Resources that can be published in Parallels RAS include:

• Installed applications

• Containerized applications

• Packaged applications

• Desktops

• Documents

• Web applications

• Network folders

This chapter describes how to publish resources hosted on servers managed by Parallels RAS and management tasks that you can perform on resources that have been already published. The publishing functionality described here is accessed from the Publishing category in the RAS Console.

To publish a remote desktop:

1. In the RAS Console, select the Publishing category and click the Add icon below the Published Resources tree. This will launch the publishing wizard.

2. In the first step of the wizard, select Desktop and click Next.

3. In the Desktop Type step, select the server type from which to publish and click Next.

4. Select one or more servers which desktops you want to publish. You can select all available hosts, host pool(s), or individual hosts. Please note that if you have just one available server, this page will not be displayed.

5. Click Next.

6. Enter a desktop name, an optional description, and change the icon if needed.

7. (RD Session Host only) Configure the following settings:

   • Select the Connect to administrative session option if you want users to connect to the administrative session.

   • Select Exclude from session prelaunch if needed. For details, see Understanding session prelaunch.

   • Select the Start automatically when user logs on option if you want to open a desktop as soon as a user logs on.

8. (VDI only) Select the Enable static assignment to guest VM option to mark a guest VM as persistent the first time a user connects to it.

9. (Remote PC only) Click the [...] button in the Remote PC Settings section to select a Remote PC from which the application should be published. In the box that opens, double-click a PC to select it.

10. Specify the desired screen resolution using the Desktop Size drop-down list. To set a custom width and height of the screen, select Custom in the Size drop-down list and specify the desired values in the fields provided.

11. In the Multi-Monitor drop-down list, select whether the multi-monitor support should be enabled, disabled, or whether the client settings should be used.

12. On the next page, specify the initial status of the resource. Choose from Enabled (end users can launch the resource), Disabled (the resource will not appear in Parallels Client), In maintenance (the resource will appear in Parallels Client but users will not be able to launch it). When a resource is in maintenance and a user tries to launch it, they will see a message. To customize the message, click the Configure button. For more info, see Site defaults (Publishing).

13. When done, click Finish to publish the desktop.

To publish an application, follow the below procedure:

1. In the RAS Console, select the Publishing category and then click the Add icon below the Published Resources tree (or right-click inside the Published Resources box and click Add in the context menu). This will launch the publishing wizard.

2. On the Select Item Type wizard page, select Application and click Next.

3. On the Select Server Type page, select the server type from which to publish and click Next.

4. On the Select Application Type page, select one of the following available options:

• Single Application. Choose this option to fully configure the application settings yourself such as the executable path etc.

• Installed Application. Choose this option to publish an application that is already installed on the server, therefore all of the application settings are automatically configured.

• Predefined Application. Choose this option to publish a commonly used Windows application such as Windows Explorer.

• Application Packages. Choose this option to publish an application from an MSIX application package. The process of publishing applications from MSIX application packages is described in Publishing an application with MSIX app attach.

5. Click Next.

6. On the Publish From page, specify from which host the application should be published. You have the following options:

   • (RDSH) All Hosts in Site. If selected, the application will be published from all servers that are available on the Site.

   • (RDSH) RD Sessions Host Host Pools. Select this option and then select individual host pools to publish the application from.

   • (RDSH) Individual Hosts. Select this option and select individual servers to publish the application from.

   • (VDI) Host pools. Select the host pool to publish the application from.

   • (AVD) Host pools. Select the host pool to publish the application from.

   The page will be skipped if the application type that you are installing is Predefined Application.

7. Click Next.

8. Depending on the application type that you selected on the Select Application Type page, the next wizard page will be one of the following:

   • If you selected Single Application, the Application page will open where you have to specify the application settings manually (more about this option later in this section).

   • If you selected Installed Applications, the Installed Applications page will open listing available applications (the applications are grouped by functionality). Select an application you wish to install and click Next. Follow the instructions to complete the wizard.

   • If you selected Predefined Application, the Select Predefined Applications page will open listing available applications. Select an application you wish to publish and click Finish.

9. If you selected Single Application on the Select Application Type wizard page, the Application page will open. Specify the application settings as follows:

   Note that if you populate the Target field first using the "browse" button ([...]), the application Name, Description, and icon will be chosen automatically. You can override this selection if you wish.

   • Name. Choose and type a name for the application.

   • Description. Type an optional description.

   • Run. Select the application window state (normal window, minimized, maximized).

   • Exclude from session prelaunch. For details, see see Understanding session prelaunch.

   • Start automatically when user logs on. Select this option if you want to start an application as soon as a user logs on. This option works on desktop versions of Parallels Client only.

   • Change Icon. Change the application icon (optional).

   • Server(s). Allows you to specify the rest of the server parameters individually for each server the application was published from. Select a server from the drop-down list box and specify the parameters. Repeat for other servers in the list.

   • Target. Specify the application executable path and file name.

   • Start in. If the Target field is valid, this field will be populated automatically. You can specify your own path if needed.

   • Parameters. If the application accepts startup parameters, you can specify them in this field.

10. (VDI only) Select the Enable static assignment to guest VM option to mark a guest VM as persistent the first time a user connects to it.

11. (Remote PC only) Click the [...] button in the Remote PC Settings section to select a Remote PC from which the application should be published. In the box that opens, double-click a PC to select it.

12. On the next page, specify the initial status of the resource. Choose from Enabled (end users can launch the resource), Disabled (the resource will not appear in Parallels Client), In maintenance (the resource will appear in Parallels Client but users will not be able to launch it). When a resource is in maintenance and a user tries to launch it, they will see a message. To customize the message, click the Configure button. For more info, see Site defaults (Publishing).

13. When done, click Finish to publish the application.

Publishing an App-V application

Microsoft Application Virtualization (or App-V) is an application streaming solution from Microsoft. Beginning with Parallels RAS v16.5, a support for App-V application publishing is available in the Parallels RAS console.

At the time of this writing, the App-V support implements scenarios where application provisioning is performed by means of App-V components:

• Applications are sequenced by the administrator according to Microsoft guidelines.

• Applications are stored on a network share created by the administrator (SMB, HTTPs).

• App-V Management and Publishing servers are used to publish applications for a specific AD groups that must by synced manually by the administrator with RAS publishing groups used for App-V application publishing.

• App-V client is installed and configured manually by the administrator.

The process of deploying and publishing an App-V application is as follows:

1. Package an applications using the App-V Sequencer.

2. Deploy the application to an RD Session Host using the App-V Management Console, Microsoft SCCM, etc.

3. Provision the application.

4. Verify that users can launch the application from the RD Session Host.

5. Publish the application from RAS Console (see below for instructions).

6. Launch the application from a Parallels Client.

To publish an App-V application:

1. In the Parallels RAS Console, select the Publishing category.

2. Click the [+] Add icon at the bottom of the right pane. The publishing wizard opens.

3. On the Select Item Type page, select the App-V application option.

4. Click Next.

5. Select the server type from which to publish an application and click Next.

6. Select a server or a group to publish from and click Next.

7. On the Installed Applications page, select one or more App-V applications and click Next.

8. Review the summary and complete the wizard.

Once an App-V application is published, it can be launched from a Parallels Client.

To publish an application from an MSIX application package:

3. On the Select Server Type page, select RD Session Host, Virtual Guest, or Azure Virtual Desktop and click Next.

4. On the Select Application Type page, select Application Packages.

6. The Installed Applications page will open listing available applications. Select an application you wish to publish and click Next.

8. The Summary page will open. It contains information about the application you selected for publishing. Click Next.

9. Click Finish.

A web application is like any other application that you can publish using the standard application publishing functionality. However, to simplify publishing of straight URL links to web applications, a separate publishing item type is available that allows you to accomplish this task with minimal number of steps.

To publish a web application:

1. In the RAS Console, select the Publishing category and then click the Add icon below the Published Resources tree (or right-click inside the Published Resources box and click Add in the context menu). This will launch the publishing wizard.

2. On the Select Item Type wizard page, select Web Application and click Next.

3. On the Select Server Type page, select the server type from which to publish and click Next.

4. On the Publish From page, select the server(s) to publish from. Note that if you have just one server, the Publish From page will not appear.

5. On the Web Application wizard page that opens, specify the web application name, description, window state, and the URL. Select the Force to use Internet Explorer option if needed. To browse for a specific application icon, click Change Icon.

6. (VDI only) Select the Persistent option to make a guest VM persistent. For more info, see Persistent guest VMs.

7. (Remote PC only) Click the [...] button in the Remote PC Settings section to select a Remote PC from which the application should be published. In the box that opens, double-click a PC to select it.

9. When done, click Finish to publish the application.

When published, the web application will appear in the Publishing > Published Resources list, just like any other application.

To publish a document, follow the below procedure:

1. In the RAS Console, select the Publishing category and then click the Add icon below the Published Resources tree (or right-click inside the Published Resources box and click Add in the context menu). This will launch the publishing wizard.

2. On the Select Item Type wizard page, select Document and click Next.

3. Select the server type from which to publish and click Next.

4. Specify the content type of the document you want to publish. You can select the content type from the predefined list or specify a custom content type in the Custom content types input field.

5. Click Next when ready.

6. On the Publish From page, page, select the server(s) to publish from. Note that if you have just one server, the Publish From page will not appear.

7. On the Application page, enter a name, an optional description, a Window state, and an icon if needed.

8. Use the [...] button next to the Target input field to browse for the document. All other fields will be automatically populated. To edit any of the auto populated fields, highlight them and enter the required details.

9. (Optional) In the Parameters input field, specify the parameters to pass to the application when it starts.

10. (VDI only) Select the Persistent option to make a guest VM persistent. For more info, see Persistent guest VMs.

11. (Remote PC only) Click the [...] button in the Remote PC Settings section to select a Remote PC from which the application should be published. In the box that opens, double-click a PC to select it.

13. Click Finish to publish the document.

To view published resources, select the Publishing category in the Parallels RAS Console. In the middle pane, expand the Published Resources node (if it's collapsed) to see the resources.

Right-click a resource to open a context menu. The menu has the following options:

• Add: Starts the publishing wizard, which you can use to publish a resource.

• Find: Allows you to search the list for a resource by name.

• Duplicate: Duplicates a selected resource. You can publish multiple resources of the same type, but configure them differently according to your needs.

• Delete: Deletes a published resource from the Parallels RAS Farm. This only removes the published resource item from the Farm. The actual application is not affected. To avoid accidental deletions, a dialog box is displayed asking for your confirmation.

• Note that when you set the status of a published folder, all subfolders (if any) and resources that it contains will inherit the parent folder's status.

• Delegate Permissions: Opens the Delegate Permissions dialog where you can add users and grant them publishing permissions.

• Settings audit: Allows you to see recent changes to published resources and revert them. The changes that can be reverted include Create, Delete, and Update.

• Verify Target(s): Verifies that the target specified for the selected resource is valid. To see the target, select a resource and then click the Application tab.

The action items at the bottom of the screen allow you to perform the following actions:

• Add: Same action as the Add menu item described above.

• New Folder: Same action as the New Folder menu item described above.

• Delete: Same as the Delete menu item described above.

• Move Up: Moves a selected published resource item up the list.

• Move Down: Moves a selected published resource item down the list.

• Disable: Same as the Disable menu item described above.

• Sort. Sorts resources alphabetically. For this action item to become enabled, you must select the Published Resources node (the topmost one) or a folder containing individual items.

• Find: Same as the Find menu item described above.

• Running Instances: Same as the Running Instances menu item described above.

After making any changes to published resources, please don't forget to click the Apply button to commit them to the Parallels RAS Farm.

You can publish a filesystem folder via UNC path to open in Windows explorer. To minimize the number of configuration steps, a special publishing item is available that allows you to publish a network folder from an RD Session Host.

To publish a network folder:

1. In the RAS Console, select the Publishing category and then click the Add icon below the Published Resources tree (or right-click inside the Published Resources box and click Add in the context menu). This will launch the publishing wizard.

1. On the Select Item Type wizard page, select Folder on the file system and click Next.

2. On the Select Server Type page, select the server type from which to publish and click Next.

3. On the Publish From page, select the server(s) to publish from. Note that if you have just one server, the Publish From page will not appear.

4. On the UNC Folder wizard page, specify the usual application properties.

5. In the UNC path field, enter the UNC path of the folder you wish to publish. Click the [...] button to browse for a folder (it may take some time for the Browse for Folder dialog to open).

6. (VDI only) Select the Persistent option to make a guest VM persistent. For more info, see Persistent guest VMs.

7. (Remote PC only) Click the [...] button in the Remote PC Settings section to select a Remote PC from which the application should be published. In the box that opens, double-click a PC to select it.

9. Click Finish to publish the folder and close the wizard.

When published, the network folder will appear in the Publishing > Published Resources list, just like any other application. If you select it and then click the Application tab, the application settings will be as follows:

• The Target property will always be set to PublishedExplorer.exe. This binary is created automatically (via agents pushing) and is simply a copy of the standard explorer.exe executable.

• The Parameters property specifies the network folder that we want to publish. The folder path can be in any format that the explorer.exe can handle.

Please note that although you have all standard application property tabs enabled for this publishing item, at least the following items should be ignored, as they are completely irrelevant:

• Publish From

• File Extensions