Understanding Parallels Desktop Activation Methods
Enterprise Edition uses a hybrid licensing model and is licensed by seat count. You purchase a specific number of seats, and that number determines what you pay, not the number of currently activated seats. Therefore, if active installations drop below the purchased count, billing is unaffected. You can add seats during the subscription term; the purchased count is not reduced based on actual usage.
Example: If your company commits to purchasing 1,000 Parallels Desktop seats, but ends up actually using only 932, it will continue to be billed for 1,000 seats.
Activation methods
Enterprise Edition can be activated using a license key or through your organization's identity provider (SSO). Both methods are supported on the same license; the choice depends on how you plan to deploy and manage installations.
License-key activation
If Single Sign-On is not available, or you wish to activate a copy of Parallels Desktop on a specific device, use this method. To manually activate a copy of Parallels Desktop using a license key:
Launch Parallels Desktop or switch to it if it's already running.
From the macOS menu bar, go to Parallels Desktop > Account & License.
In the My Licenses window, click the Enter a Key button in the bottom-left corner.
Enter the key as prompted and click Activate.
SSO activation
This activation method works on a per-user basis, allowing a particular individual to sign in with their work email address from any computer.
The sign-in window normally appears on first launch. To sign in manually:
Launch Parallels Desktop or switch to it if it's already running.
From the macOS menu bar, go to Parallels Desktop > Account & License.
In the My Licenses window, click the Continue with SSO button in the bottom-left corner.
Enter the corporate email address and click Next. You'll be redirected to your company's sign-in procedure.
Deployment
For mass deployment, Parallels Desktop Enterprise Edition is typically distributed using configuration profiles, which can carry PPPC settings together with activation parameters, including a license key or enforced SSO activation. Deployment is covered in detail in this chapter.
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