Golden Images

This section of the Management Portal is where you go to designate the virtual machines that will be deployed across your organization. You can deploy multiple golden images. Each golden image may contain up to two separate virtual machine images, one for Apple silicon Macs and one for Intel Macs.

If you are configuring your Parallels Desktop Enterprise Edition setup for the first time, the Golden Images section in your Parallels Management Portal will look like this:

Use the Create Golden Image button and follow the instructions below.

Each golden image can be assigned to one or several groups of users. Starting from the September 2025 update, Golden Images are assigned to user groups as part of policies.

Each Golden Image card contains the list of policies in which this image is provisioned and the number of virtual machines provisioned with it:

Adding a virtual machine golden image for deployment

Fill out the following fields when adding a golden image record:

1. Name. Give the virtual machine a descriptive, easy-to-read name, e.g., {company_name} Windows 11 Pro for Arm. This name will be shown to your users;

2. [OPTIONAL] Description. Feel free to add a more detailed description that helps to understand the specific purpose or setup of each image, e.g., This image is for the accountants to run Excel for Windows. This description will be shown to your users;

3. Enable for {architecture}. You may provide golden images for one specific processor type or both. Note: You may choose not to add one of the images if your organization only uses Macs with one processor architecture;

4. Download URL for {architechture}. Upload your virtual machine .pvmp file to a server location that supports direct links and is accessible to all the machines where you plan on deploying it, and share the file. Optionally, you may use a URL shortener. Apple silicon Macs and Intel Macs will require two separate image files. Make sure the files are accessible without authentication. Before proceeding, verify the link works. Note: A local network file share may be a suitable solution, provided the remote machines can connect via VPN;

5. Checksum (SHA-256). When packaging a virtual machine (right-click on it in the Control Center and choose Prepare for Transfer), the resulting .pvmp file is accompanied by a .txt file containing a SHA-256 checksum for it. Copy and paste the contents of that file in this field. 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.

Once you are done filling out the required fields, click Save to activate the golden image.

Editing or removing a virtual machine golden image

To change the settings for a golden image, click Edit on the golden image's card, and change the settings as described above.

Mind that changing the link will not update the virtual machines already provisioned from that Golden Image, and both old and subsequently provisioned new VMs will count as provisioned from that image.

To remove a golden image, select the one you want to delete, click Edit on the golden image's card, click Delete Golden Image in the bottom left corner of the card, and confirm the deletion.

If you attempt to delete a Golden Image that has virtual machines provisioned from it, you will get a warning message prompting you to remove those virtual machines first. Without removing them, you won't be able to delete the Golden Image as otherwise, you would lose administrative control over them. If you don't want users to install new virtual machines based on the image, it is easier to remove the image from the policy or policies where it's provisioned.