Parallels Remote Application Server - 17 Administrator’s Guide
Parallels Remote
Application Server
Administrator's Guide
v17
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Contents
Introduction ............................................................................................................. 13
About Parallels RAS ...................................................................................................... 13
About This Guide .......................................................................................................... 14
Terms and Abbreviations Used in This Guide ................................................................. 14
Installing Parallels RAS ........................................................................................... 17
System Requirements ................................................................................................... 17
Hardware Requirements ........................................................................................................ 17
Software Requirements ......................................................................................................... 18
Changes in Parallels RAS v17 ................................................................................................ 20
Install Parallels RAS ....................................................................................................... 21
Log In and Activate Parallels RAS .................................................................................. 21
Getting Started with Parallels RAS ......................................................................... 25
The Parallels RAS Console ............................................................................................ 25
Set Up a Basic Parallels RAS Farm ................................................................................ 27
Add an RD Session Host ....................................................................................................... 28
Publish Applications .............................................................................................................. 30
Invite Users ............................................................................................................................ 31
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 35
Parallels RAS Farm and Sites ................................................................................. 36
Connecting to a Parallels RAS Farm .............................................................................. 36
About Sites ................................................................................................................... 38
Sites in the RAS Console ............................................................................................... 39
Adding a Site to the Farm .............................................................................................. 41
Replicating Site Settings ................................................................................................ 42
Managing the Licensing Site .......................................................................................... 43
Managing Administrator Accounts ................................................................................. 44
Adding an Administrator Account .......................................................................................... 44
Administrator Account Permissions ....................................................................................... 45
Managing Administrator Accounts ......................................................................................... 47
Configure RAS Console Idle Sessions ................................................................................... 49
Contents
Using Instant Messaging for Administrators ........................................................................... 49
Joining Customer Experience Program ................................................................................. 50
RAS Publishing Agent ............................................................................................. 51
Configuring RAS Publishing Agents ............................................................................... 51
Secondary Publishing Agents ........................................................................................ 53
Managing Secondary Publishing Agents ........................................................................ 55
Using Computer Management Tools .............................................................................. 57
RAS Secure Client Gateway .................................................................................... 58
RAS Secure Client Gateway Overview ........................................................................... 58
Adding a RAS Secure Client Gateway ............................................................................ 60
Manually Adding a RAS Secure Client Gateway ............................................................. 60
Checking the RAS Secure Client Gateway Status .......................................................... 61
Configuring RAS Secure Client Gateway ........................................................................ 61
Enable or Disable a Gateway ................................................................................................. 61
Gateway Mode, Forwarding Settings, HSTS.......................................................................... 61
Set IP Address for Incoming Connections ............................................................................. 63
Configure RAS Secure Client Gateway Network Options ....................................................... 63
Configure SSL Encryption on a Gateway ............................................................................... 64
Assessing SSL Server Configuration...................................................................................... 67
Configure HTML5 Connectivity .............................................................................................. 67
Enable Support for Wyse Thin Client OS ............................................................................... 69
Filter Access to a RAS Secure Client Gateway ...................................................................... 70
Specifying a URL for Web Requests ...................................................................................... 70
Configure Logging ................................................................................................................. 71
Gateway Tunneling Policies ........................................................................................... 71
Viewing Gateway Summary and Metrics ........................................................................ 72
Using Computer Management Tools .............................................................................. 72
RD Session Hosts .................................................................................................... 73
RD Session Host Types ................................................................................................. 73
Adding an RD Session Host .......................................................................................... 74
Installing the Agent Manually ................................................................................................. 75
Planning for High Availability .......................................................................................... 77
Viewing RD Session Hosts ............................................................................................ 77
Configuring an RD Session Host .................................................................................... 78
Check RAS RD Session Host Agent Status ........................................................................... 78
Change RD Session Host Site Assignment ............................................................................ 79
View and Modify RD Session Host Properties ....................................................................... 79
Configure Logging ................................................................................................................. 84
Grouping and Cloning RD Session Hosts ....................................................................... 84
Using Scheduler ............................................................................................................ 88
Managing RDSH Sessions ............................................................................................. 90
Managing Logons ......................................................................................................... 93
Using Computer Management Tools .............................................................................. 94
Publishing from an RD Session Host .............................................................................. 94
Publishing a Desktop from an RD Session Host .................................................................... 94
Contents
Publishing an Application from an RD Session Host .............................................................. 95
Publishing a Web Application from an RD Session Host ........................................................ 97
Publishing a Network Folder from an RD Session Host ......................................................... 97
Publishing a Document from an RD Session Host ................................................................. 98
Publishing Containerized Applications ............................................................................ 99
Publishing App-V Applications ............................................................................................... 99
Publishing Turbo.net Applications ........................................................................................ 100
Viewing Published Resources Hosted by RD Session Hosts ......................................... 103
VDI and Virtual Desktops ...................................................................................... 105
Supported Hypervisors ................................................................................................ 105
RAS VDI Agent Information .......................................................................................... 106
RAS VDI Agent Installation Options .............................................................................. 106
Add a VDI Host ........................................................................................................... 108
Installing RAS VDI Agent Manually ....................................................................................... 110
Checking the RAS VDI Agent Status ................................................................................... 111
Contents
Modifying VDI Host Configuration ................................................................................ 111
Change VDI Host Site Assignment ............................................................................... 114
Site Defaults ................................................................................................................ 115
Viewing Guest VMs on a VDI Host ............................................................................... 116
RAS Templates ........................................................................................................... 117
Template Types and Guest OS Requirements ..................................................................... 118
Creating a RAS Template .................................................................................................... 119
How Guest VMs Are Created From a Template ................................................................... 126
Manually Adding a Guest VM............................................................................................... 126
RAS Template Maintenance ................................................................................................ 127
VDI Host Pool Management ........................................................................................ 130
Adding and Deleting Pools .................................................................................................. 130
Adding and Deleting Pool Members .................................................................................... 130
Using a Wildcard to Filter VMs ............................................................................................. 131
Managing Guest VMs .................................................................................................. 131
Persistent Guest VMs .................................................................................................. 134
Using Computer Management Tools ............................................................................ 135
Publishing from a Guest VM ........................................................................................ 135
Publishing a Desktop from a Guest VM ............................................................................... 135
Publishing an Application from a Guest VM ......................................................................... 136
Publishing a Web Application from a Guest VM ................................................................... 137
Publishing a Network Folder from a Guest VM .................................................................... 137
Publishing a Document from a Guest VM ............................................................................ 138
Viewing VDI Host Summary ......................................................................................... 139
Managing VDI Sessions ............................................................................................... 139
Remote PC Pools........................................................................................................ 142
Adding a VDI Host ............................................................................................................... 142
Configuring the VDI Host ..................................................................................................... 143
Adding Remote PCs to a Pool ............................................................................................. 144
Managing Remote PCs in a Pool ......................................................................................... 145
Persistent Remote PCs ....................................................................................................... 146
RAS Guest Agent Installation Options.................................................................................. 146
Publishing From a Pool-Based Remote PC ......................................................................... 147
Contents
Remote PCs ........................................................................................................... 148
Adding a Remote PC .................................................................................................. 148
Installing Remote PC Agent Manually ........................................................................... 149
Configuring a Remote PC ............................................................................................ 150
Viewing Remote PC Summary ..................................................................................... 152
Using Computer Management Tools ............................................................................ 152
Publishing from a Remote PC ...................................................................................... 152
Publishing a Desktop from a Remote PC ............................................................................. 153
Publishing an Application from a Remote PC ...................................................................... 153
Publishing a Web Application from a Remote PC ................................................................ 154
Publishing a Network Folder from a Remote PC .................................................................. 154
Publishing a Document from a Remote PC ......................................................................... 155
Managing Published Resources ........................................................................... 156
General Management Tasks ........................................................................................ 156
Manage Published Applications ................................................................................... 158
Manage Published Desktops ....................................................................................... 161
Manage Published Documents .................................................................................... 162
Manage Folders .......................................................................................................... 165
Using Filtering Rules .................................................................................................... 166
Checking Effective Access........................................................................................... 169
Specifying Client Settings ............................................................................................ 171
Quick Keypad ............................................................................................................. 172
Connection and Authentication Settings .............................................................. 174
RAS Publishing Agent Connection Settings .................................................................. 174
Remote Session Settings ............................................................................................ 176
Restricting Access by Parallels Client Type and Build Number ...................................... 177
Second Level Authentication ....................................................................................... 177
Using RADIUS ..................................................................................................................... 178
Using Deepnet ..................................................................................................................... 181
Using SafeNet ..................................................................................................................... 195
Using Google Authenticator ................................................................................................. 196
Configuring Exclusion Rules ................................................................................................ 197
Contents
Parallels HTML5 Client .......................................................................................... 199
Configure HTML5 Connectivity .................................................................................... 199
Configure Themes ....................................................................................................... 200
Common Theme Settings .................................................................................................... 200
HTML5 Client Theme Settings ............................................................................................. 201
Parallels Client for Windows Theme Settings ....................................................................... 203
General Theme Tasks .......................................................................................................... 204
Create Branded Windows Client for Mass Distribution ......................................................... 204
Delegating Session Management Permissions .................................................................... 205
Open Parallels HTML5 Client ....................................................................................... 206
Main Menu Options ..................................................................................................... 208
Launching Remote Applications and Desktops ............................................................ 209
Using the Toolbar ........................................................................................................ 211
Using the Toolbar on Desktop Computers........................................................................... 211
Using the Toolbar on Mobile Devices................................................................................... 213
Using the Remote Clipboard ............................................................................................... 214
Hiding Toolbar Items ........................................................................................................... 215
HTML5 Gateway API ................................................................................................... 216
Load Balancing ...................................................................................................... 218
Resource Based & Round Robin Load Balancing ......................................................... 218
Load Balancing Advanced Settings ............................................................................. 219
High Availability Load Balancing ................................................................................... 220
Deploying a Parallels HALB Appliance ................................................................................. 220
Configuring HALB in the RAS Console ................................................................................ 222
Changing HALB Appliance Password.................................................................................. 223
Contents
Universal Printing .................................................................................................. 225
Managing Universal Printing Settings ........................................................................... 225
Universal Printing Drivers ............................................................................................. 226
Font Management ....................................................................................................... 227
Universal Scanning ................................................................................................ 229
Managing Universal Scanning ...................................................................................... 229
Managing Scanning Applications ................................................................................. 230
User Device Management ..................................................................................... 231
Inviting Users to Connect to Parallels RAS ................................................................... 231
Mass Configuring User Devices ................................................................................... 231
Enabling Help Desk Support ........................................................................................ 233
Monitoring Devices ...................................................................................................... 233
Windows Device Groups ............................................................................................. 235
Managing Windows Devices ........................................................................................ 236
Windows Desktop Replacement.......................................................................................... 240
Scheduling Windows Devices & Groups Power Cycles ................................................. 243
Client Policies .............................................................................................................. 244
Add a New Client Policy ...................................................................................................... 245
Configure Session Settings .................................................................................................. 246
Configure Client Policy Options ........................................................................................... 257
Configure Control Settings .................................................................................................. 260
Configure Gateway Redirection ........................................................................................... 261
Client Policy Backward Compatibility ................................................................................... 262
Enabling or Disabling Remote File Transfer ................................................................... 262
Server Level ......................................................................................................................... 263
HTML5 Gateway Level ........................................................................................................ 263
Client Policy Level ................................................................................................................ 264
Parallels RAS Reporting ........................................................................................ 265
Installing Parallels RAS Reporting ................................................................................. 265
Advanced Settings .............................................................................................................. 268
Contents
Viewing Reports .......................................................................................................... 268
GDPR Compliance ...................................................................................................... 270
Parallels RAS Performance Monitor ..................................................................... 272
Overview ..................................................................................................................... 272
Installing Parallels RAS Performance Monitor ............................................................... 273
Using Parallels RAS Performance Monitor .................................................................... 273
Configuring Performance Monitor Security ................................................................... 277
Common Management Tasks ............................................................................... 279
Recovery - Add a Root Administrator ........................................................................... 279
Computer Management Tools ..................................................................................... 280
Site Information ........................................................................................................... 282
Site Settings ................................................................................................................ 282
Settings Audit ............................................................................................................. 284
Upgrading RAS Agents ............................................................................................... 286
Licensing .................................................................................................................... 287
Configure HTTP Proxy Settings ................................................................................... 288
Configuring Notifications .............................................................................................. 288
Configuring Notification Handlers......................................................................................... 289
Configuring Notification Scripts............................................................................................ 291
Configuring SMTP Server Connection for Event Notifications .............................................. 293
RAS Session Variables ................................................................................................ 294
Maintenance and Backup ............................................................................................ 295
Exporting and Importing Farm Settings via Command Line ................................................. 296
Contents
Problem Reporting and Troubleshooting ...................................................................... 297
Logging ...................................................................................................................... 299
Suggest a Feature ....................................................................................................... 300
RAS Web Admin Console...................................................................................... 301
Overview ..................................................................................................................... 301
Prerequisites ............................................................................................................... 302
Installation ................................................................................................................... 303
Permissions ................................................................................................................ 303
Opening the Web Console........................................................................................... 304
The User Menu ........................................................................................................... 304
The Site Page ............................................................................................................. 305
Managing RD Session Hosts ....................................................................................... 306
Server Info ........................................................................................................................... 308
Active Sessions ................................................................................................................... 309
Running Processes ............................................................................................................. 310
Managing VDI Hosts .................................................................................................... 311
VDI Host Info and Actions .................................................................................................... 312
Virtual Desktops .................................................................................................................. 313
Managing Sessions ..................................................................................................... 315
Configuring RAS Web Service ..................................................................................... 316
Give Us a Feedback .................................................................................................... 317
Parallels RAS APIs ................................................................................................. 318
RAS PowerShell API .................................................................................................... 318
RAS REST API ............................................................................................................ 320
Installation ........................................................................................................................... 320
Permissions ......................................................................................................................... 320
Getting Started .................................................................................................................... 320
Logging in and Sending Requests ....................................................................................... 321
Configuring RAS Web Service ............................................................................................. 323
Where to Get More Information ........................................................................................... 324
RAS HTML5 Gateway API and Parallels Client URL Scheme ........................................ 325
Appendix ................................................................................................................ 326
Port Reference ............................................................................................................ 326
Parallels Client ..................................................................................................................... 326
Contents
Web Browsers ..................................................................................................................... 327
RAS Secure Client Gateway ................................................................................................ 327
RAS Publishing Agent ......................................................................................................... 328
RAS Console ....................................................................................................................... 329
RAS Agents: RD Session Host, VDI, Guest, Remote PC ..................................................... 330
HALB .................................................................................................................................. 330
Common Communication Ports .......................................................................................... 331
Active Directory and Domain Services Ports ........................................................................ 331
RAS Performance Counters......................................................................................... 331
Index ...................................................................................................................... 334
C HAPTER 1
Introduction
Welcome to Parallels Remote Application Server (Parallels RAS), an integrated solution to virtualize
your applications, desktops and data. Parallels RAS publishes applications and delivers remote and
virtual desktops to any device on your network, anywhere.
In This Chapter
About Parallels RAS ............................................................................................... 13
About This Guide ................................................................................................... 14
Terms and Abbreviations Used in This Guide .......................................................... 14
About Parallels RAS
Parallels RAS 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 RAS allows you to publish remote desktops,
applications and documents, improving desktop manageability, security and performance.
Parallels RAS 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 resourcebased load balancing and management features.
With Parallels Client Manager Module for Parallels RAS 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, Parallels RAS 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 RAS 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 RAS 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 RAS 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 RAS. 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
Term/Abbreviation Description
Parallels RAS Console.
RAS Console
Category
Farm
The RAS console is the primary interface you use to
configure, manage, and run Parallels RAS. 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
14
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
Session Host, VDI host, or PC can be a member of
only one site at any given time.
Licensing Site
RAS Secure Client Gateway
HTML5 Client
Publishing
Introduction
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 Parallels RAS.
RAS Publishing Agent
RAS RD Session Host Agent
Remote PC Agent
RAS Guest Agent
RAS VDI Agent
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 RAS Publishing Agent and
transmits to it when required.
RAS VDI Agent collects information from the Parallels
RAS Infrastructure and is responsible for controlling
VDI through its native API. It also acts as a gateway
between a RAS Secure Client Gateway, or the client
in direct mode, and an RDP server from the guest VM
or VDI depending on a VDI implementation.
RAS VDI Agent is a part of RAS Publishing Agent, so
it is installed when you install the Publishing Agent.
This built-in RAS VDI Agent can be used to control
multiple VDI hosts in a Parallels RAS farm.
You can also install a dedicated RAS VDI Agent on a
particular VDI host and use it to control that host only.
See RAS VDI Agent dedicated below.
RAS VDI Agent dedicated
This RAS VDI Agent appears as an installation option
in the Parallels RAS installer. It serves the same
purpose as the built-in RAS VDI Agent described
above. The difference is, you can only use a
dedicated agent to control the VDI host on which it is
installed.
15
Introduction
RDS
HALB
RAS PowerShell
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.
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, Citrix Hypervisor. HALB
deployment is per site, which means that the same
HALB deployment cannot be shared between sites.
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.
RAS REST API
RAS Web Admin Console
RAS Web Administration Service
Parallels RAS comes with various APIs to help you
develop custom applications that integrate with it. The
RAS REST API is one of them.
RAS Web Admin Console is an HTML5 browserbased application that lets you manage Parallels RAS.
A Web service that provides the user interface for
RAS Web Admin Console and implements RESTful
Web services for the RAS REST API (see above).
16
C HAPTER 2
Installing Parallels RAS
This chapter describes how to install and activate Parallels RAS.
In This Chapter
System Requirements ............................................................................................ 17
Install Parallels RAS ................................................................................................ 21
Log In and Activate Parallels RAS ........................................................................... 21
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 RAS is extensively tested on both physical and virtual platforms. The minimum hardware
requirements approved to run Parallels RAS 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 RAM.
The server hardware requirements to install and configure Parallels RAS can vary according to enduser requirements.
Typically for an installation of 30 users or under, Parallels RAS 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 RAS deployment:
• 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 needed to serve end-
users are calculated accordingly.
Installing Parallels RAS
• It is recommended that RD Session Hosts do not exceed 50 users per RD Session Host in
usage.
• It is recommended that RAS Secure Client Gateway does not exceed 1000 users per server for
incoming connections using the Gateway SSL mode.
• 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. 326).
Software Requirements
RAS Publishing Agent and RAS Secure Client Gateway (64-bit versions only)
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. Both Server Core and Desktop Experience installations are supported.
• Windows Server 2019. Both Server Core and Desktop Experience installations are supported.
Note: RAS Publishing Agent and RAS Secure Client Gateway should NOT be installed on a domain
controller or any other machine where a DHCP server is running. This in general applies to any of the RAS
components.
RAS Web Administration Service
Must be installed on the server where RAS Publishing Agent is running.
Before installing RAS Web Admin Service, make sure that your Windows server has the following
updates installed:
• Windows Server 2008 R2: — KB2999226 and KB2533623
• Windows Server 2012 R2 — KB2999226
Newer versions of Windows Server do not require any specific updates.
RAS RD Session Host Agent
RAS RD Session Host Agent is supported on the following operating systems:
• Windows Server 2008
18
Installing Parallels RAS
• Windows Server 2008 R2
• Windows Server 2012
• Windows Server 2012 R2. Note that Server Core installation option is NOT supported.
• Windows Server 2016 and newer must be installed using the "Desktop Experience" installation
option.
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
• Windows Server 2019
VMware, Nutanix, and Citrix Hypervisor can use Windows-based RAS VDI agent either integrated
into RAS Publishing Agent or installed separately on Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows Server
2016.
RAS VDI Agent can also be installed as a virtual appliance (OVA or VMDK), which can be
downloaded from the Parallels website. For installation instructions and requirements, please see
the corresponding hypervisor documentation. For the list of supported hypervisors, see RAS VDI
Agent Installation Options (p. 106).
RAS Guest Agent
• Windows 7 and newer
• Windows Server 2008 R2 and newer
Remote PC Agent
• Windows 7 and newer
• Windows Server 2008 R2 and newer
Parallels RAS PowerShell
Windows Server 2008 with Service Pack 2 and newer. Windows Management Framework 3.0 and
.NET Framework 4.5.2 must also be installed.
19
Installing Parallels RAS
Parallels RAS Console
• Windows Server 2008 R2 and newer
• Windows 7 and newer
RAS HTML5 Gateway
• Windows Server 2008 R2 and newer. Note that RAS HTML5 Gateway will NOT work with
Windows Server 2008 (plain, not R2).
Parallels Client
Parallels Client is approved for the following operating systems (both 32-bit and 64-bit systems are
supported, where applicable):
• Windows 7, 8.x, 10
• Windows Server 2008 R2 and newer
• Windows Embedded
• macOS 10.11 and newer
• iOS 9.0 and newer
• Android 4.4 and newer
• Chrome OS
Parallels Client for Linux supports the following Linux distributions (x64 versions only):
• Ubuntu 16.04
• Ubuntu 18.04
• Linux Mint 19
• Debian 9.5.0
• Fedora 28
• CentOS 7.5
Changes in Parallels RAS v17
Please note that beginning with Parallels RAS v17, some of the versions of Parallels RAS
components and some operating system versions are no longer officially supported.
The following is a quick summary of the deprecated components and operating systems:
• 32-bit RAS Secure Client Gateway
• 32-bit RAS Publishing Agent
20
Installing Parallels RAS
• 32-bit Parallels Client for Linux
• Parallels RAS Web Portal
• Windows Server 2003 as a platform for publishing from RD Session Hosts
• Parallels RAS Console is no longer supported on Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008
• Parallels Client for Linux is no longer supported on ARM and Raspberry Pi
• Parallels Client for Windows is no longer supported on Windows Server 2003
Install Parallels RAS
To install Parallels RAS:
1 Make sure you have administrative privileges on the computer where you are installing Parallels
RAS.
2 Double click the RASInstaller.msi file to launch the Parallels RAS installation wizard.
Note: If you see a message that begins with "This version of Parallels RAS is only for testing purposes.",
it means that it's not an official build and should NOT be used in a production environment.
3 Follow the instructions and proceed to the Select Installation Type page. Select from the
following:
• Parallels Remote Application Server. The default installation that will install all necessary
components for a fully functional Parallels RAS farm on the same machine.
• Custom. Select and install only the components that you require. You can select individual
components after you click Next. Note that if a component cannot be installed on the
current server, it will not be available for installation. See Software Requirements.
4 Click Next.
5 Review the notice on the Important Notice wizard page. If there's a port conflict on your
computer, the information will be displayed here. You can resolve the conflict later.
6 Click Next.
7 On the Firewall Settings page, select Automatically add firewall rules to configure the
firewall on this computer for Parallels RAS to work properly. See Port Reference (p. 326) for
details.
8 Click Next and then click Install. Wait for the installation to finish and click Finish.
When you need to install a particular Parallels RAS component on a different server, run the
installation wizard again, select Custom and choose the component(s) you wish to install.
Log In and Activate Parallels RAS
After you've installed Parallels RAS, run the RAS Console and activate your new Parallels RAS farm.
21
Installing Parallels RAS
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 login
dialog. In the dialog, specify the following:
• 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 the Parallels Single Sign-On component when installing the RAS Console, you
will see the Authentication type field from which you can select whether to log on using your
credentials or SSO. If you reboot after the installation and select SSO, select Single Sign-On
and then click Connect. Your Windows credentials will be used to log in to the RAS farm. If you
select Credentials, enter your credentials as described below.
• 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 RAS administrator with full access rights.
• Password: The specified 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.
The Edit Connections button opens a dialog where you can manage your RAS connection. This
dialog becomes useful if this is not the first time you are connecting to one or more of your RAS
farms. The left pane of the dialog displays RAS farms to which previously connected (you can
remove a farm from the list by clicking the [-] icon if you no longer need it). The right pane displays
at least the master Publishing Agent for the selected farm. If you've added a secondary Publishing
Agents to a farm, you can add it to this list by clicking the [+] icon and typing its hostname or IP
address (click the "recycle" icon to verify the agent status). This way the RAS Console will try to
connect to the master Publishing Agent first and if it fails (e.g. the agent is offline or cannot be
reached), it will try to connect to the secondary Publishing Agent. For more information about
secondary Publishing Agents, please see Parallels RAS Publishing Agents chapter (p. 51).
When you are done entering the connection information, click the Connect button to connect to
the 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.
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Installing Parallels RAS
Note: If you use an HTTP proxy server on your network, you will see a dialog asking you to configure the
proxy server connection settings. Click the Configure Proxy button. In the dialog that opens, select one
of the following: Use system proxy settings (the default proxy settings from the Internet Explorer will be
used) or Manual HTTP proxy configuration (specify the settings manually). If your proxy configuration
changes, you can re-configure it later by navigating to Administration > Settings and clicking the
Configure Proxy button.
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 RAS, 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
RAS 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.
Activate Parallels RAS
After you sign in to Parallels My Account, the Activate Product dialog opens asking you to activate
the Parallels RAS farm.
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. 287).
If you don't have a Parallels RAS 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.
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Installing Parallels RAS
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.
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C HAPTER 3
Getting Started with Parallels RAS
This chapter will help you get started with Parallels RAS. 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 ..................................................................................... 25
Set Up a Basic Parallels RAS Farm ......................................................................... 27
The Parallels RAS Console
The Parallels RAS Console is a Windows application used to configure and administer a Parallels
RAS farm.
To open the Parallels RAS Console, navigate to Apps > Parallels and click Parallels Remote
Application Server Console. Note that you can open multiple instances of the Parallels RAS
Console on the same computer if you want to manage more than one farm or site simultaneously
without switching between them inside the console. This works with a locally installed Parallels RAS
Console and when you run it as a remote application from Parallels Client.
Information: In addition to Parallels RAS Console, Parallels RAS v17 introduces an all new Parallels
RAS Web Admin Console, an HTML5 browser-based application that lets you manage Parallels RAS. In
the initial RAS v17 release, the Parallels RAS Web Admin console functionality is limited to helpdesk
related tasks. More Parallels RAS management features will be added in the upcoming releases. Note
that the new Web Console does not replace the Parallels RAS Console described below, so at least for
now, you will still use the existing console to perform the standard Parallels RAS management tasks. For
more information, see RAS Web Admin Console (p. 301).
Getting Started with Parallels RAS
categories. The navigation tree allows you to browse through objects related to that
The following screenshot and the description below it give you an overview of the Parallels RAS
Console:
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 that category.
This section (the middle pane) is available only for the Farm and the Publishing
category.
This section displays the selected object or category properties, such as servers in
a farm or published application properties, etc.
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Getting Started with Parallels RAS
running instances of the Parallels RAS processes, so they have no effect
The information bar at the top of the RAS Console displays the name of the site
you are currently logged in to on the left side (the Location field). If you have more
than one site, you can switch between them by clicking the drop-down menu (the
site name) and choosing a desired site. If you used the RAS Console to connect to
more than one farm, the drop-down menu will also display the other farm name(s),
clicking on which will connect the console to that farm.
Your administrator account name is displayed on the right side. Clicking on the
name opens a drop-down menu from which you can initiate a chat with other
administrators, show current sessions, and log off from the RAS Console.
The Press 'Apply' to commit the new settings message in the middle (in red)
appears after you make any changes to any of the components or objects. It
reminds you that you need to apply these changes to Parallels RAS for them to
become effective. The following describes how it works.
When you make changes in the RAS Console, they are saved in the database as
soon as you click OK in a dialog. If you close the console at this point, the changes
will remain in the database and will not be lost. The changes, however, are not yet
applied to
in the running RAS farm. When you click the Apply button (at the bottom of the
screen) the changes are applied to the runtime and become effective immediately.
When modifying anything in the RAS Console, follow these rules. When you make a
small change, you can click Apply as soon as you are done with it. If you are
working on something that requires many modifications in many places, you can
wait until you are done with all changes and only then press Apply to apply all of
them at the same time.
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.
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Getting Started with Parallels RAS
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.
Add an RD Session Host
First, you need to add an RD Session Host to the farm. In this tutorial, we'll add the local server on
which Parallels RAS is installed.
To add an RD Session Host to the farm:
1 Click Add RD Session Hosts. The Add RD Session Hosts wizard opens.
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Getting Started with Parallels RAS
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. See Port Reference for details (p. 326).
• 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.
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Getting Started with Parallels RAS
• 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. 84) 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, they will not be able to access resources published from this server. If you wish, you
can 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 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 Status column may display a warning message. If it does, reboot
the server. The Status column should now say, "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 (p. 30)
Publish Applications
Now that you have an RD Session Host added to the RAS farm, you can publish applications from
it.
To publish an application:
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 On the first page of the wizard, select one or more servers from which the application should be
published. You can select all servers, server groups, or individual servers.
4 Click Next.
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