Parallels Desktop Enterprise Edition Administrator's Guide
ProductsSupportDocumentation
  • 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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  1. Parallels Management Portal

Policies

PreviousGolden ImagesNextUser Groups

Last updated 13 days ago

On this page, you can assign policies for pre-existing user groups that you can set up in Parallels My Account. Each user group is a sublicense of your main Parallels Desktop Enterprise Edition license with a unique key. Read to learn more.

Attention: If you want, you may assign a new policy to the users activated with the primary license key. However, for security reasons, we strongly advise against using your primary key directly. Any compromised secondary (sublicense) keys can be deleted and replaced with new ones.

To create user groups and populate them with users, please refer to . If you plan on using Single Sign-On for license activation, refer additionally to .

To create a new policy, click on the Add button in the top left corner of the page.

Presently, policies only define what users from your organization can do with their Parallels Desktop setups and not their virtual machines. The four available settings are:

Note: As Parallels Desktop Enterprise Edition develops, we will be adding more policies to this menu.

  • Do not allow removing corporate virtual machines;

  • Do not allow upgrading to the next major Parallels Desktop version. This setting will still allow users to update their Parallels Desktop installations to a minor version (e.g., 20.0 to 20.1) but will prevent them from upgrading to a major version (e.g., from 20.x to 21.x) when it becomes available. Enabling this setting will allow you to first ensure that a major new version suits your needs before proceeding with a fleet-wide upgrade.

When adding a new policy, provide the following information:

  1. Name. Use a unique descriptive name in case the number of policies increases in the future;

  2. Description;

  3. Set the restrictions as described above;

  4. Click Save.

The default view of the main Policies screen shows you the list of all the policies under your management, citing their names as provided during the setup process, their descriptions, and the list of groups they apply to. Right-clicking on a policy from the list allows you to edit or delete it.

If a policy is marked as "not applied", it either means that no groups were selected during the creation, or the group(s) it initially applied to was (were) deleted.

Warning: Deleting a policy is non-reversible. Please make sure you are deleting the right one.

Limit users to corporate virtual machines only. This policy prevents users from setting up new virtual machines from sources other than your organization’s , as well as importing or cloning pre-existing ones. You may want to enact this policy to prevent members of your organization from setting up virtual machines for their own extracurricular activities;

Limit the number of corporate virtual machines per user to one. This setting prevents users from installing any more virtual machines from the approved sources (i.e., your organization’s ). ;

Do not allow editing Parallels Desktop preferences. This setting prevents users from changing the preferences for their Parallels Desktop setups. To learn more about the settings that can be changed in the Parallels Desktop Preferences panel, read of the Parallels Desktop's user guide.

Do not allow running virtual machines without this company's Parallels license. This setting prevents users from transferring and launching their virtual machines (as well as Golden Images) to Parallels Desktop installations that don't have your organization's Enterprise license. Read more on virtual machine encryption . Note: Read more here.

Policy applies to. This setting allows you to add and remove the groups (as defined by ) that the policy applies to. If you don't divide your Parallels users into groups, or have users assigned to the primary license key, you may assign a policy to the primary license key. To add a group, use the drop-down menu as indicated in the image above. To remove one already added, click on the (X) symbol next to the one already listed. . ;

Golden Images
Golden Images
here
secondary license keys
primary license key
SSO user groups
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