Parallels Desktop Installation Image

To mass deploy Parallels Desktop Business Edition, you will need the Parallels Desktop for Mac installation image file (.dmg) and a Parallels Desktop for Mac Business Edition license key.

You can download the installation image from https://www.parallels.com/products/business/download/.

Parallels Desktop Autodeploy Package

The Parallel Desktop autodeploy package is used to configure the deployment of Parallels Desktop. Download the deployment package here.

Please note that if you already have a configured autodeploy package from an earlier version (or build) of Parallels Desktop, don't use it because it may not be compatible with your build of Parallels Desktop. Always download the latest version of the package from the Parallels website using the link above.

Supported Guest OS Versions

If you are deploying one or more virtual machines together with Parallels Desktop, please keep in mind the differences in supported guest operating systems between Mac computers with Apple Silicon and Mac computers powered by Intel processors. For the latest information, see system requirements at https://www.parallels.com/requirements/.

Kernel Extensions

If your organization's Macs run macOS Mojave or macOS Catalina, their users may need to approve kernel extensions before they can launch Parallels Desktop. For more information, please read the following KB article: https://kb.parallels.com/en/128435.

The Business Edition of Parallels Desktop for Mac is based on the Pro version, with the addition of powerful deployment and management capabilities that enable IT to provision, granularly control, and lock down the settings across multiple groups of users.

Business Edition Feature Highlights

• License management portal (Parallels My Account)

• Split license keys into sublicenses

• Enable product activation using sign in to corporate account

• Maintain corporate compliance with restricted virtual machines

• Set an expiration date for a virtual machine

• Mass deployment of Parallels Desktop and virtual machines

• Provision a corporate VM image from a link specified in Parallels My Account

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

Business Edition Feature Matrix

See how Parallels Desktop Business Edition compares to Parallels Desktop Standard and Pro editions.

If you haven't already, use the link below to download the Parallels Desktop Autodeploy Package directly to a Mac computer.

The autodeploy package archive contains a folder named "Parallels Desktop Business Edition mass deployment package vxxx", where "vxxx" is the autodeploy package version number.

The folder contains the following files:

• Changelog.txt — contains a record of changes that were made to the autodeploy package over time.

Read on to learn how to add the necessary components to the autodeploy package.

Parallels Desktop Business Edition license key is required to activate Parallels Desktop on target Macs. The key must be specified in the autodeploy package.

To specify the license key:

1. In the autodeploy package, expand the Parallels Desktop Autodeploy > Scripts > License Key and Configuration folder.
2. Open the deploy.cfg file in a text editor.

3. Find the License section (second from the top) and enter your Parallels Desktop Business Edition license key as a value of the license_key variable. The key must be supplied in the following format: "XXXXXX-XXXXXX-XXXXXX-XXXXXX-XXXXXX" (including quotes and dashes).

4. Save the deploy.cfg file.

Parallels Desktop Business Edition can be deployed to Mac computers using Mac management tools, including, but not limited to:

• Jamf Pro

• Microsoft Intune

• Kandji

• Apple Remote Desktop (ARD)

• IBM Endpoint Manager

• Mosyle

• Addigy

• Munki

• VMware Workspace ONE

This chapter includes detailed instructions on how to deploy Parallels Desktop using Jamf Pro. For instructions on how to use other tools, please see their respective documentation.

Welcome to Parallels® Desktop for Mac Business Edition, a fast and intuitive way to run applications made for Windows, Linux, and other systems on your existing Mac computer powered by Intel or Apple Silicon chips.

This guide is written specifically for IT administrators in professional and educational environments who need to deploy, run, manage, and support Parallels Desktop on multiple client machines in a flexible, transparent, and secure manner.

To invite users to install Parallels Desktop via email:

1. Log in to your Parallels account at https://my.parallels.com/.

2. On the Dashboard page, locate the Parallels Desktop for Mac Business Edition product card and click the Invite Users button.
3. In the dialog that opens, select a license key that you want to use to activate Parallels Desktop on users' computers and click Next.

4. In the Invite Parallels Desktop Users dialog, specify the following options:

   • Language of Invitation: Select a language for the instructions in the invitation email.
   • Invitation Expires in: Use the drop-down list to select when the invitation should expire. After it expires, the temporary activation code included in it will no longer work.

   • Email address: Type a user's email address and click Add. Repeat for all intended users. You can also specify a CSV file containing email addresses of your users. The CSV file must contain a single column (a valid email address) with multiple rows (one email address on each row). Please note that if the number of users included in this list exceeds the number of available licenses for the specified key, the activation of Parallels Desktop will happen on a first-come, first-served basis.

   • The Download Invitations button allows you to save the invitation email information to a CSV file. The information includes email addresses that you specified, a temporary activation code (generated individually for each user), and the Parallels Desktop download URL (also generated individually for each user). You can use the information in the downloaded file to create your own invitation email or to answer helpdesk questions, should any arise. Hint: To see how the invitation email looks and to test it, you can send it to yourself first.

5. Click Send Invitations to send the email to users.

The invitation email that the users receive contains the following information:

• Installation instructions and a link from which a user can download the Parallels Desktop installation file.

• A temporary activation code. The code will be used automatically when a user installs Parallels Desktop on their computer. If for any reason automatic activation fails, the user can use the code included in the mail to manually activate Parallels Desktop. Please note that this is not the actual license key that you selected when you created the invitation email. This is only a temporary activation code with a limited scope and duration. The real license key is never shown to your Parallels Desktop users.

Once the users have installed and activated Parallels Desktop on their computers, you will be able to see the list of active installations in your Parallels account.

Setting Up a Virtual Machine

Once Parallels Desktop is installed on a Mac computer, the user needs to set up a virtual machine to run Windows on their Mac. This can be accomplished using one of the following methods:

• A user can create and configure a virtual machine and install Windows in it manually.

• An administrator can prepare a virtual machine and put it on a corporate network storage from where users can download it to their computers.

• An administrator can set up a Configuration Profile and provision a virtual machine to end users through it. For more information see Using Configuration Profiles and Provisioning a corporate VM image. This is the recommended method.

This section describes how to mass deploy Parallels Desktop Business Edition using Mac management tools.

To prepare the autodeploy package, you need to add the following required and optional components to it:

• Parallels Desktop installation image (optional).

• Parallels Desktop Business Edition license key (required, unless you are using "Activation using corporate account (SSO)").

• One or more virtual machines (optional). The user can later install or download a virtual machine via the link in a configuration profile.

• One or more Windows application stubs (optional). Stubs are special links to Windows applications installed in a virtual machine that can be added to the Dock in macOS during deployment.

• You can also configure deployment options according to your needs by modifying the configuration file included in the autodeploy package.

You will have to take the following steps:

1. Download the Autodeploy package, which comes in a ZIP format.

2. Unarchive it.

3. [OPTIONALLY] Populate the folders with specific installation images and virtual machines.

4. Set the deployment preferences to your liking by amending the deploy.cfg file.

5. Transform the resulting folder into an installable package ready for deployment.

The subsequent sections describe how to add the necessary components and how to configure autodeploy package options.

Single Application Mode is a special Parallels Desktop deployment option that allows you to largely obscure Parallels Desktop and Windows on a Mac, making Windows applications appear native to macOS. This mode is designed for system administrators who want Mac users in their organization to run one or more Windows applications while minimizing their interaction with Windows or Parallels Desktop.

When Parallels Desktop is deployed using Single Application Mode:

• A Mac user will not see the Parallels Desktop icon, user interface, or the virtual machine window while interacting with Windows applications.

• A Windows application icon is added to the Dock and is registered in macOS for opening the associated file types. When the user clicks on the icon, the application will run on a Mac desktop like a native macOS application.

• A user's macOS workflows will remain largely unaffected by the background presence of Parallels Desktop and Windows.

Configuring Deployment Options

To deploy Parallels Desktop using Single Application Mode, do the following:

1. Add a virtual machine to the autodeploy package. For instructions, see Adding a Virtual Machine. Please take note of the following:

   • You can add only ONE virtual machine when using Single Application Mode.

   • The virtual machine must be completely shut down before adding it to the autodeploy package. DO NOT simply close it, as this will be detected as a crash by Windows, and a Mac user will have to deal with it at startup.

2. Add a Windows application stub to the autodeploy package that will be used to run a desired Windows application on a Mac. If you want to deploy more than one Windows application, add a corresponding stub for each one. For details, please see Adding Windows Application stubs.

3. To enable Single Application Mode, set the enable_single_application_mode="yes" parameter in the deploy.cfg file, as described in Configuring deployment options. The parameter is included in the User Experience section of the deploy.cfg file.

4. Deploy Parallels Desktop to Mac computers as described in Deploying Parallels Desktop and Virtual Machines on Macs.

Configuring Windows

For Windows to be completely hidden on a Mac, you need to make some changes manually because they cannot be automated. The following list describes these changes:

• Enable auto logon in Windows. Make sure that Windows in the virtual machine doesn't ask the user to log on. If this is not done, a Mac user will see the Windows logon screen when Windows starts or reboots.

• Configure file associations in Windows. This is necessary so that Windows doesn't open another Windows application when the user tries to open a file from the primary application. For example, let's say you deployed Outlook for Windows. A Mac user may try to open a text file attachment in Outlook. Normally, the file will open in Notepad in Windows, which may confuse the user. To prevent this, you can associate text files with TextEdit (a macOS application) in a virtual machine. The ability to associate file extensions with macOS applications is a standard Parallels Desktop feature available in Windows in a virtual machine. In addition, we recommend that you have as few applications installed in Windows as possible in order not to create additional file associations.

• Use the Productivity profile. When creating a virtual machine for Single Application Mode, choose the Productivity profile in the virtual machine Installation Assistant. If you are using an existing virtual machine, change its profile by going to Configuration > General > Configure for, clicking Change, and then selecting Productivity.

• Remove Sound & Camera devices from the VM configuration. This will eliminate the chance of macOS prompting the user to provide Windows with access to the respective hardware. To do that, go to Configure > Hardware > Sound & Camera and click the "-" button in the bottom left corner.

Configuring macOS

If you are deploying Parallels Desktop on macOS High Sierra, macOS Catalina, or macOS Mojave, you need to make sure in advance that Parallels Desktop kernel extensions are either approved or don't require user consent on each Mac. This is particularly important when using the Single Application Mode because if the extensions are not approved, Mac users will see warning messages about them when they try to run a Windows application for the first time. For more information, please see https://kb.parallels.com/en/128435.

By default, you can skip this step and allow the Autodeploy package to simply download the latest version of Parallels Desktop installation image from the Parallels Server.

However, if you wish to include a specific build in the package, open the Parallels Desktop DMG folder and copy the Parallels Desktop installation image file to it (the .dmg file). If you don't have the file, you can download it from here.

The package should now look like this

Please note that the Parallels Desktop installation image file name on the screenshot above is just an example. In your case, the file name will also include the current build number information.

The autodeploy package contains a special script, which is automatically executed on a target Mac after the package is transferred to it. When executed, the script reads the configuration parameter values from the deploy.cfg file, which you can modify according to your needs.

To modify the parameters, expand the License Key and Configuration folder in the autodeploy package and open the deploy.cfg file in a text editor. The configuration parameters are organized in sections, which are described below.

License

The License section is used to specify the Parallels Desktop Business Edition license key.

Software Updates

The Software Updates section is used to configure automatic updates for Parallels Desktop.

Help & Support

The Help and Support section is used to specify the action for the Help > Support Center menu item in the Parallels Desktop graphical user interface.

Technical Data Reports

The Technical Data Reports section is used to specify whether Parallels Desktop issue reports should contain screenshots of the macOS and virtual machine desktops. You can exclude screenshots for security reasons.

Customer Experience

Security

The Security section allows you to enable or disable the password requirement for a number of Parallels Desktop operations.

User Experience

The User Experience section allows you specify options related to user experience.

Parallels Tools is a collection of utilities and drivers that vastly improve the virtual machine performance and enable some features that are not available otherwise. Parallels Tools are included with every copy of Parallels Desktop and are highly recommended to be installed in every virtual machine right after an operating system is installed in it. Your source virtual machine should have Parallels Tools installed. For instructions on how to install Parallels Tools, please see https://kb.parallels.com/en/115835.

When preparing a source virtual machine for mass deployment, you may change any of its configuration settings to fit your needs. The following list describes a few common options:

• CPU & Memory. Beginning with Parallels Desktop 17, you can configure a virtual machine to select CPU and memory settings automatically depending on the available hardware resources. This option is preselected for all new virtual machines. To ensure it is selected, open the virtual machine configuration, and select Hardware > CPU & Memory. In the right pane, check that the Automatic option is selected.

• Shared Folders and Profiles. Parallels Desktop offers great flexibility in bridging the capabilities of macOS and your guest operating system by configuring shared folders and profiles. Think over which files and folders you wish to share between the two operating systems and set them up beforehand.

• Enforce USB Device Policies. Specify what types of USB devices can be connected to the virtual machine. See Enforcing USB device policies for complete details.

• Installing Applications. You can install all the necessary applications in the virtual machine before deploying it.

For the complete information about Parallels virtual machine configuration, please refer to the Parallels Desktop User's Guide.

When you want to distribute pre-configured Windows virtual machines to your users, you may need to manage those machines granularly: enroll them into domains, activate Windows licenses, differentiate PC names, enforce specific policies, enable company-wide licensing tools, etc. All that and more can be achieved with the help of Microsoft's Sysprep utility. To learn more, refer to this article.

This chapter describes features that are specific to Parallels Desktop for Mac Business Edition.

Choosing the Deployment Method

Adding a virtual machine to the autodeploy package is optional. You can mass deploy Parallels Desktop only and install virtual machines on individual Mac computers later. Consider the following possible scenarios:

• If you are deploying Parallels Desktop on either Apple Silicon or Intel-based Mac computers (but not both at the same time), you can include a virtual machine in the autodeploy package, so it will be installed on a Mac as part of the deployment process.

• The recommended approach is to deploy without any virtual machines in the autodeploy package and instead provision a corporate VM image using a Configuration Profile in Parallels My Account. This method is especially useful when you plan to deploy Parallels Desktop on both Apple Silicon` and Intel-based Mac computers at the same time. For more information, please see Using Configuration Profiles and Corporate VM Image Provisioning.

There are two ways to include a virtual machine in the autodeploy package: as a downloadable link or as a local file manually added to the package. Regardless of which one you choose, take the following steps first:

1. Configure the virtual machine as described in the subsections of this chapter;

2. FULLY STOP the virtual machine by opening Actions in the macOS menu bar and choosing Shut Down. Suspending or pausing it will not suffice;

3. Reduce the size of the selected virtual machine by doing one of the following:

   • Open the Parallels Desktop Control Center, right-click on the virtual machine, and select Prepare for Transfer;

   • Alternatively, open the Parallels Desktop Control Center, right-click on the virtual machine, and select Show in Finder. Right-click on the virtual machine .pvm file and select Compress {vm_name}.

[RECOMMENDED] Including a Virtual Machine as a Downloadable Link

Several popular MDM solutions have been known to experience issues with deploying large packages. As a way to mitigate this, you can amend the deploy.cfg file to include a link to a file share location with the virtual machine file instead of including it in the package. Take the following steps:

1. Upload the compressed file to a permitted cloud storage that would be accessible to all target Macs (e.g., OneDrive or Google Share). Make sure the resulting link is direct and open to all the users affected by the deployment. The best way is to choose Share with anyone.

2. Open the deploy.cfg file in a text editor, same as when specifying a license key, scroll to the Virtual Machines section and add the download link there exactly as described, following the instructions carefully.

[ALTERNATIVE] Adding a Virtual Machine File to the Autodeploy Package

To add a virtual machine to the autodeploy package directly, simply copy the virtual machine file to the Virtual Machine(s) sub-folder that can be found under Bundle > Virtual machine(s) . More than one virtual machine can be added to the autodeploy package if needed.

Read on to learn about modifications that you can make to the virtual machine configuration before adding it to the autodeploy package.

Follow these steps:

1. Install Windows Configuration Designer from Microsoft Store or download it directly from the Microsoft website.

2. Once installed, launch it and create a new project following the Provision desktop devices template.

3. Once the project is created, you will see the following page:

At this point, you need to choose a name convention. Once done, click Next and switch to the Set up network tab. There, you need to switch off the setup network toggle and click Next, proceeding to the Account Management page.

4. The following step is important: You need to select the Enroll in Azure AD option and obtain a bulk token.

Here, you need to sign in with your Microsoft Azure credentials. Once you’ve successfully signed in, you’ll see the message confirming the successful receipt of the token.

5. Click Next. Feel free to skip the remaining steps by clicking Next on each one of them.

6. Finally, you need to double-check your configuration summary and ensure everything is correct.

Click Create and memorize the path to the package file.

From this point, you have three possible ways to proceed:

1. Share the package with users who will need to launch it to enroll their virtual machines in Azure;

2. Install the package manually on every machine;

When you need to change configuration settings of all virtual machines that are already registered on a Mac computer, you can use the Parallels desktop command-line interface. To do so, you first need to create a script to perform a desired configuration modification. You can then execute the script on a Mac computer using one of the remote Mac management tools described earlier in this chapter.

The following is a script example that disables the auto pausing option for all virtual machines registered on a Mac computer:

The script above uses the prlctl list command to first obtains a list of registered virtual machines and then (inside the loop) sets the --pause-idle option for every VM to "off", which disables pausing of an idle virtual machine.

Once you have the Parallels Desktop autodeploy package configured, you can test it on a single Mac before you mass deploy it to other Mac computers in your organization.

To test the package:

1. Copy it to a Mac on which you want to test it. The Mac should have a configuration similar to other Mac computers on which you'll be deploying Parallels Desktop. Specifically, if your target Mac computers don't have Parallels Desktop and virtual machines installed, the test Mac shouldn't have them installed either. If target Macs have an older version of Parallels Desktop, the test Mac should have it installed too, so you can see what the results will be.

2. To speed up the execution of the package during testing, consider running it from the command line using /System/Library/CoreServices/Installer.app. When executed this way, the package will not be tested by macOS for digital signature, and the usual package verification procedure will be skipped. Please note that if you run the package by double-clicking on it, macOS will warn you that the package is not signed and will not install it. If you run the package by right-clicking and choosing Open, the signature check will be skipped but the verification of the package will take a long time if you have one or more virtual machines in it (because of the large size of a typical virtual machine). When you use the Installer.app to run the package, the installation will commence installing immediately, without any checks or verifications. All of the above only applies when you run the package manually. When you mass deploy it on Mac computers, verification is not performed, and the installation is completely silent.

3. When the installation is complete, verify that Parallels Desktop is installed, activated, and is functioning properly. If your package is configured to deploy Parallels Desktop in Single Application Mode, try running the application and see that it starts and runs as it should.

Read on to learn how to mass deploy the package using one of the Mac management tools.

Windows application stubs are special links to Windows applications installed in a virtual machine that can be added to the Dock in macOS during deployment.

About Application Stubs

Application stubs are created in macOS when you create a virtual machine and install Parallels Tools in it. To see application stubs for a virtual machine:

1. In macOS, navigate to /Users/<user-name>/Applications (Parallels)

2. Expand a desired virtual machine folder. For example, Windows 11 Applications, as shown in the screenshot below:

The icons in the folder are Windows application stubs. If you double-click an icon, the corresponding Windows application will be started in the virtual machine.

You can add one or more application stubs to the autodeploy package to be added to the Dock on a target Mac computer. For example, if your Mac users use a particular application most of the time, it would make sense to add it to the Dock so they can quickly launch it without dealing with the user interfaces of Windows or Parallels Desktop.

Adding Application Stubs to the Autodeploy Package

To add one or more application stubs to the autodeploy package, simply copy it to the Windows Application(s) stubs to add to Dock folder of the package.

Do the following:

1. Inside the Autodeploy Package folder, locate the Scripts folder, right-click on it, and choose Services > New Terminal at Folder. This will open a Terminal window right in the Scripts directory where the build script is located.
2. Launch the package building script by typing the following command and pressing Enter:

E.g.,

This action creates a .pkg file in the destination folder that is ready for distribution.

The utility generates a configuration profile that can be added to the deployment package to pre-authorize privacy requests.

This section contains instruction on how to deploy the Parallels Desktop autodeploy package using the following solutions:

Jamf Pro includes the Software Distribution functionality that you can use to deploy the Parallels Desktop package to Mac computers in your organization. To deploy the package, you need:

• Jamf Pro server installed and configured.

• Target Mac computers enrolled in Jamf Pro.

• A distribution point (cloud or file share) configured and be accessible from the target Mac computers.

Adding a Distribution Point

A distribution point is a server that hosts files for distribution to computers. If your Jamf Pro installation doesn't have a distribution point, you need to add one to host the Parallels Desktop autodeploy package.

To add a distribution point:

1. Open the Jamf Pro console and log in to your Jamf server.

2. Click the gear icon in the upper right and then click Server Infrastructure in the left pane.
3. Jamf Pro supports cloud-based (content delivery networks) and file share distribution points. Depending on what is available to you, click the Cloud Distribution Point or the File Share Distribution Points icon. The instructions below are for setting up a file share distribution point. If you would like to set up a cloud distribution point, please consult Jamf Pro documentation for details.

4. After you click the File Share Distribution Point icon, click New.

5. On the General tab page:

   • Type a name for the distribution point.

   • Specify the IP address or the host name of the distribution point server.

   • Select the Use as master distribution point option.

6. Click the File Sharing tab and specify the following:

   • Protocol: Select AFP or SMB depending on which protocol is used on your server for file sharing.

   • Share name: Specify the share name. For example, if your server name is MYSERVER and your full share name is \\MYSERVER\JAMF-SHARE, specify JAMF-SHARE in this field.

   • Port: In most cases the default value is what a given protocol normally uses. If you know that your server uses a different port number, specify it here.

   • Read/Write Account: Specify credentials of an account that has read/write access to the share.

   • Read-Only Account: Specify credentials of an account that has read-only access to the share.

7. If your server supports HTTP downloads, select the HTTP/HTTPS tab and then select the Use HTTP downloads option. Based on our own and other users' experience, HTTP/HTTPS-enabled distribution points are more reliable than AFP/SMB shares, but you can try both options and see which one works better for you.

8. Click Save to save the settings and add the distribution point to your Jamf Pro installation.

Adding the Autodeploy Package to the Distribution Point

To add the autodeploy package to the distribution point:

1. Open the Jamf Admin app on a Mac and log in to your Jamf Pro server.

2. Drag the package to the main repository area (the middle area in the right pane).

3. The package will be uploaded to the master distribution point and will appear in Jamf Admin.
4. You can set other options if needed, such as add a package to a category or change the package priority. Indexing the package is not necessary for the purpose of deploying it on Macs.

5. Close the Jamf Admin when done.

To verify that the package has been added to the distribution point:

1. Open the Jamf Pro console and login to Jamf Pro server.

2. Click the gear icon in the upper right and select Computer Management in the left pane.

3. Click Packages in the right pane. You should see the Parallels Desktop Autodeploy.pkg.zip package in the list.
4. If needed, you can modify the package display name and other settings. To do so, click the package and then click the Edit button in the lower right. Modify any of the settings as you require (except the file name). All settings are optional. If not sure, simply leave them unchanged.

Installing the Package

You can install the package on Mac computers using a policy or you can use the Jamf Remote app that works similar to Apple Remote Desktop. This section contains instructions on how to install a package using a policy. For Jamf Remote instructions, please refer to the Jamf Pro documentation.

Creating a Policy

To create a policy:

1. In the Jamf Pro console, click the Computers tab in the left pane and then click Policies.
2. In the right pane, click New. The New Policy pane loads where you can define the policy.

3. In the General payload, specify the following:

   • Type a name for the policy.

   • Select the Enabled option.

   • Specify a category (optional).

   • In the Trigger section, select one or more events that should trigger the policy retrieval on target Mac computers.

   • In the Execution Frequency drop-down list, select a frequency at which to run the policy. Since Parallels Desktop has to be installed just once, you may select Once per computer or Once per user (to install Parallels Desktop for each user if a Mac has more than one).

   • The Target Drive option allows you to specify the drive on which to run the policy. You would normally use the default option, which will run the policy on the boot drive.

   • Other options in the General payload allow you to configure limitations on when the policy can and cannot run. This includes server-side and client-side limitations. You can specify them according to your needs or you can leave them blank.

4. To specify a package for the policy, click the Packages payload and then click the Configure button in the right pane. The pane will be populated with the list of available packages.

5. Locate the Parallels Desktop Autodeploy.pkg.zip package and click Add.
6. Select a distribution point that contains the Parallels Desktop package. If you select the Specific file share distribution point option, choose the distribution point. If the distribution point is both an AFP/SMB and HTTP share, Jamf will try to use the HTTP option to download the package to target Macs. If needed, you can force it to use the AFP/SMB share by selecting the Force file sharing over AFP/SMB option. Based on our observations, HTTP shares work more reliably in Jamf, but you can try different options if you are experiencing issues with mounting shares on Mac computers during the policy execution.

7. In the Action drop-down list, select how the package should be downloaded and installed on Mac computers:

   • Install — when the policy runs, the package is downloaded and installed on a Mac computer as a single operation. Note that if you have a large number of Macs and the policy runs on all of them simultaneously, all of them will try to download the policy at the same time. For this reason, you may consider the options below to avoid overloading your network.

   • Cache — when the policy runs, the package is downloaded to a Mac computer but is not installed at that time.

   • Install Cached — a policy with this action installs the package that has been downloaded previously using the Cache option. You can use this and the "Cache" options if you are deploying Parallels Desktop on a large number of Macs. First, you "cache" the autodeploy package on each Mac at a convenient time. Once that's done, you run the "Install Cached" policy to install the package, which will be a completely local operation for each Mac. This way, you can ensure that Parallels Desktop is deployed on each Mac at roughly the same time (e.g. on the weekend) without delays.

8. The rest of the payloads are not required for Parallels Desktop package deployment.

10. If you would like the package to appear in the Self Service app on a Mac, click the Self Service tab, select the Make the policy available in Self Service option, and specify additional options if needed. The Self Service app allows the user to initiate the policy retrieval manually without waiting for it to trigger.

11. The User Interaction tab page allows you to specify messages that will be displayed to a Mac user when the policy runs on their Macs. If you want the installation to be completely silent, you can skip this page.

12. When done, click Save to save the policy.

Deploying the Package

Once the policy is retrieved by a Mac, it will install and activate Parallels Desktop on that Mac. Once completed, the user can begin working with Parallels Desktop.

If you are testing your policy, you can wait for it to trigger, or you can run it manually using the Self Service app. The app is installed when a Mac is enrolled in Jamf Pro and can be opened from the Applications folder in macOS. If there are errors executing the policy, you can review them in the app. Please also note that when testing a policy, don't try to run it on the same Mac that you use as a distribution point because an attempt to mount a share on the same Mac that hosts it will fail.

A configuration profile in Parallels Desktop for Mac Business Edition is a set of parameters that can be applied remotely to a Parallels Desktop installation and modify the appearance or behavior of Parallels Desktop according to organization policies. Configuration profiles are created in an organization's Parallels business account. You must be the administrator of the account to create and manage configuration profiles. License administrators (admins who are allowed to manage specific licenses) cannot manage configuration profiles.

At the time of this writing, configuration profiles can be used to enable and configure the following functionality in Parallels Desktop for Mac Business Edition:

• Provisioning a corporate virtual machine image

• Enabling major version upgrades

We'll discuss in detail the functionality listed above later in this part of the guide. This and the following two sections talk about configuration profiles in general and describe how to create and apply them.

Configuration Profile Payloads

Payloads in a configuration profile contain settings specific to a particular functionality. For example, the VM for Apple Silicon Mac and the VM for Intel Mac payloads allow you to configure virtual machine image provisioning, while the Product Updates payload allows you to manage Parallels Desktop updates. The configuration profile itself is created and configured the same way, regardless of which of its payloads are configured and enabled.

A configuration profile can have one or more payloads configured and enabled. For example, you can configure and enable a particular payload in one profile and a different payload in another profile. This allows you to enable one functionality for one group of users and another functionality for a different group (see below how configuration profiles are applied to Mac computers). You can create as many profiles as necessary.

Applying Configuration Profiles to Mac Computers

Configuration profiles are applied to registered Mac computers based on a license or sublicense key that computers are using to run Parallels Desktop. After you create a configuration profile, you need to apply it to one or more license or sublicense keys in your subscription. By doing so, you are essentially applying the profile to Mac computers on which Parallels Desktop was activated using that license key.

The rest of this part of the guide describes how to:

• Create a configuration profile

• Apply the configuration profile to a license or sublicense key

• Configure individual payloads

To create a VM image:

1. First, create a Parallels virtual machine, install the operating system in it, and configure the virtual machine according to your requirements. Note that if you have Apple M-series and Intel based Macs in your organization, you need to create a separate virtual machine for each processor type. For the list of supported operating systems, please visit https://www.parallels.com/requirements/. Note: Boot Camp-based virtual machines, archived virtual machines, and linked clones cannot be used for deployment.

2. Make sure the virtual machine is shut down.

3. If your virtual machine has snapshots, it is recommended that you remove them. This will significantly reduce the virtual machine size. Moreover, these snapshots may be unusable on another computer because of hardware differences.

4. When the virtual machine is ready, it needs to be saved as an archive before you make it available for download to your users. Choose from the following options:

   • ZIP — simply archive the virtual machine bundle (.pvm) as a .zip file. In general, you can use any archiving format that can be extracted using the tar -xf command. For example, zip, tar.gz, tar.bz2.

     Please note that you will also need to calculate an SHA-256 checksum for the ZIP file. You can use the shasum command or another third-party tool. For instructions on how to use the shasum command, please see Calculating SHA-256 checksum below.

   • PVMP — this is a Parallels own archiving format that was first introduced in Parallels Desktop 16. It is primarily used to transfer virtual machines from one computer to another and is optimized for archiving Parallels virtual machine bundles. For instructions on how to create a PVMP archive, please see below.

Creating a PVMP Archive

To create a PVMP archive of a virtual machine, do the following:

1. Open the Parallels Desktop Control Center.

2. Right-click the virtual machine that you want to transfer and select Prepare for Transfer. Parallels Desktop starts packing the virtual machine. This process may take some time depending on the virtual machine size.

3. Once the package is created, you can right-click it and choose to show where it is stored in the Finder. The package has the .pvmp extension.

4. An SHA-256 checksum for the virtual machine package is calculated automatically and saved as VmName.sha256.txt file in the same folder. You will need it when creating a configuration profile for the VM image provisioning later. You can also calculate the checksum by executing the shasum command. For more info, please see Calculating SHA-256 checksum below.

Calculating the SHA-256 Checksum

When creating a configuration profile for VM image provisioning (described later in this chapter), you will need to specify an SHA-256 checksum for the VM image archive. As was mentioned in the previous subsection, the checksum is calculated automatically for the PVMP archive. If you are archiving a virtual machine bundle using a different archiving format (or if you need to calculate the checksum again for the PVMP format) you can execute the following command from the command line:

shasum -a 256 <path>/"<archive_name>"

For example:

shasum -a 256 /Users/<your_user>/Parallels/"Windows.zip"

The output will look similar to the following:

63a90c3c38cc8c358221da339068fc1292b10bf7c00ed8449787b0e6019d706b /Users/parallels/Parallels/Windows.zip

Uploading the Image

Once you have a virtual machine saved as a ZIP or PVMP archive, upload it to the server from which Parallels Desktop users can download it to their Mac computers via HTTP or HTTPS. Note that the server might serve a number of simultaneous downloads, which can negatively affect the speed of a download (depending on the number of end users). For this reason, CDN is recommended for very large deployments.

To create a configuration profile for VM image provisioning:

1. Begin creating a new configuration profile as described in the Creating a Configuration Profile section.

2. When you have the new configuration profile dialog open, select VM for Intel Mac or VM for M-series Mac payload, depending on the image type that you want to provision.
3. In the right pane, select the Enable VM image provisioning option and specify the following properties:

   • Name: Type a name for the VM image as you want it to be named in this profile. This is the name your users will see in Parallels Desktop when they receive an invitation to download it. This field is mandatory.

   • Description: An optional description. The end user will see this description in Parallels Desktop. For example, if a VPN connection is required to download the image, you may include this information here.

   • Download URL: The VM Image download URL. Mac users must be able to download the image via HTTP or HTTPS using this URL. This field is mandatory. For additional info, please see Creating a VM Image.

   • Checksum (SHA-256): The VM image checksum. This field is mandatory. If you used the PVMP format to archive the virtual machine, the checksum was calculated automatically and saved as a VmName.sha256.txt file. If you archived the virtual machine using the ZIP or other supported format, you'll need to calculate the checksum. For the info about the PVMP format and how to calculate the checksum, please see Creating a VM Image.

4. Click Save to save the configuration profile.

The configuration profile now needs to be applied to a license or sublicense key. If you haven't done so already, use the instructions in the Applying a configuration profile to a license key section and apply the profile.

To create a configuration profile:

1. Log in to your Parallels business account.

2. In the Parallels Desktop for Mac Business Edition product card, click Registered computers.

3. Click the More item in the main menu (top right) and choose Configuration Profiles as shown on the screenshot below.
4. The page listing configuration profiles opens. If you haven't created any profiles yet, the list will be empty.

5. Click the Create Profile button. A dialog opens where you can configure the profile.
6. To replace the default profile name (top left), simply erase the default name (New Configuration Profile) and type a new one.

7. The payloads are listed in the left pane. To configure a payload, select it and then specify the necessary settings in the right pane. Each payload has the "Enable..." option at the top of the right pane. This option enables or disables a payload, but doesn't change or discard the payload settings. When a payload is enabled, it is included in the configuration profile when the profile is applied to Mac computers. When a payload is disabled, it is not included, so Mac computers don't receive it.

8. When done, click Save to save the configuration profile.

At this point we will not configure any of the payloads yet and will go straight to applying the configuration profile to a license or sublicense keys (it is allowed to create a profile with all payloads disabled). Once you learn how to create and apply a configuration profile, we'll talk about how to configure and use each individual payload.

Configuration profiles are applied to registered Mac computers based on a license or sublicense key that they are using to run Parallels Desktop. By applying a configuration profile to a license or sublicense key, you are essentially applying it to Mac computers that use (or will use in the future) that key.

To apply a configuration profile to a license or sublicense key:

1. In Parallels My Account, click Dashboard in the top menu and then click Active subscriptions inside the Parallels Desktop for Mac Business Edition product card.

2. Click a subscription to open a page containing the subscription information.

3. In the License Keys list, choose a license or sublicense key and click the "gear" icon at the end of the row. This opens a dialog containing the license key information and settings. In the dialog, select the Configuration Profile tab.
4. Initially, the tab page will say that "Configuration profile is not set" and the drop-down menu next to it will contain the "Default" profile. This is because you haven't applied a custom configuration profile to this license key yet. Info: Default is a built-in profile that Parallels Desktop is using internally. It doesn't contain any payloads that you can configure when you create a custom profile. If you don't have any custom profiles assigned to a license key, the "Default" profile is used.

5. Expand the drop-down menu and select the configuration profile that you created earlier.

6. Click Save.

Once a configuration profile is applied to a license key, the following will happen on Mac computers that use this key:

• The next time Parallels Desktop communicates with Parallels cloud, it will receive the configuration profile and will save the data that it contains locally.

• When an action is performed (by the user or by a scheduled event) that has to do with one of the configuration profile payloads, the data is read from the local storage and is used accordingly depending on the payload and its settings. This is described in more detail in topics that describe individual payloads.

This concludes the description of how to create a configuration profile and how to apply it to a license or sublicense key. The subsequent sections describe how to configure individual payloads and how to use the corresponding functionality when managing Parallels Desktop installations in your organization.

To create a configuration profile for enabling major version upgrades, do the following:

2. When you have the new configuration profile dialog open, select the Product Updates payload in the left pane.
3. In the right pane, select the Enable managing product updates option. This will enable the payload, so when the configuration profile is sent to Mac computers, they will receive it.

4. To enable major version upgrades, select the Allow upgrade to the major Parallels Desktop version option.

5. Click Save to save the configuration profile.

Beginning with Parallels Desktop 16 for Mac Business Edition, IT administrators have an option to provision a corporate Parallels Desktop virtual machine image from a link that they specify in Parallels My Account.

Here's a quick overview of how this functionality works:

1. An administrator first creates a Parallels virtual machine image with the operating system installed. The virtual machine will serve as a corporate VM image to be deployed on users' computers to run Windows applications used in the organization.

2. The virtual machine is then saved as an archive (ZIP or PVMP, we'll talk about archive formats later) and is placed on a server from which Parallels Desktop users can download it to their computers via HTTP or HTTPS.

3. The administrator creates a configuration profile in Parallels My Account and specifies the download URL of the virtual machine image (together with other required parameters).

4. When a Parallels Desktop user initiates the process of creating a new virtual machine, Parallels Desktop checks if a configuration profile with the VM image link exists and is applicable to the Parallels Desktop license key used by this Mac computer. If the profile exists, a dialog is shown to the user, inviting them to download and install the corporate virtual machine image. If the user accepts, the virtual machine is downloaded to the user's computer and is registered in Parallels Desktop.

The subsequent sections describe how to perform the steps above.

The Parallels Customer Experience Program is a feedback solution that allows Parallels Desktop to automatically collect usage statistics and system information that will help Parallels to improve the product's quality and support for popular configurations.

To avoid possible security and privacy issues, a suspended Windows virtual machine can be completely locked from user interaction and viewing. When this option is enabled and a virtual machine is suspended, the Windows desktop in the virtual machine window (and in the Parallels Desktop Control Center) is replaced with a black background and the Windows session is interrupted. When the virtual machine is resumed, the Windows session is remained locked and the user will have to enter their credentials or authenticate (depending on how Windows is set up) to unlock it and see the Windows desktop.

To enable or disable this option:

1. Open Parallels Desktop and select the desired virtual machine (e.g. the source virtual machine when preparing it for mass deployment).

2. On the Parallels Desktop menu bar, select Actions > Configure to open the virtual machine configuration dialog.

3. Click the Security tab.

4. Depending on your needs select or clear the Always lock Windows on suspend option.

5. Close the dialog.

The corporate VM image policy is checked every time a new VM creation process is started by the user in Parallels Desktop on a Mac computer. If the corporate VM image policy is set (a configuration profile with the VM for Intel Mac or VM for M-series Mac payload exists and has been applied to the license key used by this Parallels Desktop installation), the Parallels Desktop Control Center displays a message inviting the user to download the corporate VM image. If the user accepts the invitation, the VM image download begins and the progress indicator is displayed (note that because of the large size of a VM, the download may take some time). If the user declines, he/she is taken to the Installation Assistant where they can create a virtual machine from scratch.

After the VM image download completes, the image is unpacked, and the virtual machine is registered in Parallels Desktop.

Prior to Parallels Desktop 16, users were not automatically upgraded to the next major Parallels Desktop version. Starting with version 16, this option became available.

In the past, to upgrade Parallels Desktop for Mac Business Edition to a newer version, an IT administrator would need to set up a local update server or use a remote management tool or install the new version manually on a Mac computer. With this new option, administrators have the ability to automate major version upgrades if the organization policy allows it.

Here's a quick overview of how this feature works:

1. You create a configuration profile in Parallels My Account and configure the Product Updates payload where you enable or disable the "Allow upgrade..." option.

2. You then apply the configuration profile to a license or sublicense key.

3. Parallels Desktop periodically checks if a new major version is available. If it is, depending on how updates are configured in Parallels Desktop, the user will see a notification (with an option to upgrade or postpone), or the upgrade will be performed silently. When the upgrade is initiated, the new major version of Parallels Desktop is downloaded to the Mac computer and installed on it. After that, Parallels Desktop restarts, completing the upgrade.

The subsequent topics describe in detail how to configure and use the major version upgrade functionality.

Starting from Parallels Desktop 18, the Activation using corporate account (sometimes referred as SSO-activation) option became available.

This option works best for Medium and Enterprise size organizations that have an identity provider (e.g., Azure AD) and rely on it to automate applications license management routines. With SCIM integration (optional) licenses from contractors and people who left the company and removed from the identity provider directory will be automatically revoked. There is also an option to automatically revoke licenses from people who are not using the product for a long time.

The license key is also not used in this scenario, so there are less chances for it to be misused.

There are three major steps to enable this option:

1. This option works only if you purchased a special license type. Please check your license certificate for details and contact your sales representative if you have questions. Note that the minimum purchase for this license type is 50 licenses and it is not available as an online purchase from parallels.com.

Asset tags help identify, control, and track computer assets in an organization. Parallels Desktop for Mac Business Edition provides the ability to set an asset tag in the virtual machine BIOS, which can then be read using the standard tools of the guest operating system. You can set an asset tag using the Parallels Desktop graphical user interface or the prlctl command line utility that comes with Parallels Desktop.

To set an asset tag using the Parallels Desktop GUI:

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

2. Select Business.

3. Use the Asset tag field to specify the desired tag.

To set an asset tag using the prlctl command line utility, use the following syntax:

where ID|name is the virtual machine ID or name, and tag is the asset tag to set.

To obtain the asset tag in Windows, use the WMIC.exe command:

For the complete syntax of the WMIC utility please see the Microsoft documentation.

Once set, the asset tag never changes. Even if you perform such virtual machine operations as cloning, template manipulation, registering, or any other, the asset tag always stays the same. If you do want to change an existing asset tag for any reason, you can do it manually using of the methods described above.

Parallels Desktop Business Edition allows you to protect the configuration of a virtual machine with a custom password. When a password is set, even a local Mac administrator will be required to enter it in order to modify virtual machine settings.

Setting the Password via GUI

To set a password in the Parallels Desktop graphical user interface:

1. Open Parallels Desktop and select a virtual machine.

2. On the Parallels Desktop menu bar, select Actions > Configure to open the virtual machine configuration dialog.

3. Select Security.

4. Click the Custom password: Turn On... button.

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

To change or remove the password:

• To change the password, click the Change Password button and follow the instructions on the screen.

• To remove the password, click Custom password: Turn Off and follow the instructions on the screen.

If the password is set and the user tries to view or modify the virtual machine configuration, they will be required to enter this custom password.

Setting the Password via CLI

In addition to the graphical user interface, you can use the prlctl command-line utility to set a custom password for editing the virtual machine configuration.

To set the password, type the following command in Terminal:

prlctl set "vm_name" --custom-pwd

where vm_name is the virtual machine name in quotes. You'll be asked to enter a password and then confirm it.

To change or remove the password, type the same command as above:

prlctl set "vm_name" --custom-pwd

You'll be asked to enter the current password and then a new password.

To view the current protection status for a virtual machine, type the following command:

prlctl list "vm_name" -i

In the output, search for the Security section and look at the Custom password protection property. It will be either set to "on" or "off".

Setting the Password Using the Mass Deployment Process

If you are mass deploying Parallels Desktop and one or more virtual machines, you can simply set the custom password in the source virtual machine. When a virtual machine is deployed on Mac computers, the password will be retained.

As an administrator of Parallels Desktop Business Edition, you can restrict the following user actions in Parallels Desktop:

• Creating a new virtual machine.

• Adding an existing virtual machine.

• Removing a virtual machine.

• Cloning a virtual machine or converting it to a template.

• Opening the Parallels Desktop Preferences dialog.

You can set a custom password (i.e. it can be different from the local Mac administrator password) and specify which user actions from the list above should require it. Once you apply these settings, even the local Mac administrator will not be able to perform these actions without specifying the password that you set.

To set the password and specify the actions:

1. In the Parallels Desktop menu bar, click Parallels Desktop > Preferences.

2. Click the Security tab.

3. Click the Custom password: Turn On... button.

4. In the dialog that opens, type a password. This becomes the custom password that will be required to perform actions that you will select in the next step. Click OK. Note: If you need to change this password later, click the Change Password button and follow the instructions on the screen.

5. Back in the Security dialog, select the user action(s) you want to restrict.

6. Close the dialog to apply the settings.

If a Mac user now tries to perform any of the actions that were password-protected (e.g. creating a virtual machine, etc.), they will be required to enter this custom password. Selecting or deselecting an action in the Parallels Desktop Preferences dialog will also require the password.

Parallels Desktop Business and Pro editions include developer tools which are aimed at software developers using Parallels Desktop as part of their development and testing setup. The tools are accessed by clicking the Develop menu on the virtual machine menu bar and then choosing one of the available options (e.g. Start SSH Session, Start Debugging Session, and others). If users in your organization are not using these tools, you can hide the Develop menu altogether. The reason you would want to do this, some of these features (if used accidentally) may start a debugging session or engage in some other development-specific activities that may temporarily disrupt normal Parallels Desktop operation.

This option is a part of a virtual machine configuration and can be set using the Parallels graphical user interface as follows:

1. Open the virtual machine configuration dialog (click the gear icon or choose Actions > Configure).

2. In the dialog, click Options (at the top) and then click More Options in the left pane.

3. In the right pane, select or clear the Show developer tools option. This will show or hide the Develop menu on the virtual machine menu bar (you don't have to restart a virtual machine if it's running).

To modify this setting from the command line, execute the following command in Terminal:

prlctl set ID|Name --show-dev-tools on|off

where ID/Name is the GUID or name of a target virtual machine.

When mass deploying Parallels Desktop on Mac computers in your organization, you can configure the autodeploy package to apply these settings to all included virtual machines automatically. For details, see Configuring deployment options.

If a virtual machine user forgets the password of their guest OS account (e.g. a Windows user password), it can be reset outside the virtual machine using the command line interface.

To use this functionality the following conditions must be met:

• Parallels Tools must be installed in the guest OS.

• The virtual machine must be running. If it's stopped, start it and wait until you see the guest OS login prompt.

• Depending on your requirements, the following option can be selected or cleared in the virtual machine configuration dialog: Security > Require Password to: [ ] Change guest OS password via CLI. If this option is selected, you will be asked to provide the macOS administrator password to change the guest OS password from the command line. If the option is cleared, the administrator password will not be required. By default, the option is cleared.

To reset the password, open Terminal and enter the following command:

prlctl set vm_name --userpasswd username:new_password

where:

• vm_name is the virtual machine name. To obtain the list of virtual machines installed on this Mac, type prlctl list.

• username is the guest OS user name.

• new_password is the new password.

Example:

prlctl set My_Win8_VM --userpasswd JohnDoe:A12345

If the Require Password to: Change guest OS password via CLI option is selected in the virtual machine configuration dialog (see above), the command will display the following text and prompt:

Only host administrator can change user password in the guest OS.
Confirm your administrator credentials.
Username:

Enter the name of the macOS user with administrative privileges and press the Enter key. Type the user password and press Enter again.

Once the new password is set, you can use it to log in to the guest OS.

A Parallels virtual machine can be encrypted from the Parallels Desktop graphical user interface. This is done from the Security tab of the virtual machine configuration dialog.

You can also use the prlctl command line utility (included with Parallels Desktop) to perform a full set of encryption operations on a virtual machine.

The following command line options are available:

• Encrypt a virtual machine

  prlctl encrypt <ID | NAME>

• Decrypt a virtual machine

  prlctl decrypt <ID | NAME>

• Change the encryption password

  prlctl change-passwd <ID | NAME>

The <ID | NAME> parameter can be either the virtual machine ID or the virtual machine name. When encrypting a virtual machine, you'll be asked to enter a password phrase, which will be used to encrypt the machine. When decrypting a virtual machine, you will be asked to enter the current password. When changing the password, you'll be asked to enter the old password and then the new password.

The encryption password will also be required to perform any other command line operation on an encrypted virtual machine, including starting, stopping, restarting, pausing, suspending, cloning, deleting a virtual machine, etc. For example, to start an encrypted virtual machine, you'll use the following command:

$ prlctl start my_virtual_machine

After executing the command above, you'll be asked to enter the password:

Virtual machine "my_virtual_machine" is encrypted - password required to continue operation
Please enter password:

After typing in the correct password, you'll see the following output:

Starting the VM...
The VM has been successfully started.

If you need to execute a command remotely without having to enter the password on every Mac, you can send the password via standard input (stdin) as shown in the following example:

$ echo mypass | prlctl start my_virtual_machine
Virtual machine 'my_virtual_machine' is encrypted - password required to continue operation
Please enter password:
Starting the VM...
The VM has been successfully started.

If you need to provide two passwords (as with the change-passwd command that changes the password), you can save the passwords to a text file and then use the following syntax:

$ cat /tmp/pass | prlctl change-passwd my_virtual_machine
Virtual machine 'my_virtual_machine' is encrypted - password required to continue operation
Please enter password: 
Please enter new password:
The password has been successfully changed.

The /tmp/pass file in the example above should contain the old password on the first line and the new password on the second line:

$ cat /tmp/pass
mypass
newpass

You can set an expiration date for a virtual machine. This can be a useful option if you are preparing a virtual machine for a contractor (or a third party user) and want to make sure that it works only for the duration of the contract.

To set an expiration date for a virtual machine:

1. Open Parallels Desktop and select the desired virtual machine.

2. On the Parallels Desktop menu bar, select Actions > Configure to open the virtual machine configuration dialog.

3. Select the Security tab.

4. An expiration date can only be set on an encrypted virtual machine. If your machine is not yet encrypted, click Encryption: Turn On, specify an encryption password, and click OK. Make sure to record the password or you will not be able to start the virtual machine. Wait until the encryption process finishes.

5. To set an expiration date for the virtual machine, click Expiration Date: Set Date, specify a password and click OK. Make sure to record the password to be able to change the expiration settings later. You should keep this password secret to prevent the prospective user of the virtual machine from changing the expiration date.

6. On the next screen, specify the following options:

   • Do not allow this VM start after: specifies the virtual machine expiration date.

   • Contact info: specifies the system administrator email, phone number, or other contact information. This information will be included in the message that will be displayed to the user when the virtual machine is about to expire. You can include each piece of information on a separate line.

   • Time Server: specifies the time server URL. The virtual machine expiration time will be checked against this server. The default time server is https://parallels.com.

   • Date Check Frequency: specifies how often the date and time should be verified against the time server. You can specify it in minutes, hours, or days.

   • If unable to check date, use VM for: specifies for how long the virtual machine should be kept working if the time server cannot be reached. For the duration of this period, the virtual machine will continue to check the date. If it succeeds before this period is over, the counter is reset, and the virtual machine will continue to work normally.

7. Click OK when done entering the expiration info.

8. To modify the current expiration date or password, click Expiration Date: Change Date or Expiration Date: Change Password and enter the new values.

When the expiration date approaches, the virtual machine user will be notified as follows: a message will begin to be displayed seven days before the expiration date. The message will be shown to the user every 24 hours and additionally on every virtual machine startup. Once the date is reached, the virtual machine will be locked, so the user will not be able to start or resume it anymore.

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

When configuring USB device settings for a virtual machine, you can enforce what types of USB devices are allowed to be connected. For example, if storage devices (in general) are not allowed, the Mac user will not be able to connect an external hard disk or thumb drive to the virtual machine. This functionality is available in Parallels Desktop Business edition only and is absent in other editions.

To enforce USB device policies, open the virtual machine configuration window and select Hardware > USB & Bluetooth.

In the Allow external devices list:

• Clear the types of devices that you don't want Mac users to connect to the virtual machine.

• Select the types of devices that should be allowed.

Single Application Mode is a special Parallels Desktop deployment option that allows you to largely obscure Parallels Desktop and Windows on a Mac, making Windows applications appear native to macOS. This mode is designed for system administrators who want Mac users in their organization to run one or more Windows applications while minimizing their interaction with Windows or Parallels Desktop.

To make Parallels Desktop run in Single Application Mode, you need to deploy it on Mac computers via the autodeploy package. This includes preparing the autodeploy package in a special way and then either deploying it on Mac computers using Mac management tools or running it manually on a Mac.

For more information about how to use the autodeploy package and how to deploy Parallels Desktop in Single Application Mode, please see the following sections of this guide:

• Mass deployment using Mac management tools

• Single application mode

To set up a Parallels Desktop update server, you'll need a local Web server. Install a Web server on a computer connected to your network (or use an existing one).

Create a file named parallels_updates.xml on the Web server where it can be accessed via HTTP. The file is an XML document that should contain specifications for a particular Parallels Desktop update available on your local updated server.

To create your own document, use the following sample XML document and the XML document specification that follows it as a reference.

A Sample parallels_updates.xml File

  
    Parallels Desktop
    1
    
      12
      0
      12494
      262214
      Sumer
      
        0
        Build 13291 is available!
        Update description goes here</UpdateDescription>
        URL to the update file goes here</FilePath>
        219515
        0
        2017-06-17 01:23:00
        0
        en_US
        parallels
        mac
        
          desktop.13.0.12927.482436.en_US.parallels.mac
          desktop.13.0.12473.274921.en_US.parallels.mac
          desktop.13.0.12262.823647.en_US.parallels.mac
        
      
    
  

XML Document Specification

The next step is to configure individual Macs to take their updates from the local update server. This can be done automatically during the mass deployment of Parallels Desktop by modifying the appropriate deployment configuration option. Please see Configuring Deployment Options for the complete info (see the description of the Software Updates section of the configuration file).

If you have an existing Parallels Desktop installation that was not configured for automatic updates during deployment, then read on to learn how to do it manually.

To configure Parallels Desktop automatic updates, you need to modify the Parallels Desktop property list file on a Mac as follows:

1. Find the com.parallels.Parallels Desktop.plist file located in the Library/Preferences subfolder in the user's home folder. This is the Parallels Desktop property list file that contains the user-specific information.

2. Open the file using the Property List Editor application (included with Xcode).

3. Set the update policy by modifying the Application preferences.VolumeLicenseUpdatePolicy property. If the property doesn't exist, add it to the file specifying its data type as String. Set the property value using one of the following options (see also the Notes subsection below):

   • "Parallels" — when this value is set, the updates will be downloaded from the Parallels update server via the Internet. The value is case-sensitive.

   • Complete URL of the parallels_updates.xml file residing on your local update server. For example, "https://10.0.0.1/pdfm/v8/en_us/parallels/parallels_updates.xml". When the URL is specified, the updates will be obtained from the local update server.

   • "None" — automatic updates are disabled. The value is case-sensitive.

4. Specify how often Parallels Desktop should check for updates. This is done by modifying the Application preferences.Check for updates property. If the property doesn't exist, add it to the file specifying its data type as Number. Specify the property value using one of the following options:

   • 0 — Never

   • 1 — Once a day

   • 2 — Once a week

   • 3 — Once a month

5. Set the automatic download option. Find the Application preferences.Download updates automatically property. If it doesn't exist, add it to the file specifying its data type as Boolean. Set the property value using one of the following options:

   • True — Download updates automatically. Specify this value when using a local update server.

   • False — Notify the user about the updates but don't download them automatically. This option is useful only when updates are downloaded from the Parallels update server, and the user has full control over the update functionality.

6. Save the file and close the Property List Editor application.

Notes

On initial Parallels Desktop activation using a Business Edition key, the Parallels Desktop update properties will be absent from the com.parallels.Parallels Desktop.plist file. In such a case, a Mac user will be able to configure Parallels Desktop automatic updates using the Parallels Desktop graphical user interface.

When the update-related properties are added to the com.parallels.Parallels Desktop.plist file, the automatic updates will be performed according to the specified values. In addition, the value of the Application preferences.VolumeLicenseUpdatePolicy property will affect the Parallels Desktop update-related elements in the Parallels Desktop graphical user interface as follows:

• If the property contains a URL of the local update server or "None", the Parallels Desktop update-related controls will be disabled (grayed out) in the Parallels Desktop graphical user interface. The displayed settings will have no effect on how the Parallels Desktop updates are carried out. Therefore, the user will not be able to configure automatic updates or check for updates manually.

• If the property doesn't exist, has no value, or contains "Parallels" as a value, the Parallels Desktop update controls will be enabled in the user interface giving the user the ability to configure automatic updates and check for updates manually.