This guide is intended for system administrators responsible for installing, configuring, and administering Parallels RAS. This guide assumes that the reader is familiar with Microsoft Remote Desktop Services and has an intermediate networking knowledge.

The following table lists the Parallels RAS 19 release history. Parallels RAS documentation is updated for every release. This guide refers to the latest Parallels RAS 19 release from the table below. If you are using a newer Parallels RAS release or version, please download the current version of the guide from https://www.parallels.com/products/ras/resources/.

Parallels RAS provides vendor independent virtual desktop and application delivery from a single platform. Accessible from anywhere with platform-specific clients and web enabled solutions, like the built-in Parallels Web Client, Parallels RAS allows you to publish remote desktops, applications and documents, improving desktop manageability, security and performance.

Parallels RAS extends Windows Remote Desktop Services by using a customized shell and virtual channel extensions over the Microsoft RDP protocol. Parallels RAS supports all major hypervisors from Microsoft, VMware, and other vendors including Hyperconverged solutions such as Nutanix AHV (AOS) and Scale Computing and Cloud platforms and services such as Microsoft Azure and Azure Virtual Desktop (formerly known as Windows Virtual Desktop), enabling the publishing of virtual desktops and applications to Parallels Client.

The product includes powerful universal printing and scanning functionality, as well as resource-based load balancing and management features.

With Parallels Device Manager Module for Parallels RAS you can also centrally manage user connections and PCs converted into thin clients using the free Parallels Client.

How does it work?

When a user requests an application or a desktop, Parallels RAS finds a least loaded RD Session Host or a guest VM on one of the least loaded Providers and establishes an RDP connection with it. Using Microsoft RDP protocol, the requested application or desktop is presented to the user. Note that in addition to RD Sessions Hosts and VDI, Parallels RAS can also be used to configure, manage and publish Azure Virtual Desktop resources.

Users can connect to Parallels RAS using Parallels Client (available at no charge), which can run on Windows, Linux, macOS, Android, Chrome, iOS and iPadOS. Users can also connect via an HTML5 browser or Chromebook.

As newer versions of Windows keep on being developed as time goes by, you need to defend the migration cost to your business. Parallels RAS can help. Desktop replacement allows you to extend the lifespan of your hardware and delay migration to the latest OSs to a time that suits you best. The Parallels RAS solution allows you to be very flexible: you can lock machine configurations on the user side, placing your corporate data in an extremely secure position; or you can opt to allow users to run some local and remote applications. Parallels Client Desktop Replacement is able to reduce the operability of the local machine by disabling the most common local configuration options, while guaranteeing the same level of service and security afforded by thin clients, directly from your existing PCs.

Welcome to Parallels® Remote Application Server (Parallels RAS), an integrated solution to virtualize your applications, desktops and data. Parallels RAS publishes applications and delivers remote and virtual desktops to any device on your network, anywhere.

This chapter describes how to install and activate Parallels RAS.

Before installing Parallels RAS, please verify that your hardware and software meet or exceed the hardware and software requirements described below. Please note that although Parallels RAS can be used in Workgroup environment, Parallels recommends using Active Directory to manage users, groups, and machine accounts via group policies.

Parallels RAS is extensively tested on both physical and virtual platforms. The minimum hardware requirements approved to run Parallels RAS are outlined below.

• Physical Machines – Dual Core Processor and a minimum of 4GB RAM.

• Virtual Machines – Two Virtual Processors and a minimum of 4GB of RAM.

The server hardware requirements to install and configure Parallels RAS can vary according to end-user requirements.

Typically for an installation of 30 users or under, Parallels RAS can be installed on one high specification server and the resources published directly from it. For more than 30 users, multiple servers may be required.

The below should be considered during the planning stage of a Parallels RAS deployment:

• High specification servers should be used, consisting of multiple CPU cores, a high specification disk transfer rate and plenty of RAM.

• A hypervisor-based virtual machine can be used as long as the resources needed to serve end-users are calculated accordingly.

• It is recommended that RAS Secure Gateway does not exceed 1200 users per server for incoming connections using the Gateway SSL mode.

• HALB usage should not exceed 2000 user sessions per HALB appliance. See https://kb.parallels.com/125229.

• When planning VDI Hypervisor resource requirements, extra requirements such as RAM usage per virtual machine and disk space should be taken into account.

When configuring RD Session Hosts, VDI, or Azure Virtual Desktop, please keep in mind that different types of workloads require different session host configurations. For the best possible experience, scale your deployment depending on your users' needs. The following table gives you an idea of how different workload types affect session host configurations.

For port requirements, please see the Port Reference section.

After you've installed Parallels RAS, run the RAS Console and activate your new Parallels RAS Farm.

Start the Parallels RAS Console

By default, the Parallels RAS Console is launched automatically after you click Finish on the last page of the installation wizard. To launch the console manually, navigate to Start > Apps > Parallels and click on Parallels Remote Application Server Console.

When the Parallels RAS Console is launched for the first time, you are presented with the login dialog. In the dialog, specify the following:

• Farm: A Parallels RAS Farm to connect to. Enter the FQDN or IP address of the server where you have RAS Connection Broker installed.

• If you've installed the Parallels Single Sign-On component when installing the RAS Console, you will see the Authentication type field from which you can select whether to log on using your credentials or SSO. If you reboot after the installation and select SSO, select Single Sign-On and then click Connect. Your Windows credentials will be used to log in to the RAS Farm. If you select Credentials, enter your credentials as described below.

• Username: A user account with administrative privileges on the server where Parallels RAS is installed (usually a domain or local administrator). The account name must be specified using the UPN format (e.g. administrator@domain.local). The specified user will be automatically configured as the Parallels RAS administrator with full access rights.

• Password: The specified user account password.

• If you select the Remember credentials option, this dialog will not be shown the next time you launch the Parallels RAS Console.

The Edit Connections button opens a dialog where you can manage your RAS connection. This dialog becomes useful if this is not the first time you are connecting to one or more of your RAS Farms. The left pane of the dialog displays RAS Farms to which previously connected (you can remove a Farm from the list by clicking the [-] icon if you no longer need it). The right pane displays at least the primary Connection Broker for the selected Farm. If you've added a secondary Connection Brokers to a Farm, you can add it to this list by clicking the [+] icon and typing its hostname or IP address (click the "recycle" icon to verify the agent status). This way the RAS Console will try to connect to the primary Connection Broker first and if it fails (e.g. the agent is offline or cannot be reached), it will try to connect to the secondary Connection Broker. For more information about secondary Connection Brokers, please see Parallels RAS Connection Brokers chapter.

When you are done entering the connection information, click the Connect button to connect to the Parallels RAS Farm.

Sign in to Parallels My Account

To activate Parallels RAS, you must register for a Parallels business account. After you logged in to Parallels RAS, you'll see the Sign In to Parallels My Account dialog. If you already have an account, type the email address and password you used to register the account and click Sign In.

Note: If you use an HTTP proxy server on your network, you will see a dialog asking you to configure the proxy server connection settings. Click the Configure Proxy button. In the dialog that opens, select one of the following: Use system proxy settings (the default proxy settings from the Internet Explorer will be used) or Manual HTTP proxy configuration (specify the settings manually). If your proxy configuration changes, you can re-configure it later by navigating to Administration > Settings and clicking the Configure Proxy button.

If you don't have a Parallels business account, you can register for one as follows:

1. In the Sign In to Parallels My Account dialog, click Register. The Register Parallels My Account dialog opens.

2. Enter your name and email address, choose and type a password, and enter your company info (all fields are required).

3. Follow the links to Parallels Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. After reading them (and if you agree) select the I have read and agree to the Parallels Privacy Policy and Terms of Use checkbox.

4. Click Register to register an account. This will create a personal account for yourself and a business account for your organization to which you will be assigned as administrator.

Activate Parallels RAS

After you sign in to Parallels My Account, the Activate Product dialog opens asking you to activate the Parallels RAS Farm.

If you already have a Parallels RAS license key, select the Activate using license key option and enter the key in the field provided. You can click the button next to the field to see the list of subscriptions and/or permanent license keys you have registered in Parallels My Account. If the list is empty, it means that you don't have any subscriptions or license keys and need to purchase one first.

Note: You can manage your Parallels RAS license using the Licensing category in the Parallels RAS console. The management tasks include viewing the license information, switching to a different Parallels My Account, and activating the Parallels RAS Farm using a different license key. For more information, please see the Licensing section.

If you don't have a Parallels RAS license key, you have the following options:

• Purchase a subscription online by clicking the Purchase a license link.

• Activate Parallels RAS as a trial by selecting the Activate trial version option.

After entering a license key (or selecting to activate a trial version), click Activate. You should see a message that the Parallels RAS Farm was activated successfully. Click OK to close the message box.

The first dialog that you see informs you that you have no servers configured that can be used to host published resources. This means that to begin using Parallels RAS, you need at least one RD Session Host, Provider, or a Remote PC configured. We'll talk about configuring a Parallels RAS Farm in the next chapter. For now, click OK to close the message box. You will then see the Applying Settings dialog. Wait for the initial configuration of Parallels RAS to complete and click OK. You will now see the main Parallels RAS Console window where you can begin configuring the Parallels RAS Farm.

Read on to learn how to quickly add an RD Session Host, publish resources, and invite your users to Parallels RAS.

For information about Microsoft license requirements, such as Remote Desktop Services Client Access Licenses (RDS CALs) and Virtual Desktop Access (VDA) licenses, please see Appendix: Microsoft license requirements in Parallels RAS.

To install Parallels RAS:

1. Make sure you have administrative privileges on the computer where you are installing Parallels RAS.

2. Double click the RASInstaller.msi file to launch the Parallels RAS installation wizard. If you see a message that begins with "This version of Parallels RAS is only for testing purposes.", it means that it's not an official build and should not be used in a production environment.

3. Follow the onscreen instructions.

1. Proceed to the Select Installation Type page and select from the following:

   • Parallels Remote Application Server. The default installation that will install RAS Console, RAS Management Portal, RAS Connection Broker, RAS Secure Gateway, RAS RD Session Host Agent, RAS PowerShell, and RAS Web Administration Service on the same machine. This is ideal for testing or small production environments.

   • Parallels RAS Tenant Broker. This option installs Tenant Broker. Please note that Tenant Broker must be installed on a server separate from the existing RAS farms. For more information about Tenant Broker, please see the RAS Multi-Tenant Architecture chapter.

   • Custom. Select and install only the components that you require. You can select individual components after you click Next. Note that if a component cannot be installed on the current server, it will not be available for installation. See Software Requirements.

2. Click Next.

3. Review the notice on the Important Notice wizard page. If there's a port conflict on your computer, the information will be displayed here. You can resolve the conflict later.

4. Click Next.

5. On the Firewall Settings page, select Automatically add firewall rules to configure the firewall on this computer for Parallels RAS to work properly. See Port Reference for details.

6. Click Next and then click Install. Wait for the installation to finish and click Finish.

7. If you are upgrading your RAS installation, it is recommend to reboot all servers where components are upgraded.

When you need to install a particular Parallels RAS component on a different server, run the installation wizard again, select Custom and choose the component(s) you wish to install.