Preparing a Deployment Package

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

Download the deployment package here.

Attention! Once you have downloaded the ZIP file, it is essential that you remove any quarantine attributes from it, as they may affect all further steps. To do that, execute the following command in the macOS Terminal:

xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Users/{username}/Downloads/pd-autodeploy.zip

Make sure the file path matches that of your downloaded package.

The autodeploy package archive contains a folder named "Parallels Desktop 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.

• Deploy.cfg — contains all the parameters that you'll need to check and set, as described here.

• Prepare — contains the build script that creates a flat package ready for deployment.

Take the following steps to populate the package folders:

1. Certain MDM solutions have limitations on the size of hosted deployment packages, e.g., Jamf Pro's own cloud distribution platform has a 20GB limit. If your Windows virtual machine image is under the limit, or your MDM solution doesn't impose one, include the .pvmp file in the Virtual Machine(s) folder. Otherwise, upload the .pvmp file to a shared location accessible to all target machines without authentication, and include the direct download link in the respective section of the deploy.cfg file. Review this page for further advice. changing your cloud distribution point file server distribution point.

2. Enable adding the Windows application launch icon to the macOS dock upon deployment by copying the application's stub from the /Users/{username}/Applications (Parallels)/{VM_name} folder to the Windows Application(s) stubs to add to Dock folder of the deployment package.

3. Modify the deploy.cfg file:

   1. Set the Single Application Mode to yes: enable_single_application_mode="yes"

   2. [OPTIONAL] If you plan on enrolling the virtual machines into Intune/Azure Active Directory, make sure to set the vm_reset_hwid parameter to yes. This will regenerate the SMBIOS ID for each separate deployed virtual machine, so they don't all look the same to the AAD. Read more here. this KB article.

   3. Include a Parallels Desktop license key with the respective number of seats in the license_key parameter. Read more here.

4. Create a flat package by right-clicking on the Scripts folder of the Autodeploy Package and choosing Services -> New Terminal at Folder. In the Terminal window, run the following command: ./prepare --dest {Destination_folder}, e.g., ./prepare --dest /Users/{user_name}/Downloads. This action creates a .pkg file in the destination folder that is ready for distribution.

5. Test the deployment package as described here.

6. See the next chapter for deploying the package.