to existing sessions. Same action as the change logon
/drainuntilrestart command.
To see the current logon control mode for an RD Session Host, right-click it and point to Control in
the context menu. The checked-out option indicates the current logon control mode of the selected
RD Session Host. To do this check from the command line, execute the change logon
/QUERY command on the server.
Please also note the following:
• When applying a logon control mode on a server, ensure that the agent state is updated
accordingly.
• You must set the logon control options for the servers one-by-one. If you need to do it for a
group of servers, you can use the scheduler (see Using an RD Session Host Scheduler (p.
53)).
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RD Session Hosts
• There's no option for disabling logons from new client sessions but allowing reconnections to
existing sessions (change logon /DRAIN) because its behavior is identical to the Disable
logons until server restart option (change logon /DRAINUNTILRESTART).
• Computer Configuration / Administrative Templates / Windows Components / Remote
Desktop Services / Remote Desktop Session Host / Connection / Allow users to connect
remotely using remote desktop services must be set to Not configured, otherwise it takes
precedence.
Publishing from an RD Session Host
This section describes how to publish resources hosted by an RD Session Host. The publishing
functionality described here is accessed from the Publishing category in the RAS Console.
You can also publish resources using a publishing wizard in the Start category, as described in the
Setting Up a Simple RAS Environment section (p. 23). The Start category publishing wizard is a
simplified version that gives you convenient options of selecting the resources that you want to
publish. You may try both approaches and choose the one that better suits your needs.
Read on to learn how to publish resources from an RD Session Host.
Publishing a Desktop from an RD Session Host
To publish a remote desktop from an RD Session Host:
1 In the RAS Console, select the Publishing category and click the Add icon below the
Published Resources tree. This will launch the publishing wizard.
2 In the first step of the wizard, select Desktop and click Next.
3 In the Select Desktop Type step, select RD Session Host Desktop and click Next.
4 Select one or mote RD Session Host servers which desktops you want to publish. You can
select all available servers, server group(s), or individual servers. Please note that if you have just
one RD Session Host, this page will not be displayed.
5 Click Next.
6 In the next step:
• Specify a name and description for the desktop, and optionally change the icon.
• Select the Connect to console option, so that the users will be connecting to console
rather than a virtual session.
• Select the Start automatically when user logs on option if you want to open a desktop as
soon as a user logs on.
• Specify the desired screen resolution using the Desktop Size drop-down list. To set a
custom width and height of the screen, select Custom in the Size drop-down list and
specify the desired values in the fields provided.
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RD Session Hosts
• In the Multi-Monitor drop-down list, select whether the multi-monitor support should be
enabled, disabled, or whether the client settings should be used.
7 When done, click Finish to publish the desktop.
Publishing an Application from an RD Session Host
To publish an application from an RD Session Host follow the below procedure:
1 In the RAS Console, select the Publishing category and then click the Add icon below the
Published Resources tree (or right-click inside the Published Resources box and click Add
in the context menu). This will launch the publishing wizard.
2 On the Select Item Type wizard page, select Application and click Next.
3 On the Select Server Type page, select RD Session Host and click Next.
4 One the Select Application Type page, select one of the following available options:
• Single Application. Choose this option to fully configure the application settings yourself
such as the executable path etc.
• Installed Application. Choose this option to publish an application that is already installed
on the server, therefore all of the application settings are automatically configured.
• Predefined Application. Choose this option to publish a commonly used Windows
application such as Windows Explorer.
5 Click Next.
6 On the Publish From page, specify from which RD Session Hosts the application should be
published. You have the following options:
• All Servers in Site. If selected, the application will be published from all servers that are
available on the site.
• Server Groups. Select this option and then select individual server groups to publish the
application from.
• Individual Servers. Select this option and select individual servers to publish the application
from.
Please note that the Publish From wizard page will appear only if you have multiple RD Session
Hosts. If you have just one server, this page will be skipped by the wizard. The page will also be
skipped if the application type that you are installing is Predefined Application.
7 Click Next.
8 Depending on the application type that you selected on the Select Application Type page, the
next wizard page will be one of the following:
• If you selected Single Application, the Application page will open where you have to
specify the application settings manually (more about this option later in this section).
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RD Session Hosts
• If you selected Installed Applications, the Installed Applications page will open listing
available applications (the applications are grouped by functionality). Select an application
you wish to install and click Next. Follows the instructions to complete the wizard.
• If you selected Predefined Application, the Select Predefined Applications page will
open listing available applications. Select an application you wish to publish and click Finish.
9 If you selected Single Application on the Select Application Type wizard page, the
Application page will open. Specify the application settings as follows (see the screenshot
below):
Note that if you populate the Target field first using the "browse" button ([...]), the application
Name, Description, and icon will be chosen automatically. You can override this selection if
you wish.
• Name. Choose and type a name for the application.
• Description. Type an optional description.
• Run. Select the application window state (normal window, minimized, maximized).
• Start automatically when user logs on. Select this option if you want to start an
application as soon as a user logs on. This option works on desktop versions of Parallels
Client only.
• Change Icon. Change the application icon (optional).
• Server(s). Allows you to specify the rest of the server parameters individually for each server
the application was published from. Select a server from the drop-down list box and specify
the parameters. Repeat for other servers in the list.
• Target. Specify the application executable path and file name.
• Start in. If the Target field is valid, this field will be populated automatically. You can specify
your own path if needed.
• Parameters. If the application accepts startup parameters, you can specify them in this
field.
10 When done, click Finish to publish the application.
Publishing a Web Application from an RD Session Host
A web application is like any other application that you can publish using the standard application
publishing functionality. However, to simplify publishing of straight URL links to web applications, a
separate publishing item type is available that allows you to accomplish this task with minimal
number of steps.
To publish a web application:
1 In the RAS Console, select the Publishing category and then click the Add icon below the
Published Resources tree (or right-click inside the Published Resources box and click Add
in the context menu). This will launch the publishing wizard.
2 On the Select Item Type wizard page, select Web Application and click Next.
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RD Session Hosts
3 On the Select Server Type page, select RD Session Host and click Next.
4 On the Publish From page, select the server(s) to publish from. Note that if you have just one
RD Session Host, the Publish From page will not appear.
5 On the Web Application wizard page that opens, specify the web application name,
description, window state, and the URL. Select the Force to use Internet Explorer option if
needed. To browse for a specific application icon, click Change Icon.
6 When done, click Finish to publish the application.
When published, the web application will appear in the Publishing > Published Resources list,
just like any other application.
Publishing a Network Folder from an RD Session Host
You can publish a filesystem folder via UNC path to open in Windows explorer. To minimize the
number of configuration steps, a special publishing item is available that allows you to publish a
network folder from an RD Session Host.
To publish a network folder:
1 In the RAS Console, select the Publishing category and then click the Add icon below the
Published Resources tree (or right-click inside the Published Resources box and click Add
in the context menu). This will launch the publishing wizard.
2 On the Select Item Type wizard page, select Folder on the file system and click Next.
3 On the Select Server Type page, select RD Session Host and click Next.
4 On the Publish From page, select the server(s) to publish from. Note that if you have just one
RD Session Host, the Publish From page will not appear.
5 On the UNC Folder wizard page, specify the usual application properties.
6 In the UNC path field, enter the UNC path of the folder you wish to publish. Click the [...]
button to browse for a folder (it may take some time for the Browse for Folder dialog to open).
7 Click Finish to publish the folder and close the wizard.
When published, the network folder will appear in the Publishing > Published Resources list, just
like any other application. If you select it and then click the Application tab, the application settings
will be as follows:
• The Target property will always be set to PublishedExplorer.exe. This binary is created
automatically (via agents pushing) and is simply a copy of the standard explorer.exe
executable.
• The Parameters property specifies the network folder that we want to publish. The folder path
can be in any format that the explorer.exe can handle.
Please note that although you have all standard application property tabs enabled for this
publishing item, at least the following items should be ignored, as they are completely irrelevant:
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RD Session Hosts
• Publish From
• File Extensions
Publishing a Document from an RD Session Host
To publish a document from an RD Session Host, follow the below procedure:
1 In the RAS Console, select the Publishing category and then click the Add icon below the
Published Resources tree (or right-click inside the Published Resources box and click Add
in the context menu). This will launch the publishing wizard.
2 On the Select Item Type wizard page, select Document and click Next.
3 Select RD Session Host and click Next.
4 Specify the content type of the document you want to publish. You can select the content type
from the predefined list or specify a custom content type in the Custom content types input
field.
5 Click Next when ready.
6 On the Publish From page, specify from which RD Session Hosts the application should be
published. You have the following options:
• All Servers in Site. If selected, the application will be published from all servers that are
available on the site.
• Server Groups. Select this option and then select individual server groups to publish the
application from.
• Individual Servers. Select this option and select individual servers to publish the application
from.
Please note that the Publish From wizard page will appear only if you have multiple RD Session
Hosts. If you have just one server, this page will be skipped by the wizard.
7 On the Application page, enter a name, an optional description, a Window state, and an icon if
needed.
8 Use the [...] button next to the Target input field to browse for the document. All other fields will
be automatically populated. To edit any of the auto populated fields, highlight them and enter
the required details.
9 (Optional) In the Parameters input field, specify the parameters to pass to the application when
it starts.
Note: Use the Server(s) drop down list to specify different document settings for a specific server in
case the document is configured differently on that particular server. The settings will be saved for each
server you select individually.
10 Click Finish to publish the document.
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RD Session Hosts
Publishing Containerized Applications
Turbo (Turbo.net) is a web-based container platform that runs applications on a Windows desktop
with no installation required. Parallels RAS provides you with the ability to publish applications
hosted by Turbo.net and make them available to Parallels RAS users just like regular applications
hosted by RD Session Host servers.
The ability to publish container-based applications allows Parallels RAS administrators to greatly
reduce TtV (time to value) and minimize investment and development resources. The integration of
the solution provided by Turbo gives you the following immediate benefits:
• Instant access to an online application repository with hundreds of applications available,
including:
• Most web browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Opera, etc).
• Most application runtimes (JRE and others).
• Most add-ons (Flash, etc).
• Open source applications like LibreOffice, VLC Player, etc.
• Administrative tools like WinSCP, Putty and so on.
• Instant provisioning of all these applications in any combination possible (i.e. a particular version
of Google Chrome with a specific Java runtime and Flash) to all endpoints regardless of the
platform and version (supports anything from Windows XP to Windows Server 2016).
For more information about Turbo, visit http://www.turbo.net
Licensing and supported Turbo repositories
• Parallels RAS uses the free edition of Turbo.net, so no subscription is required.
• Parallels RAS supports application publishing from the public Turbo.net repository only. Private
repositories are not supported at the time of this writing.
Enabling or disabling the Turbo.net support in Parallels RAS
Before you can publish applications from Turbo.net, you need to enable this functionality in Parallels
RAS as follows:
1 In the Parallels RAS Console, select the Administration category and then click the Publishing
tab in the right pane.
2 On the Publishing tab page, select the Enable Turbo.net application publishing option. This
will enable the Turbo.net functionality in the farm and will install the Turbo runtime on every RD
Session Host server, so they can download and run container-based applications.
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RD Session Hosts
If later you decide to disable the Turbo.net support in Parallels RAS (by clearing the Enable
Turbo.net application publishing option), you will see a message box saying that this action will
uninstall Turbo runtime from each RD Session Host that has it installed. If later you enable the
Turbo.net support again, the runtime will be reinstalled. If you've already published applications
from Turbo.net, the message box will also ask you what should be done with them. The available
options are:
• Disable. All published Turbo.net applications will be disabled.
• Delete. All published Turbo.net applications will be removed from Parallels RAS. If you enable
the Turbo.net support later, you will have to publish these application again.
• Keep unchanged. Applications will remain in Parallels RAS as active applications, but end
users will not be able to use them. If later you enable the Turbo.net support, the applications will
continue to work normally.
Publishing from Turbo.net
To publish a Turbo.net application:
1 In the Parallels RAS Console, select the Publishing category.
2 Click the [+] Add icon at the bottom of the right pane. The publishing wizard opens.
3 On the Select Item Type page, select the Containerized Application option. If the option is
disabled (grayed out), it could mean one of the following:
• The Turbo.net support is disabled in the Parallels RAS farm. See above for the info on how
to enable it.
• The administrator doesn't have the Allow Publishing changes permission granted. For
more info, see Configuring Administrator Account Permissions (p. 39).
4 Click Next.
5 On the Configure Turbo.net Repository page, specify an application you would like to
publish. Choose from the following options:
• Double-click a desired category in the application category list to see apps that it contains.
Select an application and click Next.
• Expand the drop-down list (on the right side) and select from one of the predefined
applications. If the app you are looking for is not in the list, type a search condition in the
same field and press Enter. The search string can be a full or partial application name, a
publisher name, or anything else that can possibly be a part of the app description.
Applications that match the search condition will appear in the list from which you can select
the one you need.
6 After selecting an application, click Next.
7 On the Application page, specify the following options:
• Name: A name under which the application will be listed in Parallels RAS.
• Description: An optional description.
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RD Session Hosts
• Run: Select the application window state (normal window, minimized, maximized).
• Start automatically when user logs on: Select this option if you want to start the
application as soon as a user logs on to Parallels RAS. This option works on desktop
versions of Parallels Client only.
• Change Icon: Specify a different application icon (optional).
• Server(s): Allows you to specify Target, Start In, and Parameters settings individually for
each RD Session Host through which this application will be published. Select an RD
Session Host from the drop-down list and then specify the settings described below.
• Target: Specifies the application executable path and file name. This shouldn't be normally
changed for Turbo.net applications.
• Start in: If the value in the Target field is valid, the Start In field is populated automatically.
You can specify your own path if needed.
• Parameters: If the application accepts startup parameters, you can specify them in this
field.
8 Click Finish to publish the Turbo.net application. The application should appear in the
Published Resources tree in the Publishing category just like any other published resource.
Specifying RD Sessions Hosts through which the Turbo.net application should be
published
After you publish a Turbo.net application, you can specify RD Session Hosts through which it
should be published. Here's how it works. Application containers reside in the public Turbo.net
repository. When you initially publish a containerized Turbo.net application in Parallels RAS, you
don't really download it to an RD Session Host. However, as soon as the first user tries to launch a
newly published Turbo.net application in Parallels Client, the application container is downloaded to
an RD Session Host and the application is started on it. The user then gets access to it just like any
other published application.
To specify one or more RD Session Hosts through which the application should be published,
select the application in the Published Resources tree, choose the Publishing From tab page
and select one of the following options:
• All Servers in Site. The application will be published through all available RD Session Hosts.
• Server Groups. This option allows you to specify server groups through which the application
should be published.
• Individual Servers. Select this option to specify one or more individual servers.
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RD Session Hosts
How Turbo.net applications are launched in Parallels Client
When a user launches a Turbo.net application in Parallels Client, the RD Session Host handling the
request will attempt to start the application. If this is the first time anybody launches this particular
application on this server, the server first downloads the application container from Turbo.net. In
such a case, the Parallels Client user will see a message box with a progress indicator while the RD
Session Host prepares the application. Once the application is running on the server, the user will
see its window and can begin using it. Apart from the progress indicator box, a Parallels Client user
will not be able to tell whether a published application is a regular or a Turbo.net application.
Viewing Published Resources Hosted by RD Session Hosts
When you want to remove an RD Session Host or an RD Session Host group from a site, you
might want to see the list of published resources hosted by the server or servers in a group. This
way you can see which resources will be affected. You can do so as follows:
1 In the Parallels RAS Console, select Farm \ RD Session Hosts.
2 To see published resources for a specific RD Session Host, select the RD Session Hosts tab.
To see published resources for a group, select the Groups tab.
3 Right-click a server or a group and choose Show published resources (or click Tasks >
Show Published Resources).
4 The Published Resources window opens displaying the list of published resources for the
selected server or group. Resource information includes:
• Name. Resource name.
• Status. Enabled or disabled.
• Type. "Application" is used for published applications, URLs, network folders, etc.
"Desktop" is used for published desktops.
• Path. For published applications, specifies a path to the execute file, URL, or UNC path.
• Parameters. Published application parameters (if any).
• Published from. Site, group(s), or individual server(s).
5 To refresh the list, press F5 or click the "recycle" icon (top-right).
6 To filter the list, press Ctrl-F or click the magnifying glass icon and then specify the filter criteria
for desired column(s).
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C HAPTER 6
VDI Hosts
A VDI Host is a server on which a hypervisor is running one or more virtual machines (also known
as guest virtual machines or guest VMs). Each VM runs an operating system called the guest
operating system (or guest OS). Please note that Parallels Remote Application Server supports
Windows as a guest OS only.
By adding a VDI Host server to a Parallels RAS farm, you can create virtual machines from a
template and publish desktops and applications from guest operating systems.
This chapter explains how to add and manage VDI Hosts and guest VMs, and how to publish
resources form guest VMs.
In This Chapter
Supported Hypervisors ............................................................................................. 67
Adding a VDI Host .................................................................................................... 68
Modifying VDI Host Configuration ............................................................................. 72
Parallels RAS Templates ........................................................................................... 74
VDI Host Pool Management ..................................................................................... 85
Persistent Guest VMs ............................................................................................... 88
Publishing from a Guest VM ..................................................................................... 89
Viewing VDI Host Summary ...................................................................................... 94
Supported Hypervisors
Parallels Remote Application Server supports VDI Hosts based on the following virtualization
technologies:
• Microsoft Hyper-V
• Microsoft Hyper-V Failover Cluster
• VMware VCenter
• VMware ESXi
• Citrix XenServer
• QEmu KVM with libvirt
• Nutanix Acropolis
VDI Hosts
Adding a VDI Host
Preparing a VDI Host Server for Parallels RAS
Before adding a VDI Host to Parallels RAS, you need to determine where the RAS VDI Agent
software will be installed. RAS VDI Agent is a service application through which Parallels RAS
communicates with a VDI Host server. Depending on the hypervisor type, the RAS VDI Agent can
be installed on one of the following:
• The host server on which the hypervisor is running (Microsoft Hyper-V only).
• A supported Windows Server OS running on a physical box or in a virtual machine. For
supported Windows Server versions, see Software Requirements > RAS VDI Agent (p. 15).
• A preconfigured Linux-based virtual appliance (provided by Parallels). The appliance can be
deployed on any hypervisor on your network.
Important: The hypervisor software, the RAS VDI Agent, guest VMs, and the RAS Publishing Agent
must all be deployed in the same subnet.
The following table contains the RAS VDI Agent installation information for each supported
hypervisor type:
Hypervisor Type
Microsoft Hyper-V Yes No No
Microsoft Hyper-V Failover
Cluster
VMware VCenter No Yes Yes (OVA or VMDK)
VMware ESXi No Yes Yes (OVA or VMDK)
Citrix XenServer No Yes Yes (OVA or VMDK)
QEmu KVM with libvirt No No Yes (VMDK)
Nutanix Acropolis No Yes Yes (VMDK)
Agent Runs on the VDI
Host
No Yes No
Agent Runs on a
Windows Server host
(VM or HW)
Agent Runs on Appliance
In the table above, select the hypervisor type that you are using and see where the RAS VDI Agent
can be installed. Depending on the available choices, do one of the following:
• Agent runs on the VDI Host. This option is only available if you are using Microsoft Hyper-V.
You don't need to do anything special and can proceed to Searching for VDI Hosts or
Manually Adding a VDI Host subsections below.
• Agent runs on a Windows Server (VM or HW). Make sure you have a physical box or virtual
machine with a Windows Server OS installed and ready. You will need to specify its FQDN or IP
address when adding a VDI Host server to the farm.
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VDI Hosts
• Agent Runs on Appliance. If this is your choice, you need to download and deploy a virtual
appliance as described in the Deploying a Virtual Appliance subsection below.
Please note that if both a Windows Server host and a virtual appliance can be used with your
hypervisor type, you can choose one or the other according to your preferences.
Deploying a Virtual Appliance
To download and install a virtual appliance:
1 Visit https://www.parallels.com/products/ras/download/links/
Please note that you have to be signed in to Parallels My Account to access the download
page at the link above.
2 On the download page, scroll down to the "VDI Agent Appliances" section and click the VDI
Agent Appliance OVA or the VDI Agent Appliance VMDK link to download the appliance.
See the table above for the appliance type (OVA or VMDK) compatible with the hypervisor that
you are using.
3 After downloading the virtual appliance, you need to deploy it on a hypervisor. For the
information about deploying a virtual appliance, please refer to your hypervisor documentation.
You can now add the VDI Host server to the Parallels RAS farm. You can search your network for
available VDI Hosts or you can add a specific VDI Host to the farm manually. The following
subsections describe how to do it.
Searching for VDI Hosts
To search for available VDI hosts on your network:
1 In the RAS console, navigate to Farm / Site / VDI Hosts.
2 On the Virtual Desktop Hosts tab page, click Tasks > Find.
3 The Find Virtual Desktop Hosts dialog opens and begins to search for VDI hosts. If no VDI
hosts are found, you can add a host manually (jump to the Manually Adding a VDI Host
subsection below).
4 If at least one suitable VDI host is found, it will be displayed in the dialog. You can select the
Show all hosts option to display all available hosts, including the hosts that don't meet the
minimum system requirements. To refresh the list, click Refresh.
5 Click OK to add the VDI host to the Parallels RAS farm.
Manually Adding a VDI Host
To add a VDI host manually:
1 In the Tasks drop-down menu, click Add to launch the Add VDI Server wizard.
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VDI Hosts
2 Select the hypervisor type that your VDI host is running and specify the host's FQDN or IP
address.
3 Select the Add Firewall Rules option to automatically configure the firewall on the server.
4 If applicable, select the VDI Agent Service is running on Appliance option.
5 If the VDI Agent field is enabled, specify the FQDN or IP address of the server where the RAS
VDI Agent is (or will be) installed. This can be either a virtual appliance (if you use one) or a
Windows Server host (physical box or virtual machine).
6 Click Next.
The wizard will advance to the VDI Agent Information dialog and will try to connect to the VDI
Agent that you specified in the VDI Agent field in the previous step. If the agent is not installed, do
the following:
1 Click Install to push install the agent on the specified server.
2 In the Installing RAS VDI Agent dialog, select the appropriate OS in the OS drop-down list. If
the agent is to be installed in a virtual appliance, select "RAS Appliance".
3 Click Install to install the agent. When prompted, enter the server (or virtual appliance)
administrator credentials.
4 Click Done. If the automatic installation of the RAS VDI Agent fails, refer to the Installing RAS
VDI Agent Manually section (p. 71).
Once the RAS VDI Agent is installed, do the following:
1 In the VDI Agent Information dialog, click Add to add the VDI Host to the Parallels RAS farm.
Note: If your VDI Host server is running Nutanix Acropolis or KVM and you see a warning message that
Nutanix Acropolis (or KVM) was not found, ignore it and continue.
2 In the Host Properties dialog that opens, click the Credentials tab.
3 Type the VDI Host administrator credentials and click the Check Credentials button.
4 Click OK to close the Host Properties dialog.
5 In the main Parallels RAS Console window, click Apply to apply the changes to Parallels RAS.
Checking the RAS VDI Agent Status
To verify that the RAS VDI Agent is installed and functions properly, do the following:
1 First, you can look at the Agent State column in the VDI Hosts list (Farm / VDI Hosts / Virtual
Desktop Hosts). If there's a problem with the agent, the column will display an appropriate
error message.
2 Right-click a host and then click Troubleshooting > Check Agent in the context menu.
3 The VDI Agent Information dialog opens displaying the information about the VDI Agent, VDI
Services, and other related info.
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VDI Hosts
4 If the VDI Agent is not installed, click the Install button and follow the onscreen instructions.
See Adding a VDI Host (Manually Adding a VDI Host subsection) (p. 68) for more info.
Installing RAS VDI Agent Manually
You may need to install the RAS VDI Agent on a VDI Host manually if the automatic push
installation cannot be performed. For instance, an SMB share may be not be available or the
firewall rules may interfere with the push installation, etc.
Note: You can only use these instructions to install RAS VDI Agent in Windows.
Installing RAS VDI Agent Manually
To install the agent:
1 Log into the server where the RAS VDI Agent is to be installed using an administrator account
and close all other applications.
2 Copy the Parallels Remote Application Server installation file (RASInstaller.msi) to the
server and double-click it.
3 Once prompted, click Next and accept the End-User license agreement.
4 Specify the path where the RAS Agent should be installed and click Next.
5 Select Custom and click Next.
6 Click on the RAS VDI Agent and select Entire Feature will be installed on local hard drive
from the drop-down menu.
7 Ensure that all other components are deselected and click Next.
8 Click Install to start the installation. Click Finish once the installation is finished.
The RAS VDI Agent does not require any configuration. Once the agent is installed, highlight the
server name in the RAS Console and click Troubleshooting > Check Agent. If the agent is
installed properly, the status should change to Agent Installed.
Uninstalling RAS VDI Agent
To uninstall the RAS VDI Agent from a server:
1 Navigate to Start > Control Panel > Programs > Uninstall a Program.
2 Find Parallels Remote Application Server in the list of installed programs.
3 If you don't have any other Parallels RAS components on the server that you want to keep,
right-click Parallels Remote Application Server and then click Uninstall. Follow the
instructions to uninstall the program. You may skip the rest of these instructions.
4 If you have other RAS components that you want to keep on the server, right-click Parallels
Remote Application Server and then click Change.
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VDI Hosts
5 Click Next on the Welcome page.
6 On the Change, repair, or remove page, select Change.
7 On the next page, select Custom.
8 Select RAS VDI Agent, then click the drop-down menu in front of it, and click Entire feature
will be unavailable.
9 Click Next and complete the wizard.
Change VDI Host Site Assignment
You can assign a VDI Host to a different site in your farm if needed. Please note that this
functionality is only available if you have more than one site in your farm.
To change the site assignment:
1 Right-click a VDI Host and then click Change Site in the context menu. The Change Site
dialog opens.
2 Select a site in the list and click OK. The server will be moved to the VDI Hosts list of the target
site (Farm / <new-site-name> / VDI Hosts).
Modifying VDI Host Configuration
Read this section to learn how to modify the configuration of a VDI Host in Parallels RAS.
Configuring a VDI Host
To configure a VDI host:
1 In the RAS Console, navigate to Farm / Site / VDI Hosts.
2 Select the Virtual Desktop Hosts tab page in the right pane.
3 Select a VDI Host in the VDI Hosts list and click Tasks > Properties. The Host Properties
dialog opens.
Note: Some of the properties described below may be unavailable on some servers. This depends on
the type of the hypervisor installed on the host server.
Enabling or disabling a VDI Host in the farm
By default a VDI Host is enabled in the farm. When it is disabled, published applications and virtual
desktops cannot be served from it. To enable or disable a VDI Host, use the Enable Host in site
option on the Properties tab page.
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VDI Hosts
Configuring VDI Host connection settings
The following properties can be configured on the Properties tab page:
• VDI Type. Hypervisor type.
• VDI Version. Hypervisor version. If the hypervisor version that you are using is not listed, select
Other.
• VDI Host. The VDI host IP address.
• VDI Port. Port number on which the VDI Host listens for incoming connections.
• VDI Agent. The appliance or the RAS VDI Agent IP address.
• Change Direct Address. If selected, allows you to specify the IP address that can be used by
Parallels Clients to directly connect to the host. The direct address is only used in the Direct
Connection mode and it could be an internal or external IP address.
Specifying credentials
On the Credentials tab page, specify the user name and password to log into the VDI Host. Click
the Check Credentials button to verify the credentials that you've entered.
Configuring the RAS VDI Agent on the server
Each VDI host in the farm has the RAS VDI Agent installed (or running in an appliance). The VDI
agent can be configured on the Agent Settings tab page.
• Max Connections. Specifies the maximum allowable number of powered-on guest VMs.
• Publishing Session Timeout. Specifies the amount of time each session remains connected in
the background after the user has closed the published application. This option is used to avoid
unnecessary reconnections with guest VMs.
• Allow Client URL/Mail Redirection. Select this option to allow http and mailto links to be
opened using a local application on the client computer rather than the server resources.
• Preferred Publishing Agent. Select a Publishing Agent with which the RAS VDI Agent should
communicate. This can be helpful when site components are installed in multiple physical
locations communicating through WAN. You can decrease network traffic by specifying a more
appropriate Publishing Agent.
• Logging. Enable or disable the RAS VDI Agent logging. Logging should only be enabled if
instructed by the Parallels RAS Support.
Configuring RDP printing
The RDP Printer tab allows you to configure the renaming format of redirected printers. The
format may vary depending on which version and language of the server you are using. Select the
RDP Printer Name Format option specifically for the configured server:
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VDI Hosts
• Printername (from Computername) in Session no.
• Session no. (computername from) Printername
• Printername (redirected Session no)
The other RDP Printing options available in the RDP Printer tab are:
• Remove session number from printer name
• Remove client name from printer name
Configuring VDI Host maintenance time window
The Scheduler tab page allows you to create a maintenance time window for the server. During
this time, published resources won’t be accessible from that server.
To configure a maintenance time window click Tasks > Add and then set the following options:
• Start date
• Time
• Duration
• Repeat
The On disable option allows you to specify what should happen to current sessions when a
scheduled task triggers.
Parallels RAS Templates
Parallels RAS Templates are used to automate the creation and deployment of guest VMs in
Parallels Remote Application Server. A RAS Template is created as a copy of an existing guest VM
but cannot run as a regular virtual machine. You can customize a RAS Template for use with
Parallels Remote Application Server according to your needs. Once a template is ready, you can
use it to create guest VM clones (copies) that will inherit all of the properties of the template. Guest
VMs can then be used to serve applications, documents, and desktops to your Parallels RAS
users.
RAS Templates can be created with the following versions of Windows as a guest OS:
• Windows XP SP3
• Windows Vista
• Windows 7
• Windows 8
• Windows 10
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Read the following topics to learn how to create and configure Parallels RAS Templates and guest
VMs:
• Creating a RAS Template (p. 75)
• Configuring a RAS Template (p. 76)
• How Guest VMs are Created From a Template (p. 80)
• Managing Guest VMs (p. 80)
• RAS Template Maintenance (p. 83)
Creating a RAS Template
To complete the tasks described in this section, your guest VM must be a domain member and the
Parallels RAS Console must be run under an account with administrative privileges on the guest VM
(by default, the Domain Admins group has such permissions). This is necessary to perform push
installation of the RAS Guest Agent software from the Parallels RAS Console.
If the conditions above cannot be met for any reason, you can try installing the agent software
manually by running the main Parallels Remote Application Server installer (RASInstaller.msi)
in Windows in the VM. Use the Custom installation option and select the RAS Guest Agent
component to install.
Note: To create a template from an existing virtual machine, the guest OS (Windows) must be configured
to obtain an IP address from a DHCP server.
To create a RAS Template:
1 In the RAS Console, navigate to Farm / Site / VDI Hosts.
2 Select the RAS Templates tab in the right pane.
3 In the Tasks drop-down menu, click Add.
4 In the Guest VM List dialog, select a guest VM from which you would like to create a RAS
Template and click OK.
5 In the next step, Parallels RAS will check if the source VM has the RAS Guest Agent installed. If
the agent is not installed, click Install and then specify credentials to log in to Windows in the
VM. Click Done when finished.
6 In the Guest VM Agent Information dialog, click the Make Template button to create a RAS
Template.
7 The source VM will be powered off and a copy of it will be created to become a new RAS
Template.
Once the copy of the VM is created, the Create Parallels RAS Template Wizard will automatically
open. Read on to learn how to use the wizard to configure a RAS Template (p. 76).
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Configuring a RAS Template
The Create Parallels RAS Template Wizard is used to configure a new Parallels RAS Template.
You need to complete the wizard before you can use the template to create virtual machines from
it. The wizard consists of several pages, which are described below.
Note: You can access the same configuration pages for an existing RAS Template by selecting it in the
list and then clicking Tasks > Properties. This will open a dialog (instead of the wizard described below),
but the pages and configuration options will be the same.
General
On the first page of the wizard (or the General tab page when modifying an existing template),
specify the following options:
• RAS Template. Specify a name for the template.
• Maximum guest VMs. Specify the maximum number of guest VMs that can be created from
this template. Once the number of existing guest VMs exceeds this number, a VM is deleted to
comply with the limitation.
• Pre-created guest VMs. Specify the number of VMs that will be automatically created in
advance. This is done in order to have some VMs ready right away. If all pre-created VMs are
already in use and another one is needed, it will be created on demand.
• Virtual machine name prefix. Specify a name prefix for guest VMs. A VM ID will be appended
to it to make the final VM name unique.
• Delete unused guest VMs after the following period. Enable this option to automatically
delete VMs that haven't been used for a specified period of time. Use the drop-down list to
specify the time period.
• Clone method. Specify whether virtual machines should be created from this template as full or
linked clones (see the Note and the Full vs. linked clones section below for more info). These
options are only available when you create a new RAS Template; they are disabled when you
modify the configuration of an existing template.
Note: If the Create a linked clone option is grayed out, it means that the current version or Parallels
RAS does not support linked clones with the hypervisor that you are using. At the time of this writing,
support for linked clones is available for VMware, MS Hyper-V, and KVM. Please note that Citrix
XenServer support in Parallels RAS includes full clones only. Fast clones support will be added in the
near future.
Full vs. linked clones: Guest VMs are created as clones (copies) of a RAS Template. A full
clone is a complete copy of a template. As such, it occupies as much space on the physical
hard drive as the source template and takes a significant time to create. A linked clone is a copy
of a template made from a snapshot that shares virtual disk with the source template, therefore
it takes much less space on the physical hard drive and it takes only a couple of minutes to
create. Linked clones have other advantages, such as simplified disaster recovery, added
security, single image management, to name a few.
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Advanced
On the Advanced page, specify the following options:
• Folder. Specify the folder where guest VMs created from this RAS Template will be stored. This
option is available if you are using Hyper-V, Hyper-V Failover Cluster, VMware vCenter, Citrix
XenServer, KVM, or Nutanix.
• Native Pool. Specify the native pool to add the VMs to. This option is available if you are using
VMware ESX and VMware vCenter.
Preparation
On the Preparation page, you can select and configure an image preparation tool. First, select
whether you want to use RASprep or Sysprep.
RASprep is the Parallels RAS tool, which prepares Windows in a VM after cloning it from a base
image. RASprep performs the following tasks during the initial startup of each new VM:
• Creates a new computer account in Active Directory for each guest VM.
• Gives the guest VM a new name.
• Joins the guest VM to the Active Directory domain.
Compared to Sysprep, RASprep works much faster because it modifies a lower number of
configurable parameters and requires less reboots. The following table lists the main differences
between RASprep and Sysprep:
Operation RASprep Sysprep
Delete local accounts No Yes
Generate new SIDs No Yes
Unjoin the parent guest VM from the domain No Yes
Change computer name Yes Yes
Join the new instance to the domain Yes Yes
Language, regional settings, date and time
customization
Number of reboots 1
No Yes
2 (seal, mini-setup and
domain joining)
After selecting the preparation tool, specify the following options:
• Computer name. A name pattern that should be used to assign a computer name to a VM.
For example, Windows10-RAS-%ID%.
• Owner name. Owner name (optional).
• Organization. Organization name (optional).
• Administrative password. Local Windows administrator password.
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• Join domain. Name of a domain for the VM to join.
• Administrator. Domain account.
• Password. Domain account password.
• Target OU. Full DN of an organizational unit. Click the [...] button to browse Active Directory
and select an OU.
License Keys
On the License Keys page, specify the license key information that will be used to activate virtual
machines created from this template.
First, select the license key management type that you are using in your organization (KMS or
MAK). Parallels recommend to use KMS because MAK has limited activations.
Key Management Service (KMS): If you are using KMS, click the Finish button to save the
template configuration information. Virtual machines that will be created from this template will look
for KMS in DNS (at the end of the OS mini-setup and domain joining) and will be activated
accordingly.
Multiple Activation Keys (MAK): If you are using MAK, do the following:
1 Click the Add button and type a valid key in the License key field.
2 In the Max guest VMs field, specify the maximum number of VMs that can be created from this
template.
3 Click OK.
Note: Parallels RAS does not keep the old MAK key in guest VMs if it was updated in the Parallels RAS
Template properties.
Summary
Review the template summary information. If not satisfied, click Back to correct the info as needed.
Select the Launch Parallels RAS Test Template Wizard on completion option to start a wizard
allowing you to test the health of the template. The wizard allows you to see upon completion that
all post-prep activities complete correctly. This includes checking DHCP settings, DNS registration,
correct VLAN, joining the AD domain, correct target OU, etc. The wizard is described in the topic
that follows this one (p. 79).
Click Finish to save the template configuration information and close the wizard.
If you need to change the template configuration later, select it in the RAS Templates list and click
Tasks > Properties. Use the dialog that opens to view and modify the template properties. The
dialog consists of tab pages which are exact copies of the wizard pages described above.
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Parallels RAS Test Template Wizard
If you selected the Launch Parallels RAS Test Template Wizard on completion option on the
last page of the template configuration wizard, the Parallels RAS Test Template Wizard opens
allowing you to test the health of the RAS Template. The wizard allows you to see upon completion
that all post-prep activities complete correctly. This includes checking DHCP settings, DNS
registration, correct VLAN, joining the AD domain, correct target OU, etc. You can also open this
wizard by right-clicking a RAS Template in the Parallels RAS Console and choosing Test.
The test procedure consists of the following steps:
1 The RAS Template is switched temporarily to the "Test" mode designed specifically for this
purpose. Please note that while the template is in this mode, all other operations are blocked
until the test is finished and the template exits the test mode.
2 A guest VM is cloned from it to be used for testing. The VM is kept on the server for the
duration of the test and will be deleted afterwards.
3 A series of tests is then run on the guest VM to test the template from which it was created.
4 Once the test is complete, a report is displayed on the screen showing the test results.
When the wizard starts:
1 The Welcome page opens. Read the info that it contains and click Next when ready.
2 The next page displays the list of individual tests that will be performed, including:
• Check guest VM Agent: This test tries to communicate with the RAS Guest Agent installed
in the VM. If the agent responds, it means that the VM has been created and started
successfully.
• Check domain membership: Checks that the computer has joined the AD domain.
• Check target OU: Checks that the RDP connection to the computer is possible with
domain credentials.
• Launch Parallels Client: This test launches Parallels Client and establishes a connection
with the guest VM.
3 While the test is running, the progress indicator is displayed on the screen. If needed, you can
cancel the test at any time by clicking the Cancel button.
4 Once all tests are completed, you will see a page displaying the test results:
• Success: If all tests complete successfully, the temporary guest VM will be marked for
deletion and the RAS Template will be switched back to the normal operation mode.
• Failure: If one or more tests fail, you will see the corresponding info and will be able to
download the log file by clicking the Download log file link. You will also have an option to
switch the RAS Template to maintenance mode, which will prevent creating guest VMs from
it until it is fixed.
5 Click Finish to close the wizard.
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How Guest VMs Are Created From a Template
After a RAS Template is created, Parallels RAS begins creating guest VMs from it, one virtual
machine at a time. The number of VMs is determined by the value specified in the Pre-created
guest VMs field on the Properties page (see Configuring a RAS Template (p. 76)).
As soon as a user connects to an existing guest VM, Parallels RAS begins creating a new guest VM
from the template, so the number of pre-created VMs remains unchanged. Please note that
creating a new guest VM from a template takes some time, especially when a template is
configured to create full clones (linked clones are created much faster). If a guest VM is in the
middle of being created, and no other VMs are available, the user will have to wait until the VM is
ready.
If a guest VM encounters a problem during the preparation stage (for any reason), it remains on the
server but cannot be used. You can identify such VMs in the Template Guest VMs List dialog
(described in the section that follows this one) by the "Preparation failed" value in the Status
column. Unless a VM like this is repaired or recreated, it will be automatically removed after the time
period specified in the Auto remove guest VMs which failed preparation after field on the VDI
Hosts > RAS Templates tab page. For more information on how to recreate a guest VM, please
see the RAS Template Maintenance section (p. 83).
When a guest VM is no longer in use, and if the number of existing VMs exceeds the "pre-created"
value, a VM is deleted after the time period specified in the Delete unused guest VM after field on
the Properties page. If you didn't select that option, a VM is never deleted, but the total number of
VMs will never exceed the value specified in the Maximum guest VMs field on the Properties
page.
Managing Guest VMs
Viewing guest VMs created from a RAS Template
To view the list of guest VMs created from a RAS Template, select a template on the RAS
Templates tab page and click Tasks > Show guest VMs. The Template Guest VMs List dialog
opens listing guest VMs.
The buttons on the right side of the dialog perform the following actions:
• Refresh. Refreshes the list.
• Delete. Deletes a selected guest VM (see the Deleting a guest VM subsection below).
• Send message. Allows you to send a message to the user who is currently connected to a
guest VM. For example, when you apply updates to the parent RAS Template, you need all
users to be logged off, so you can use this button to send an appropriate message to
connected users.
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• Log off. Logs off the current session from a selected guest VM.
Performing Guest VM Power Operations
The power operations icons at the bottom of the dialog allow you to start, stop, suspend, and reset
a guest VM. To perform an action, select a guest VM and click a icon corresponding to the desired
action.
Note: If you are using Nutanix Acropolis as the hypervisor, the suspend operation is not available (the
Suspend icon is disabled). The reason for this is Nutanix Acropolis does not support the suspend
operation on its virtual machines.
Checking the RAS Guest Agent status
A guest VM should have the RAS Guest Agent installed in it. The agent is installed by default when
a guest VM is created from a RAS Template. If a guest VM was created outside the RAS Console
using the native hypervisor tools, it may not have the agent installed in it. In such a case, the guest
VM will be able to serve only the desktop, but no applications or documents.
To check if the RAS Guest Agent is installed in a guest VM:
1 Select a guest VM in the list and then click Tasks > Check Agent.
2 The Guest VM Agent Information dialog opens displaying the information about the RAS
Guest Agent.
3 If the agent is not installed, click the Install button and follow the instructions. The agent will be
push installed in Windows running inside the guest VM.
Configuring guest VM properties
To view and modify properties of a guest VM, select a guest VM and click Tasks > Properties. The
Guest VM Advanced Settings dialog opens. In the dialog, configure the following properties:
• Do not use this guest VM. If selected, the guest VM will not be used to serve published
resources to end users.
• Computer name. Specifies the guest VM network name (domain name or IP address) used to
connect to this guest VM.
• Port. Specifies the port number through which Parallels RAS communicates with this guest
VM.
• Override default settings. Allows you to specify your own VM settings. By default, this option
is cleared and a VM is configured using default settings. To specify custom settings, select this
option and then choose your own values for Connection timeout, Protocol, If session
disconnects, and End a disconnected session options. For the descriptions of these options,
please see the Configuring Default Guest VM Properties subsection below (the options are
exactly the same in both places).
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Configuring default guest VM properties
By default, all guest VMs in a site are configured using the default VM settings. The defaults are
defined on a site level and are automatically applied to all newly created VMs regardless of which
VDI Host or VM pool they belong to.
To view and modify the default settings, in the Template Guest VMs dialog, click Tasks > Default
settings (or click the gear icon). The Default Guest VM Advanced Settings dialog opens allowing
you to view and modify the following settings:
• Connection timeout. If a connection with the guest VM cannot be established in this time
period, Parallels RAS will cancel the connection attempt.
• Protocol. Specifies a protocol that Parallels RAS uses to communicate with the guest VM.
• If session disconnects. Specifies the action that should be taken if a user disconnects from a
session. Actions include Suspend, Reset, Keep Current State, Stop. Use the after field to
specify the amount of time that has to pass before the selected action is executed.
Note for Nutanix Acropolis users: Nutanix Acropolis does NOT support the suspend operation for
its VMs. If Suspend is selected in this field, no action will be applied to a Nutanix Acropolis VM when a
session disconnect event occurs (a corresponding error will be recorded in the VDI Agent log). Since
Suspend is the default action, you should consider selecting a different one if you are using Nutanix
Acropolis.
Any modifications you make to default VM settings are immediately applied to all VMs in the current
site that use them.
Deleting a guest VM
To delete a guest VM, select it and then click the Delete button on the right side of the window.
Important: If you are using VMware ESXi, you should ONLY delete a guest VM from the Template
Guest VMs dialog in the Parallels RAS Console. You should NOT try to delete a guest VM using the
VMware native client or web interface. If you do, the VMware tools will delete not only the VM but its
parent RAS Template as well (which will also invalidate all other guest VMs created as linked clones from
this template). The reason for this is ESXi client interface treats linked clones as standalone VMs. Parallels
RAS uses a different approach when creating or deleting linked clones, which allows it to treat linked
clones as what they are.
Managing guest VMs that failed preparation
If a guest VM encounters a problem during the preparation stage (for any reason), it remains on the
server but cannot be used. You can identify such VMs in the Template Guest VMs List dialog
(described above) by the "Preparation failed" value in the Status column. Unless a VM like this is
repaired, it will be automatically removed after the time period specified in the Auto remove guest
VMs which failed preparation after field on the RAS Templates tab page. You can set any of the
available time periods by selecting it from the drop-down list or you can type a desired value, such
as "8 days" or "12 hours".
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Recreating a guest VM
If something happens to a guest VM and it becomes unusable, you don't have to delete it and
create a new one. Instead, you can recreated it keeping its name and MAC address. This way none
of the other site settings, which may rely on a broken guest VM, will be affected. Examples of such
settings may include publishing from VDI desktops (i.e. specific guest VMs selected), desktop
persistence, AD policies filtered via computer groups. Another reason for recreating a guest VM is
to apply changes made to the RAS Template (when you exit from maintenance without executing
the Recreate command).
To recreate one or more guest VMs:
1 In the Parallels RAS Console, navigate to Farm \ Site \ VDI Hosts \ RAS Templates.
2 To recreate all deployed guest VMs, click the Tasks drop-down menu and choose Recreate
All Guest VMs.
3 To recreate a specific guest VM (or multiple guest VMs), click Tasks > Show Guests VMs.
4 In the Template Guest VMs dialog, select one or more guest VMs and then click the Recreate
button.
When you recreate a guest VM:
• The procedure deletes a VM and creates a new one from the same template.
• The new guest VM retains the same computer name and MAC address as the one it replaces.
• If a guest VM is running, all unsaved data in its memory will be lost. For this reason, an
important data should be saved to a disk.
RAS Template Maintenance
In addition to viewing and modifying configuration properties of a RAS Template, you can perform a
number of maintenance tasks on it. These tasks are described below.
Updating RAS Guest Agent inside a template
A RAS template should have the latest version of RAS Guest Agent installed in it. The agent is
installed when you create a template. When a new version of RAS Guest Agent becomes available,
it should be updated.
To check the RAS Guest Agent status inside a template, click Tasks > Check agent. If the agent is
up to date, a message box will be displayed confirming this. If a newer version of RAS Guest Agent
is available, you'll see a dialog asking if you want to update it. Click Yes to update the agent. If you
click No, you can check the status again later and update the agent at that time.
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Using the RAS Template maintenance mode
The RAS Template maintenance mode is used to update software inside a RAS Template. For
instance, if you want to install a Windows server pack or a software update, you need to use the
maintenance mode.
Depending on whether a RAS Template is configured for full or linked clones, the maintenance
mode is used slightly differently.
Full clones:
If your RAS Template is configured to create full clones, do the following:
1 Select a RAS Template and click Tasks > Maintenance. The template becomes disabled
(grayed out), so all operations on it (including creating new guest VMs) are suspended.
2 Using native tools of the corresponding hypervisor, start the template as a normal virtual
machine.
3 Install Windows updates or software as necessary.
4 When done, shut down the virtual machine.
5 Back in the RAS Console, select the template and click Tasks > Maintenance again to exit the
maintenance mode.
Please note that any updates applied to a template in the maintenance mode will only affect future
clones. Existing guest VMs that were created from this template as full clones will not be affected,
so if you want them to include these updates, you will have to recreate them.
Linked clones:
Since linked clones share the virtual hard disk with a snapshot of a RAS Template, you need to
take additional steps compared to full clones.
First, you need to notify guest VM users to save their data and log off. This is necessary for existing
guest VMs to include the updates that you will install in the template. Once all users are logged off,
do the following:
1 Select the RAS Template and click Tasks > Maintenance. The template becomes disabled
(grayed out), so all operations on it (including creating new guest VMs) are suspended.
2 Using native tools of the corresponding hypervisor, start the template as a normal virtual
machine.
3 Install Windows updates or software as necessary.
4 When done, shut down the virtual machine.
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5 Back in the RAS Console, select the template and click Tasks > Maintenance again to exit the
maintenance mode. A dialog is displayed asking if you would like to recreate existing guest
VMs. If you click No, then the dialog is closed and the existing guest VMs are left in their current
state, which means that the updates that you installed will NOT appear in the existing VMs. If
you click Yes, read on.
6 If you click Yes in the previous step, existing guest VMs will be examined for active
connections. If an active connection is detected, another dialog opens asking if you want to
proceed:
• If you click Yes, all active sessions are forcibly logged off and existing guest VMs (linked
clones), together with the corresponding snapshot, are deleted and a new snapshot and
VMs are created from the updated RAS Template.
• If you click No, the Template Guest VMs List dialog opens where you can view the current
state of each available guest VM. The dialog gives you full control over a guest VM. You can
send a message to the user and you can log the user off. Once all active sessions are
logged off, click OK. The existing guest VMs and the corresponding snapshot are deleted
and a new snapshot and VMs are created from the updated RAS Template.
When you are done configuring a RAS Template, click the Apply button on the main RAS Console
window to commit the changes to Parallels Remote Application Server.
VDI Host Pool Management
Pools offer administrators more flexibility when managing an extensive number of guest VMs,
especially when they are implemented in large company infrastructures. The RAS Console provides
you with the framework and tools needed to create a complete Pool Management foundation.
To manage pools, in the RAS Console, navigate to Farm / Site / VDI Hosts and then click the
Pool Management tab.
Read on to learn how to:
• Add and delete pools (p. 85)
• Add and delete pool members (p. 86)
• Configure guest VMs in a pool (p. 86)
• Use a wildcard to filter VMs (p. 88)
Adding and Deleting Pools
To add a pool, click the Tasks drop-down menu above the Pools list and then click Add (or click
the plus-sign icon). Type a pool name and then click anywhere outside the edit field.
To delete a pool, right-click it and then click Delete (or click the minus-sign icon, or Tasks >
Delete).
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Adding and Deleting Pool Members
A VDI pool can contain different types of members. These could be all available guest VMs, specific
guest VMs, guest VMs created from a template, and even other pools.
To add a member to a pool:
1 Select a pool in the Pools list.
2 In the Tasks drop-down menu above the Members list, click Add and choose a member type
from the following list:
• All guest VMs in site. All guest VMs on all VDI hosts that are located on the site.
• All guest VMs in host. All guest VMs that are located on a particular VDI host. After clicking
this options, you'll be able to select a VDI host.
• Guest VM. A specific guest VM located in the farm. After clicking this options, you'll be able
to select a guest VM from the list.
• Native pool. A group of guest VMs that were natively configured in the hypervisor as a pool.
Please note that a hypervisor may use a different term for pools (e.g. "resource pools"). After
clicking this option, you'll be able to select a native pool from the list, if any are available.
• Pool. An existing pool in the Parallels Remote Application Server (pool nesting). After
clicking this option, you'll be able to select an existing pool from the list.
• RAS template. Guest VMs that are automatically created from a RAS Template. After
selecting this option, you'll be able to select a RAS template. For more information about
RAS Templates, refer to Managing RAS Templates (p. 74).
3 After you click one of the above menu items (except All Guest VMs in Site), you will be
presented with the list of the available hosts, guest VMs, pools, or templates from which you
can make your selection. The All guest VMs in site item is simply added to the member list as
it adds all available guest VMs to the pool.
To delete a member from a pool, select the pool, then select a pool member you wish to delete,
and then click Tasks > Delete.
Configuring Guest VMs in a Pool
To configure a guest VM included in a pool, select a pool and then click Tasks > Show Guests in
Pool to open the Guest VM List dialog.
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Checking the RAS Guest Agent Status
A guest VM should have the RAS Guest Agent installed in it. The agent is installed by default when
a guest VM is created from a RAS Template. If a guest VM was created outside the RAS Console
using the native hypervisor tools, it may not have the agent installed in it. In such a case, the guest
VM will be able to serve only the desktop, but no applications or documents.
To check if the RAS Guest Agent is installed in a guest VM:
1 Select a guest VM in the list and then click Tasks > Check Agent.
2 The Guest VM Agent Information dialog opens displaying the information about the RAS
Guest Agent.
3 If the agent is not installed, click the Install button and follow the instructions. The agent will be
push installed in Windows running inside the guest VM.
Performing Guest VM Power Operations
The power operations icons at the bottom of the dialog allow you to start, stop, suspend, and reset
a guest VM.
Note: If you are using Nutanix Acropolis, the suspend operation is not available (the Suspend icon is
disabled). The reason for this is Nutanix Acropolis does not support the suspend operation on its virtual
machines.
Configuring Guest VM Properties
To view and modify properties of a guest VM:
Select a guest VM and click Tasks > Properties. The Guest VM Advanced Settings dialog
opens. In the dialog, configure the following properties:
• Do not use this guest VM. If selected, the guest VM will not be used to serve published
resources to end users.
• Computer name. Specifies the network name (domain name / IP address) that the system will
use to connect to this guest VM.
• Port. Specifies the port number that the system will use to connect to this guest VM.
• Override default settings. Allows you to specify your own VM settings. By default, this option
is cleared, so a VM is configured using default settings. To specify custom VM settings, select
this option and then choose your own values for Connection timeout, Protocol, If session
disconnects, and End a disconnected session options. For the descriptions of these options,
please see the Configuring Default Guest VM Properties subsection below.
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Configuring Default Guest VM Properties
By default, all guest VMs in a site are configured using the default VM settings which are defined on
a site level and automatically applied to all newly created VMs.
To view and modify the default settings, in the Guest VM List dialog, click Tasks > Default
settings (or click the gear icon). The Default Guest VM Advanced Settings dialog allows you to
view and modify the following properties:
• Connection timeout. If a connection with the guest VM cannot be established in this time
period, Parallels RAS will cancel the connection attempt.
• Protocol. Specifies a protocol that Parallels RAS uses to communicate with the guest VM.
• If session disconnects. Specifies the action that should be taken if a user disconnects from a
session. Actions include Suspend, Reset, Keep Current State, Stop. Use the after field to
specify the amount of time that has to pass before the selected action takes place.
Note for Nutanix Acropolis users: Nutanix Acropolis does NOT support the suspend operation on
its VMs. If Suspend is selected in this field, no action will be applied to a Nutanix Acropolis VM when a
session disconnect event occurs (a corresponding error will be recorded in the VDI Agent log). Since
Suspend is the default action, you should consider selecting a different one if you are using Nutanix
Acropolis.
• End a disconnected session. Specifies whether (and when) the disconnected session should
end. Please note that the user can reconnect to a previous session if the session is still
available.
Any modifications you make to default VM settings are immediately applied to all VMs in the current
site that use them.
Using a Wildcard to Filter VMs
Use the Wildcard input field at the bottom of the Pool management tab to specify a wildcard to
indicate which guest VMs should be available for users. If a VM name matches the wildcard, it will
be available. If not, the users will not be able to use it. Use the the asterisk operator (*) to specify a
wildcard (e.g. ABC*, *ABC*).
Persistent Guest VMs
When an application or desktop is published from a guest VM and set as persistent, the first time a
user launches it, the guest VM is marked as persistent. To view persistent guest VMs:
1 In the Parallels RAS Console, navigate to Farm / VDI Hosts.
2 Select the Persistent Guest VMs tab page in the right pane.
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The Persistent Guest VMs list contains guest VMs that were marked as persistent. If a guest VM
hasn't been used, you can remote persistence by doing one of the following:
• Select a guest VM in the list and then click Tasks > Delete. To remove all guest VMs from this
list, click Tasks > Delete All. Please note that this will not delete a guest VM from the VDI Host.
It will simply remove persistence if you decide that it's no longer required.
• Use the Auto remove persistence if guest VM was not used for drop-down menu to define
an automatic removal rule. In the menu, select the time period after which persistence should
be removed if a guest VM was not used during this time. Note that you can also type the
desired time period (e.g. 1 week 3 days).
Publishing from a Guest VM
This section describes how to publish resources hosted by a guest VM. The publishing functionality
described here is accessed from the Publishing category in the RAS Console.
Read on to learn how to publish resources from a guest VM.
Publishing a Desktop from a Guest VM
To publish a virtual desktop from a guest VM or guest VM clone, follow the below procedure:
1 In the RAS Console, select the Publishing category and click the Add icon below the
Published Resources tree. This will launch the publishing wizard.
2 In the first step of the wizard select Desktop and click Next.
3 On the Select Desktop Type page, select Guest VM Desktop and click Next.
4 On the Guest VM Desktop page, enter a desktop name, an optional description, and change
the icon if needed.
5 In the Guest VM settings section, specify from where the desktop should be published. First,
you need to select an option in the Connect to drop-down list and then specify an additional
parameter in the field below it as follows:
• Any guest VM. Use the from Pool drop-down list to specify a pool.
• Specific guest VM. To select a guest VM, expand the Guest drop-down list. This opens
the Guest VM List dialog. Please note that in order to select a guest VM, it must have RAS
Guest Agent installed. To verify this, look at the Agent Status column, which should say
"Agent Verified". If you select a guest VM that has any other value in the Agent Status
column, you will be asked to install the RAS Guest Agent in the VM before you can proceed
(note that if the selected guest VM was stopped, it will be automatically started).
• Guest VM. Specify the pool in the from Pool drop-down list and then specify where name
equals Username or IP.
• Specific RAS Template. Select a template by expanding the RAS Template drop-down list.
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6 Select the Persistent option to mark a guest VM as persistent the first time the user connects
to it.
7 In the Desktop Size section, specify the desktop screen resolution and size.
8 Click Finish when done.
Publishing an Application from a Guest VM
To publish an application from a guest VM or guest VM clone:
1 In the RAS Console, select the Publishing category and then click the Add icon below the
Published Resources tree (or right-click inside the Published Resources box and click Add
in the context menu). This will launch the publishing wizard.
2 On the Select Item Type wizard page, select Application and click Next.
3 On the Select Server Type page, select Guest VM and click Next.
4 On the Select Application Type page, select Single application and click Next. The
Application page opens.
5 Enter a name and an optional description.
6 In the Run drop-down menu, specify if the application should run in a normal window,
maximized, or minimized.
7 In the Target field, specify the application that you want to publish. You may click the [...]
button to browse for it.
8 In the Start in field, specify (or browse for) the "start in" folder. Use Windows environment
variables if you are manually entering the path.
9 (Optional) In the Parameters input field, specify the parameters to pass to the application when
it starts.
10 In the Guest VM settings section, specify from where the application should be published.
First, you need to select an option in the Connect to drop-down list and then specify an
additional parameter in the field below it, as explained below:
• Any guest VM. Use the from Pool drop-down list to specify a pool.
• Specific guest VM. To select a guest VM, expand the Guest drop-down list. This opens
the Guest VM List dialog. Please note that in order to select a guest VM, it must have RAS
Guest Agent installed. To verify this, look at the Agent Status column, which should say
"Agent Verified". If you select a guest VM that has any other value in the Agent Status
column, you will be asked to install the RAS Guest Agent in the VM before you can proceed
(note that if the selected guest VM was stopped, it will be automatically started).
• Guest VM. Specify the pool in the from Pool drop-down list and then specify where name
equals Username or IP.
• Specific RAS template. Select a template by expanding the RAS Template drop-down list.
11 Select the Persistent option to mark a guest VM as persistent the first time the user connects
to it.
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12 When done, click Finish to publish the application.
Publishing a Web Application from a Guest VM
A web application is like any other application that you can publish using the standard application
publishing functionality. However, to simplify publishing of straight URL links to web applications, a
separate publishing item type is available that allows you to accomplish this task with minimal
number of steps.
To publish a web application:
1 In the RAS Console, select the Publishing category and then click the Add icon below the
Published Resources tree (or right-click inside the Published Resources box and click Add
in the context menu). This will launch the publishing wizard.
2 On the Select Item Type wizard page, select Web application and click Next.
3 On the Select Server Type page, select Guest VM and click Next.
4 On the Virtual Desktop Web Application wizard page that opens, specify the web application
name, description, window state, and the URL. Select the Force to use Internet Explorer
option if needed. To browse for a specific application icon, click Change Icon.
5 Use the Guest VM settings section to specify from where the application should be published.
The options are:
• Any guest VM. Publish the application from any guest VM in the selected pool. Select this
option and then select a pool in the from Pool drop-down list.
• Specific guest VM. To select a guest VM, expand the Guest drop-down list. This opens
the Guest VM List dialog. Please note that in order to select a guest VM, it must have RAS
Guest Agent installed. To verify this, look at the Agent Status column, which should say
"Agent Verified". If you select a guest VM that has any other value in the Agent Status
column, you will be asked to install the RAS Guest Agent in the VM before you can proceed
(note that if the selected guest VM was stopped, it will be automatically started).
• Guest VM. Select this option and then select a pool in from Pool. In the where name
equals drop-down list, select Username or IP. The application will be published from a
guest VM from the selected pool whose name/IP matches the username/IP of the user
connecting.
• Specific RAS template. Publish the application from a specific RAS template. Select this
option and then select a template in the RAS template drop-down list.
Select the Persistent option to mark a guest VM as persistent the first time the user connects
to it.
6 When done, click Finish to publish the application.
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Publishing a Network Folder from a Guest VM
You can publishing a filesystem folder via UNC path to open in Windows explorer. To minimize the
number of configuration steps, a special publishing item is available that allows you to publish a
network folder from a guest VM.
To publish a network folder:
1 In the RAS Console, select the Publishing category and then click the Add icon below the
Published Resources tree (or right-click inside the Published Resources box and click Add
in the context menu). This will launch the publishing wizard.
2 On the Select Item Type wizard page, select Folder on the file system and click Next.
3 On the Select Server Type page, select Guest VM and click Next.
4 On the Virtual Desktop UNC Folder wizard page, specify the usual application properties.
5 In the UNC path field, enter the UNC path of the folder you wish to publish. Click the [...]
button to browse for a folder (it may take some time for the Browse for Folder dialog to open).
6 In the Guest VM settings section, specify from where the virtual desktop should be published.
First, you need to select an option in the Connect to drop-down list and then specify an
additional parameter in the field below it, as explained below:
• Any guest VM. Use the from Pool drop-down list to specify a pool.
• Specific guest VM. To select a guest VM, expand the Guest drop-down list. This opens
the Guest VM List dialog. Please note that in order to select a guest VM, it must have RAS
Guest Agent installed. To verify this, look at the Agent Status column, which should say
"Agent Verified". If you select a guest VM that has any other value in the Agent Status
column, you will be asked to install the RAS Guest Agent in the VM before you can proceed
(note that if the selected guest VM was stopped, it will be automatically started).
• Guest VM. Specify the pool in the from Pool drop-down list and then specify where name
equals Username or IP.
• Specific RAS template. Select a template by expanding the RAS Template drop-down list.
7 Select the Persistent option to mark a guest VM as persistent the first time the user connects
to it.
8 Click Finish to publish the folder and close the wizard.
When published, the network folder will appear in the Publishing > Published resources list, just
like any other application. To view its properties, select it and then click the Virtual Desktop
Application tab:
• The Target property will always be set to PublishedExplorer.exe. This binary is created
automatically (via agents pushing) and is simply a copy of the standard explorer.exe
executable.
• The Parameters property specifies the network folder that we want to publish. The folder path
can be in any format that the explorer.exe can handle.
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Publishing a Document from a Guest VM
To publish a document from a guest VM or guest VM clone:
1 In the RAS Console, select the Publishing category and then click the Add icon below the
Published Resources tree (or right-click inside the Published Resources box and click Add
in the context menu). This will launch the publishing wizard.
2 On the Select Item Type wizard page, select Document and click Next.
3 Select Guest VM and click Next.
4 Specify the content type of the document you want to publish. You can select the content type
from the predefined list or specify a custom content type in the Custom content types input
field.
5 Click Next.
6 On the Virtual Desktop Application page, enter a name, an optional description, a Window
state, and an icon if needed.
7 Use the [...] button next to the Target input field to browse for the document. All other fields will
be automatically populated. To edit any of the auto populated fields, highlight them and enter
the required details.
8 (Optional) In the Parameters input field, specify the parameters to pass to the application when
it starts.
Note: Use the Server(s) drop down list to specify different document settings for a specific server in
case the document is configured differently on that particular server. The settings will be saved for each
server you select individually.
9 In the Guest VM settings section, specify from where the virtual desktop should be published.
First, you need to select an option in the Connect to drop-down list and then specify an
additional parameter in the field below it, as explained below:
• Any guest VM. Use the from Pool drop-down list to specify a pool.
• Specific guest VM. To select a guest VM, expand the Guest drop-down list. This opens
the Guest VM List dialog. Please note that in order to select a guest VM, it must have RAS
Guest Agent installed. To verify this, look at the Agent Status column, which should say
"Agent Verified". If you select a guest VM that has any other value in the Agent Status
column, you will be asked to install the RAS Guest Agent in the VM before you can proceed
(note that if the selected guest VM was stopped, it will be automatically started).
• Guest VM. Specify the pool in the from Pool drop-down list and then specify where name
equals Username or IP.
• Specific RAS template. Select a template by expanding the RAS Template drop-down list.
10 Select the Persistent option to mark a guest VM as persistent the first time the user connects
to it.
11 Click Finish to publish the document.
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Viewing VDI Host Summary
In addition to the VDI Hosts editor described in this chapter, you can also see the summary about
the available VDI Host servers. To do so:
1 In the RAS Console, select the Farm category and then select the Site node in the middle
pane.
2 The available servers are displayed in the VDI Hosts group in the right pane.
3 To go to the VDI Hosts editor, right-click a server and choose Show in the Editor.
For additional info, see Viewing Sites in the RAS Console (p. 33).
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C HAPTER 7
Remote PCs
In addition to RD Session Hosts and VDI hosts, resources can also be published from a remote PC
running a supported version of Windows. A remote PC can be a physical box or a virtual machine
treated as a standalone computer, but typically they are physical computers. If you have virtual
machines on your network, it makes sense to use them as part of the VDI infrastructure as was
described in the VDI Hosts chapter (p. 67). However, if you don't need the guest VM cloning
functionality or if your end users require full administrative permissions for customization, you can
use a virtual machine as a remote PC. It's up to you.
This chapter describes how to add and configure a remote PC to a site and how to use it to server
published resources to your users.
In This Chapter
Adding a Remote PC ............................................................................................... 95
Installing Remote PC Agent Manually ....................................................................... 96
Configuring a Remote PC ......................................................................................... 97
Viewing Remote PC Summary .................................................................................. 98
Publishing from a Remote PC ................................................................................... 98
Adding a Remote PC
Follow the below procedure to add a remote PC to a site:
1 In the RAS Console, select the Farm category and click the Remote PCs node in the
navigational tree.
2 Click Add in the Tasks drop-down menu to launch the setup wizard.
3 Specify the IP address or FQDN of a remote PC. Click the Get MAC button to obtain the PC's
MAC address.
4 Click Next.
5 In this step, the Parallels Remote Application Server checks if the Remote PC Agent is installed
on the specified PC. If it's not installed, click Install to push install the agent on the PC. If the
push installation of Remote PC Agent fails (e.g. an SMB share is not available or the firewall
rules don't allow to perform it), please read the Installing Remote PC Agent Manually section
that follows this one.
6 Click Add to add the Remote PC to the Parallels Remote Application Server server farm.
Remote PCs
Installing Remote PC Agent Manually
You may need to install the Remote PC Agent manually if the automatic push installation cannot be
performed. For instance, an SMB share may be not be available or the firewall rules may interfere
with the push installation, etc.
Installing Remote PC Agent Manually
1 Log into the PC where the Remote PC Agent is to be installed using an administrator account
and close all other applications.
2 Copy the Parallels Remote Application Server installation file (RASInstaller.msi) to the PC
and double click it to launch the installation.
3 Once prompted, click Next and accept the End-User license agreement.
4 Specify the path where the Remote PC Agent should be installed and click Next.
5 Select Custom and click Next.
6 Click on the Remote PC Agent and select Entire Feature will be installed on local hard
drive from the drop down menu.
7 Ensure that all other components are deselected and click Next.
8 Click Install to start the installation. Click Finish once the installation is finished.
Remote PC Agent does not require any configuration. Once the agent is installed, select the
Remote PC name in the Parallels RAS Console and click Troubleshooting > Check Agent. If the
agent is installed properly, the status should change to Agent Installed.
Uninstalling Remote PC Agent
To uninstall Remote PC Agent from a server:
1 Navigate to Start > Control Panel > Programs > Uninstall a Program.
2 Find Parallels Remote Application Server in the list of installed programs.
3 If you don't have any other Parallels RAS components on the server that you want to keep,
right-click Parallels Remote Application Server and then click Uninstall. Follow the
instructions to uninstall the program. You may skip the rest of these instructions.
4 If you have other RAS components that you want to keep on the server, right-click Parallels
Remote Application Server and then click Change.
5 Click Next on the Welcome page.
6 On the Change, repair, or remove page, select Change.
7 On the next page, select Custom.
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8 Select Remote PC Agent, then click the drop-down menu in front of it, and click Entire
feature will be unavailable.
9 Click Next and complete the wizard.
Configuring a Remote PC
To access the properties of a Remote PC, highlight the computer in the navigation tree and click
Tasks > Properties. This opens the Remote PC Properties dialog.
The Properties Tab Page
By default, a PC is enabled in the farm. When it is disabled, published applications and virtual
desktops cannot be served from it. To enable or disable a PC in the farm, select or clear the
Enable Remote PC option.
If the IP or MAC address of a remote PC has changed, modify them using the Remote PC and
MAC Address input fields.
The Change Direct Address option allows you to specify an IP address that Parallels Client can
use to connect to the PC directly. This address is only used in the Direct Connection mode and it
could be an internal or external IP address.
Note: The Wake On Lan option should be enabled in BIOS so the machine could be automatically turned
on. If you are using a virtual machine, the option is usually supported by a hypervisor natively or via a 3rd
party software. To test if the Wake On Lan option is turned on, close the Remote PC Properties dialog
and then click the Test Wake on LAN button, which is located below the Remote PCs list.
The Agent Settings Tab Page
Each Remote PC in the farm has a RAS Remote PC Agent installed to provide a connection
between the Parallels Remote Application Server and the PC. The agent can be configured on the
Agent Settings tab page.
• Port. Specify a different remote desktop connection port number if needed.
• Connection Timeout. Select the desired Remote PC connection timeout value.
• Publishing Session Timeout. Specify the amount of time each session remains connected in
the background after the user has closed the published application. This option is used to avoid
unnecessary reconnections with the PC.
• Allow Client URL/Mail Redirection. Enable this option to allow http and mailto links to be
opened using a local application on the client computer, rather than the server’s resources. To
configure a list of URLs which should be excluded, in the RAS Console, navigate to Farm / Site
/ Settings and click the URL Redirection tab.
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• Preferred Publishing Agent. Select a Publishing Agent with which the Remote PC Agent
should communicate. This can be helpful when site components are installed in multiple
physical locations communicating through WAN. You can decrease network traffic by
specifying a more appropriate Publishing Agent.
Configuring RDP Printing for Remote PC
The RDP Printer tab allows you to configure the renaming format of redirected printers. The
format may vary depending on which version and language of the server you are using.
Set your RDP Printer Name Format specifically for the configured server by choosing any of the
below options from the RDP Printer Name Format drop down menu:
• Printername (from Computername) in Session no.
• Session no. (computername from) Printername
• Printername (redirected Session no)
The other RDP Printing options available in the RDP Printer tab are:
• Remove session number from printer name
• Remove client name from printer name
Viewing Remote PC Summary
In addition to the Remote PCs editor described in this chapter, you can also see the summary
about the available Remote PCs. To do so:
1 In the RAS Console, select the Farm category and then select the Site node in the middle
pane.
2 The available servers are displayed in the Remote PCs group in the right pane.
3 To go to the Remote PCs editor, right-click a server and choose Show in the Editor.
For additional info, see Viewing Sites in the RAS Console (p. 33).
Publishing from a Remote PC
This section describes how to publish resources hosted by a standalone remote PC. The
publishing functionality described here is accessed from the Publishing category in the RAS
Console.
Read on to learn how to publish resources from a remote PC.
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Remote PCs
Publishing a Desktop from a Remote PC
To publish a desktop from an RD Session Host:
1 In the RAS Console, select the Publishing category and click the Add icon below the
Published Resources tree. This will launch the publishing wizard.
2 In the first step of the wizard select Desktop and click Next.
3 On the Select Desktop Type page, select Remote Desktop PC and click Next. The Remote
PC Desktop page opens.
4 Specify a name, an optional description, and change the icon if needed.
5 Click the [...] button next to the Selected Remote PC field to specify from which remote PC
the desktop should be published. In the box that opens, double-click a PC to select it.
6 Select the desired Desktop Size properties.
7 Click Finish to publish the desktop.
Publishing an Application from a Remote PC
To publish an application from a remote PC:
1 In the RAS Console, select the Publishing category and then click the Add icon below the
Published Resources tree (or right-click inside the Published Resources box and click Add
in the context menu). This will launch the publishing wizard.
2 On the Select Item Type wizard page, select Application and click Next.
3 On the Select Server Type page, select Remote PC and click Next.
4 On the Select Application Type page, select Single Application and click Next. The Remote
PC Application page opens.
5 Enter a name and an optional description.
6 In the Run drop-down menu, specify if the application should run in a normal window,
maximized, or minimized.
7 In the Target field, specify the application that you want to publish. You may click the [...]
button to browse for it.
8 In the Start in field, specify (or browse for) the "start in" folder. Use Windows environment
variables if you are manually entering the path.
9 (Optional) In the Parameters input field, specify the parameters to pass to the application when
it starts.
10 Click the [...] button in the Remote PC Settings section to select a remote PC from which the
application should be published. In the box that opens, double-click a PC to select it.
11 Select the Persistent option to mark a guest VM as persistent the first time the user connects
to it.
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12 When done, click Finish to publish the application.
Publishing a Web Application from a Remote PC
A web application is like any other application that you can publish using the standard application
publishing functionality. However, to simplify publishing of straight URL links to web applications, a
separate publishing item type is available that allows you to accomplish this task with minimal
number of steps.
To publish a web application:
1 In the RAS Console, select the Publishing category and then click the Add icon below the
Published Resources tree (or right-click inside the Published Resources box and click Add
in the context menu). This will launch the publishing wizard.
2 On the Select Item Type wizard page, select Web Application and click Next.
3 On the Select Server Type page, select Remote PC and click Next.
4 On the Remote PC Web Application wizard page that opens, specify the web application
name, description, window state, and the URL. Select the Force to use Internet Explorer
option if needed. To browse for a specific application icon, click Change Icon.
5 In the Remote PC Settings section, click the [...] button to select a remote PC.
6 Click Finish to publish the application.
Publishing a Network Folder from a Remote PC
You can publishing a filesystem folder via UNC path to open in Windows explorer. To minimize the
number of configuration steps, a special publishing item is available that allows you to publish a
network folder from a PC.
To publish a network folder:
1 In the RAS Console, select the Publishing category and then click the Add icon below the
Published Resources tree (or right-click inside the Published Resources box and click Add
in the context menu). This will launch the publishing wizard.
2 On the Select Item Type wizard page, select Folder on the file system and click Next.
3 On the Select Server Type page, select Remote PC and click Next.
4 On the Remote PC UNC Folder wizard page, specify the usual application properties.
5 In the UNC path field, enter the UNC path of the folder you wish to publish. Click the [...]
button to browse for a folder (it may take some time for the Browse for Folder dialog to open).
6 In the Remote PC Settings section, select the [...] button and then select a remote PC from
the list.
7 Click Finish to publish the folder and close the wizard.
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