Parallels Desktop Enterprise Edition Administrator's Guide
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  • Introduction
  • Upgrading from Business Edition
    • How to Trial Enterprise Edition with Existing Business Edition Per-user License
    • What Happens after a Trial Ends
    • Migrating from Business Edition to Enterprise Edition
    • Migrating from per-device to per-user licensing
  • Getting Started
    • Creating a Business Account and Registering Your License
    • Dividing Users into Groups with Sublicenses
    • Configuring Golden Images and Policies in the Management Portal
    • Installing and Activating Parallels Desktop
  • Configuring the Single Sign-On (SSO) integration with Parallels My Account
    • Prerequisites
    • Starting the Integration Process in Parallels My Account
      • Configuring SSO Integration with Azure/Entra ID
      • Configuring SSO Integration with Okta
      • Configuring SSO Integration with Ping Identity
      • Configuring SSO Integration with JumpCloud
      • Configuring SSO Integration with Google Workspace
    • [OPTIONAL] How to Divide Users into Groups and Assign Them Sublicenses
    • Troubleshooting the SSO Activation
  • Creating and Uploading Virtual Machine Images
  • Mass Deployment of Parallels Desktop and Virtual Machines
    • Deploying via an Invitation Email
    • Mass Deployment Using Mac Management Tools
      • [RECOMMENDED] Deploying Parallels Desktop via MDM App Catalogs Using Configuration Profiles
        • Creating and Editing a Configuration Profile in iMazing
        • Deploying Parallels Desktop via MDM App Catalog (as seen in Jamf Pro)
      • [ALTERNATIVE] Mass Deployment via Deployment Package
        • Prerequisites
        • Supported Mac Management Tools
        • Preparing the Autodeploy Package
          • Downloading the Autodeploy Package
          • Specifying a License Key
          • [OPTIONAL] Adding the Parallels Desktop Installation Image
          • [OPTIONAL] Adding a Virtual Machine
            • Installing Parallels Tools
            • Preparing Windows for Mass Deployment
            • Common Configuration Options
          • Adding Windows Application Stubs
          • Configuring Deployment Options
          • Single Application Mode
          • [MANDATORY] Creating a Flat Package
          • Testing the Autodeploy Package
        • Deploying the Package to Macs
          • Example: Jamf Pro
            • Automating Parallels Desktop Initial Setup with a Configuration Profile
          • Using a Script to Change VM Options
    • Enrolling Virtual Machines in Azure Active Directory
  • Parallels Management Portal
    • Golden Images
    • Policies
    • User Groups
    • Virtual Machines
    • Providing Feedback
  • Parallels Desktop for Mac Enterprise Edition Features
    • [DEPRECATED] Using Configuration Profiles
      • Creating a Configuration Profile
      • Applying a Configuration Profile to a License Key
      • Provisioning a Corporate VM Image
        • Creating a Configuration Profile
        • Installing a VM Image on a Mac
      • Enabling Major Version Upgrades
        • Creating a Configuration Profile
    • Participating in the Customer Experience Program
    • Locking a Virtual Machine on Suspend
    • Activating Using a Corporate Account
    • Restricting a Virtual Machine Configuration with a Custom Password
    • Restricting User Actions in Parallels Desktop
    • Setting an Asset Tag in the Virtual Machine BIOS
    • Using Custom Graphics and Links in the Control Center
    • Hiding Developer Tools in the Parallels Desktop GUI
    • Encrypting a Virtual Machine
    • Single Application Mode
    • Setting an Expiration Date on a Virtual Machine
    • Enforcing USB Device Policies
    • Resetting the Guest OS Password
    • Setting Up a Local Update Server
      • Setting Up a Local Web Server
      • Creating the Parallels Update XML File
      • Configuring Individual Macs
    • Configuring Parallels Desktop Update Branch
    • Customizing the Support Center Option
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  • Uploading the Image
  • Verifying the Link for the Image
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Creating and Uploading Virtual Machine Images

PreviousTroubleshooting the SSO ActivationNextMass Deployment of Parallels Desktop and Virtual Machines

Last updated 1 month ago

Regardless of how you choose to deploy Parallels Desktop to your end users, you will need to provide them with virtual machines to run. Parallels Desktop for Mac Enterprise Edition accepts virtual machine images in a packed .pvmp format. To create such an image:

  1. Using your own Parallels Desktop setup, create a Parallels virtual machine, install the operating system in it, pre-install the software that your users may need, and otherwise configure the virtual machine according to your requirements. Note that if your organization has both Apple silicon and Intel Macs, you need to create a separate virtual machine for each processor architecture. For the list of supported operating systems, please visit .

  2. If your virtual machine is running Windows, you may need to use Sysprep to strip it of installation-specific information such as the SID (Security Identifier), GUID (Globally Unique Identifier), and other identifiers before deploying it. Follow the directions from this .

  3. Make sure the virtual machine is shut down.

  4. 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.

  5. When the virtual machine is ready, it needs to be packed as a .pvmp file before you make it available for download to your users. To pack it:

    1. Open the Parallels Desktop Control Center;

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

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

    4. An SHA-256 checksum for the virtual machine package is calculated automatically and saved as a .txt file in the same folder. You will need it later during the deployment process. You can also calculate the checksum by executing the shasum command.

Note: If you have the .pvmp virtual machine file but not the .txt file with its checksum, you can quickly find it by following these steps:

  1. Right-click on the .pvmp file while holding down the Option key and choose Copy {file_name} as Pathname;

  2. Open Terminal;

  3. Type in shasum -a 256 {file_desination}, pasting the copied pathname from Step 1, and hit Enter.

The output will look similar to the following:

63a90c3c38cc8c358221da339068fc1292b10bf7c00ed8449787b0e6019d706b /Users/parallels/Parallels/Windows11Pro.pvmp

Uploading the Image

Once you have a virtual machine saved as a .pvmp archive, upload it to a server from which Parallels Desktop users can download it to their Mac computers via HTTPS. The requirements are:

  • The link has to be direct, explicitly leading to the image file and not a file download page. E.g., if you are using Microsoft Sharepoint, take these steps:

    1. Before using the link for deployment, paste it into a text editor, and replace the text after the ? with download=1.

  • You have to ensure that no authentication is required to download the image file.

Optionally, you may use a URL shortener.

You may use an internal file sharing resource accessible with VPN enabled.

Verifying the Link for the Image

Once your link is ready, we suggest you check it with a curl command from the Terminal, e.g.:

curl {full URL starting with https://} -o {/Users/<username>/Downloads/image.pvmp}

Note: The quickest way to receive an accurate path to any given folder on your Mac is to hold down the Option key and right-click on that folder. You will see the menu option titled "Copy "<folder_name>" as Pathname".

Create and copy a shareable link to a file following .

the normal "Copy link" procedure
https://www.parallels.com/requirements/
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