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The diagram below illustrates a hybrid deployment of Parallels RAS and Azure Virtual Desktop with the following characteristics:
Workload hosts are available both on-premises through standard Parallels RAS deployment and on Microsoft Azure through the service.
Azure Virtual Desktop objects such as workspaces, host pools, desktop and RemoteApp groups are created and configured from the Parallels RAS Console.
Azure Virtual Desktop hosts (multi-session or single-session) contain both Azure Virtual Desktop Agent and RAS Agent for management and configuration purposes.
Parallels Client for Windows is connecting to both Parallels RAS Secure Gateway and Azure Virtual Desktop service providing resource availability to end-users from a single interface.
Simplify and enhance Azure Virtual Desktop deployment and management.
Unify administration and user experience – single pane of glass – Parallels Clients and Parallels RAS Console.
Extend reach with flexibility to use hybrid and multi-cloud deployments.
Automate and streamline administrative routines, provisioning, and management of Azure Virtual Desktop workloads.
Built in Auto-scale capability on Microsoft Azure and/or on-premises.
Management of users, sessions, and processes.
Utilize RAS Universal Printing and Scanning.
Utilize AI based session prelaunch for ultra-fast logons.
Accelerated file redirection with the use of enable drive cache redirection.
Integrated automatic image optimizations and FSLogix Profile Containers.
Client management.
Security policies for clients.
Leverage RAS Reporting and Monitoring from the RAS Console.
Azure Virtual Desktop deployment in Parallels RAS is done by completing a series of wizards, including:
Enable Feature and Add Azure Virtual Desktop Provider.
Add an Azure Virtual Desktop Workspace.
Add an Azure Virtual Desktop host pool and then add standalone or template-based hosts to the host pool.
Publish Azure Virtual Desktop resources.
You can run all from the Start category as part of a single deployment procedure. Read on to learn how to do it.
Azure Virtual Desktop (formerly known as Windows Virtual Desktop) is a desktop and app virtualization service running on Microsoft Azure, providing access to RD Session Hosts and VDI, including the new offering of Windows 10 and Windows 11 Enterprise multi-session hosts. Parallels RAS 18 provides the ability to integrate, configure, maintain, support and access Azure Virtual Desktop workloads on top of the existing technical capabilities of Parallels RAS.
A workspace is a logical grouping of application groups in Azure Virtual Desktop. Each Azure Virtual Desktop application group must be associated with a workspace for users to see the remote apps and desktops published to them.
To add a workspace:
Select whether you want to create a new workspace or select an existing one:
To select an existing workspace, click the [...] button next to the Name field.
To create a new workspace, type a name and optional description. Select an existing or create a new resource group. Specify a location. Note that the location that you select here will be used for all Azure Virtual Desktop objects, including workspaces, host pools, and application groups.
In the Friendly name field, specify the friendly name that will be used for the workspace in Azure Virtual Desktop and Parallels RAS.
Click Next, review the summary and click Finish.
The last page of the wizard has the Launch Azure Virtual Desktop host pool wizard option selected by default. This will automatically open the Add Azure Virtual Desktop Host Pool wizard when you click FInish.
Azure Virtual Desktop integration must first be enabled in the RAS Farm. This can be done from two places in the RAS Console:
Using the Deploy Azure Virtual Desktop wizard in the Start category.
By going to Farm > Site > Settings and selecting the Features tab.
The instructions below are for enabling and deploying Azure Virtual Desktop from the Start category. The Features tab in Site > Settings has the same elements as the Enable Feature page described below.
Note: If you haven't enabled Azure Virtual Desktop in the RAS Farm yet, the wizard pages will open in the order described below. If Azure Virtual Desktop is already enabled (e.g. you ran the wizard before or enabled Azure Virtual Desktop from Site settings), the first two pages will be skipped and the first page you'll see is Add Azure Virtual Desktop Provider where you need to enter the provider information.
To begin the deployment:
In the Parallels RAS Console, select the Start category and launch the Deploy Azure Virtual Desktop wizard.
System and user requirements: On the first page, read system and user requirements. Click a link at the bottom of the page to read a Parallels KB article for more information. Click Next.
Enable Feature: This page allows you to enable Azure Virtual Desktop in the RAS Farm. First, select where to store the Azure Virtual Desktop agent and bootloader from the following options:
Connection Broker: Store on the RAS Connection Broker server.
Network share: Specify or select a network share.
Click the Download agent and bootloader button. Wait for the download to complete and examine the Status section, which should indicate "Available" and display the version number. When a new version of the Azure Virtual Desktop agent is available, "Needs update" is shown so new servers deployed from Parallels RAS will use the updated version.
The Client feature set selection specifies which client features will be available when you open a published resource in Parallels Client. Select from the following options:
Standard: Standard feature set. This is identical to opening and running a published resource using the Microsoft Windows Desktop client, also known as Remote Desktop (MSRDC) client, which is the client used to access apps and desktops from Azure Virtual Desktop.
Advanced: This option also uses the Windows Desktop client but adds advanced Parallels Client features, such as drag and drop and others.
Advanced with fallback: This option first tries to open a published resource using the Advanced feature set. If Advanced doesn't work for any reason, it will try to open the resource using the Standard option.
This completes the task of enabling Azure Virtual Desktop in the RAS Farm. Click Next to advance to the next page.
Add Azure Virtual Desktop Provider: On this page you need to specify your Microsoft Azure Tenant ID, Subscription ID, Application ID, and a secret key. This is similar to setting up Microsoft Azure as a Provider in Parallels RAS. For the explanation of how to specify these properties, please see Add Microsoft Azure as a Provider. Please note that under subscription details, URIs/URLs may be edited during creation of a provider. The Feed URL setting, which by default is https://rdweb.wvd.microsoft.com/api/arm/feeddiscovery, may also be edited once an Azure Virtual Desktop provider is created.
Click Next, review the summary and click Finish. Note that changing Microsoft Azure app permissions after a provider is created may require a restart of the Parallels RAS redundancy service so new permissions are loaded and used.
This completes the first wizard in the series. On the last page, the Launch Azure Virtual Desktop Workspace wizard option is enabled by default. This will automatically open the next wizard where you can add an Azure Virtual Desktop workspace.
The below highlights the prerequisites required to use Azure Virtual Desktop and configuration in Parallels RAS environment.
Important: If you are using Azure Virtual Desktop in Parallels RAS 19.3, you need to update Parallels Client to version 19.3.
You need a Microsoft Azure subscription, including:
An Azure Tenant ID.
An Azure subscription with sufficient credit.
Customers with the licenses listed below are entitled to use Azure Virtual Desktop at no additional charge apart from Azure compute, storage, and network usage billing.
To run Windows 10 and Windows 11 with Azure Virtual Desktop you need to have one of the following per user license:
Microsoft 365 F3, E3, E5, A3, A5, Student Use Benefits or Business Premium
Windows 10 Enterprise E3, E5
Windows 10 Education A3, A5
Windows 10 VDA per user
To run Windows Server 2012 R2, 2016, 2019, 2022:
Per user or per device Remote Desktop Services (RDS) Client Access License (CAL) with active Software Assurance (SA).
The below highlights permissions and resource providers to be registered in the subscription:
Permissions to enable resource providers on your Azure subscription and create virtual machines (VMs).
The necessary Microsoft Azure resource providers (Azure Portal > Subscription > Resource Providers) must be enabled, including Microsoft.ResourceGraph, Microsoft.Resources, Microsoft.Compute, Microsoft.Network, Microsoft.DesktopVirtualization.
Once an Microsoft Entra ID Application is created, give the application the following API permissions in the Microsoft Azure Portal (Microsoft Entra ID > App Registrations > API permissions > Add a permissions > Microsoft.Graph > Application permission):
Group > Group.Read.All
User > User.Read.All
Note: Please make sure that when adding Graph API permissions, User and Group, the permission type is "Application" not "Delegated".
Give the application read and write access to resources:
Roles and permissions for the application should include:
"User Access Administrator" role for the application from Subscription > Access Control (IAM).
"Contributor" role at the Resource group level from Resource group > Access Control (IAM).
If a resource group creation is required, also assign contributor role at the subscription level Subscription > Access Control (IAM).
Note: If you would like to also view/read resources outside the resource group make sure that the application is also given read access at the subscription level.
Azure AD Connect — AD must be in sync with your Microsoft Entra ID, so users can be associated between the two.
The user must be sourced from the same Active Directory that's connected to Microsoft Entra ID. Azure Virtual Desktop does not support B2B or MSA accounts.
The user configured in the Parallels client with access to Azure Virtual Desktop resources must exist in the Active Directory domain the session host it is joined to.
Azure Virtual Network providing session hosts connection to the domain.
Session hosts must be domain-joined to Active Directory.
(optional) Site-to-site VPN or ExpressRoute is required if hybrid Parallels RAS deployment is used.
(optional) Shared network location to be used for FSLogix Profile Containers which may run on Azure Files or Azure NetApp Files.
Note: At the time of writing, Windows 7 is not supported by Parallels RAS as an Azure Virtual Desktop session host.
Please also note the following Provider and Azure Application requirements for different RAS Farm and RAS Site scenarios:
Same RAS Farm, same RAS Site: The same Farm, Site, and Application ID is possible to be used for both VDI and Azure Virtual Desktop. Build the guest VM list with Azure Virtual Desktop tags for Azure Virtual Desktop provider and guest VMs with VDI tags (or no tags) for Azure Provider.
Same RAS Farm, same RAS Site: It is recommended to use different Azure Applications for multiple providers of the same type. For example, multiple Azure Virtual Desktop or multiple Providers but not mixed.
Same RAS Farm, different RAS Sites or different RAS Farms: The point above applies. Alternatively, different RAS Farms or Sites can (and must in this case) reside in different virtual networks with no communication to common set of VMs.
Important: It is recommended that Parallels RAS managed Azure Virtual Desktop objects are managed through the Parallels RAS console. Configuration changes outside Parallels RAS console may result in a broken state of Azure Virtual Desktop objects. For such cases, Parallels RAS provides the ability to repair objects. For example, auto created friendly names and associated tags for workspaces and host pools can also be viewed from the Microsoft Azure portal, however they are not to be edited as these are used to ensure proper functionality.
For further information, please refer to Microsoft licensing requirements at .
For a detailed information about creating an Microsoft Entra ID application, please see .
The Microsoft Entra ID application that you created must have read and write access to Azure resources as described in . Look for "Give the application read and write access to resources".
A Server Active Directory environment or Azure Active Directory Domain Services (AADDS). See .
A host pool is a collection of one or more identical virtual machines (VMs) within an Azure Virtual Desktop environment. Each host pool contains an application group that users can access.
To add a host pool:
In the RAS console, navigate to Farm > <Site> > AVD > Host pools.
Click the Tasks drop-down list above the Pools list and then click Add (or click the plus-sign icon). This opens the Add AVD host pool wizard.
Select whether you want to create new or select an existing host pool:
To select an existing workspace, click the [...] button next to the Name field.
To create a new host pool, select Create new host pool and select the provider, workspace, name, description, resource group, and location.
In the Friendly name field, specify the friendly name that will be used for the host pool in Azure Virtual Desktop and Parallels RAS.
Click Next.
On the Configuration page, specify the following:
Host pool type: Select from Pooled (multi-session hosts) or Personal (single-session hosts).
Publishing type: Select from Application or Desktop depending on what you want to use the pool for.
Load balancer: Select a load balancer type. Breadth-first load balancing allows you to evenly distribute user sessions across the session hosts in a host pool. Depth-first load balancing allows you to saturate a session host with user sessions in a host pool. Once the first session host reaches its session limit threshold, the load balancer directs any new user connections to the next session host in the host pool until it reaches its limit, and so on.
Limit number of sessions on host: For a pooled (multi-session) pool type, specify the maximum allowed number of sessions on a host.
Power on host on-demand: Specify whether a powered down host should be powered on when a user tries to connect to it. Note that this applies only if all session hosts in the host pool are powered off.
Default license type: Select the Azure license type.
Service updates validation: Select the Validation environment option if you want to make this host pool a validation environment for Microsoft service updates.
Click Next.
On the Provisioning page, select whether this host pool will contain template-based or standalone hosts:
Template: Hosts will be created dynamically from a template. You will need to create or select an existing template in the next step or later. Choosing Template as the provisioning type ensures a homogeneous host pool, which is recommended to provide consistent user experience across the host pool. For information on how to create a template, see Create a template.
Standalone: Select one or more hosts that already exist. You'll be able to do it in the next step or you can do it later. Prior to adding hosts to host pools, ensure that hosts are domain joined and have network access to the domain environment. Note that the Standalone provisioning is considered "unmanaged" as it lacks some of the functionality, such as Autoscaling.
Click Next.
Depending on the selection made on the Provisioning page (above), do one of the following
Standalone: Select one or more hosts from the list to be included in the host pool (you can also add hosts to the pool later).
Template: Select a template from the list or click Create new to create a new template and specify the template settings. Versions: If you selected an existing template, select one of its versions. Enable autoscale: (Multi-session hosts) Enable and configure autoscale. Overwrite the size specified in template properties: Overwrite the virtual machine size, which is normally set on the template level. The size that you specify here will be used by this host pool only. Other host pools using the same template will be unaffected. Note that if a VM is later taken out of such a host pool due to autoscale settings, the VM will retain the last known size and may join another host pool with the new size specified. Also note that available sizes may depend on the location, size, and power state of the host pool members and the template.
Click Next.
(Templates only) On the Properties page, specify the following options:
Template name: Choose and type a template name.
Maximum hosts: Specify the maximum number of hosts that can be created from this template.
Number of hosts deployed on wizard completion: The number of hosts to deploy once the template is created. Please keep in mind that this will take some time because the hosts will be created one at a time.
Host prefix: A pattern to use when naming new hosts.
Click Next.
(Templates only) On the Settings page, specify the following options:
Keep available buffer: The minimum number of hosts to always keep unassigned and session free for the template. As soon as the number of free and unassigned desktops drops below the setting value, it forces the template to create another host. The template uses its own settings for host creation including initial power state.
Host state after the preparation: Select the power state that should be applied to a host after it is prepared. Choose from Powered on, Powered off, or Suspended. Note that when the power state is set to Power off or Suspended, the number of running (fully ready and waiting for incoming connections) hosts is controlled by the Keep available buffer setting (see above). For example, let's say the Maximum hosts value is set at 200, the number of guest hosts deployed on wizard completion is 100, and the power state after preparation is Powered off. The result of such a configuration will be 100 clones deployed and powered off.
Delete unused hosts after: Select what to do with unused hosts to save resources. Choose whether to never delete them or specify the time period after which they should be deleted.
Click Next.
On the Assignment page, specify users or groups to be assigned to the application group in the host pool. This is necessary for users to have access to published applications or desktops. Click Tasks > Add and specify a user or group. An application group of type Desktop or RemoteApp (whichever is appropriate) will be created and associated with the host pool automatically on wizard completion.
On the User profile page, you can select from Do not manage by RAS (user profiles will not be managed) or FSlogix. Microsoft FSLogix Profile Container allows to maintain user context in non-persistent environments, minimize sign-in times and provides native profile experience eliminating compatibility issues.
Follow the onscreen instructions and complete the wizard.
On the Summary page, review the template summary information. You can click the Back button to correct some of the information if needed.
Finally, click Finish to create the host pool and close the wizard.
Note: In the case of using the Advanced Client Feature Set, RemoteApp groups are not required for publishing applications since the Desktop App Group with Parallels seamless technology will be used to provide application publishing from configured desktop app groups.
Next step
An Azure Virtual Desktop provider in Parallels RAS is a collection of IDs and other properties that give you access to Azure resources. Properties include Tenant ID and Subscription ID, among others. Normally, an organization is given one Tenant ID by Microsoft, but there could be multiple subscription IDs owned by the same organization. For each Tenant ID and subscription ID combination, a provider must be configured in Parallels RAS.
To manage Azure Virtual Desktop providers, navigate to Farm > Site > Providers and select the Providers tab.
To add a new provider, click Tasks > Add and select Azure Virtual Desktop. For the information on how to complete the wizard, please see Add Microsoft Azure as a VDI Host. To view and modify some of the existing provider properties, right-click a provider in the list and choose Properties.
Other provider management tasks can be accessed from the Tasks menu, including:
Checking provider status: Tasks > Troubleshooting > Check status.
Configure and manage logging: Tasks > Troubleshooting > Logging.
Parallels RAS 18.3 supports virtual machines joined to Windows Server Active Directory Domain Services and Azure Active Directory Domain Services. By default, Parallels RAS is configured to work with Windows Server Active Directory Domain Services, but you can change this if needed.
To choose the type of Active Directory Domain Services for a provider:
Right-click a provider in the list and choose Properties.
In the provider properties window, select the Credentials tab.
In the Active Directory Domain Services type drop-down list, select the type of Active Directory Domain Services:
If your users are created with Windows Server Active Directory and your virtual machines are joined to Windows Server Active Directory Domain Services, select Windows Server AD DS (selected by default).
If your users are created with Windows Server Active Directory and your virtual machines are joined to Azure Active Directory Domain Services, select Azure AD DS.
If your users are created with Microsoft Entra ID and your virtual machines are joined to Azure Active Directory Domain Services, select Azure AD DS.
You can configure an Azure Virtual Desktop provider to automatically change the type of the used managed disk to Standard HDD for AVD hosts that are not currently in use. When an AVD hosts is started, the managed disk is automatically changed to the original type. This feature allows you to reduce the cost of maintaining AVD hosts.
To enable disk storage cost optimization:
Right-click a provider in the list and choose Properties.
In the provider properties window, select the Advanced tab.
Select the Enable disk storage cost optimization option.
Select the desired option in the Set timeout before enabling storage cost optimization drop-down list.
A workspace is a logical grouping of application groups in Azure Virtual Desktop. Each Azure Virtual Desktop application group must be associated with a workspace for users to see published remote apps and desktops.
To manage Azure Virtual Desktop workspaces, navigate to Farm > Site > Azure Virtual Desktop and select the Workspaces tab.
To add a workspace:
Click Tasks > Add to open the Add Azure Virtual Desktop Workspace wizard.
Select a provider at the top of the wizard page (if you have more than one). You can also create a new provider right from this page. If you wish to do so, click the New provider button to open another wizard. For details, see Manage providers.
After selecting (or creating) a provider, complete the workspace wizard as described in Add an Azure Virtual Desktop workspace.
To view properties of an existing workspace, right-click it and choose Properties. You can enable or disable the workspace and modify the workspace description and friendly name. Other properties are read-only. Note that if you disable the workspace, all associated objects, including host pools and published resources will also be disabled.
You can enable and configure automatic updates for all Azure Virtual Desktop hosts in a host pool.
To schedule Agent auto-upgrade:
Go to Farm > Site > Azure Virtual Desktop > Host pools > Properties > Auto-upgradee tab.
Clear the Inherit default settings options if you want to modify them for this host pool.
Select the Enable auto-upgrade maintenance window option. During the maintenance window, all hosts in the host pool will try to download Agent upgrades. The upgrades will be downloaded and installed as soon as all users log out of their hosts. New logons from users are prohibited (drain mode). If the users don't log off during a maintenance window, the upgrades won't be installed until the next window.
Specify the start date and time, duration, and recurrence settings for this event. To make this a one-time event, select Never in the Recur drop-down list.
(Optional) If you want to forcefully log off all users and download the upgrades at the end of a maintenance window, select the Force logoff of current sessions at the end of the maintenance window duration option.
(Optional) Configure a message that will be sent to users before or during a maintenance window. Click the Configure messages button and specify the message title, body, and the time period when it should be sent.
To cancel Agent auto-update:
Go to Farm > Site > Azure Virtual Desktop > Host pools.
Select Tasks > Cancel auto-upgrade maintenance window.
An Azure Virtual Desktop template is a virtual machine from which other virtual machines are created as clones of the original VM and added to a host pool as session hosts.
To manage Azure Virtual Desktop templates, navigate to Farm > Site > Azure Virtual Desktop and select the Templates tab.
A host pool is a collection of one or more identical virtual machines (VMs) within an Azure Virtual Desktop environment. Each host pool contains an application group that users can access.
Host pools can be configured a number of different ways depending on the intended purpose. The following table describes different options that you can choose when creating a host pool.
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
To manage Azure Virtual Desktop host pools, navigate to Farm > Site > Azure Virtual Desktop and select the Host pools tab.
To view and modify host pool properties, right-click it and choose Properties. In the dialog that opens, select tabs and view or modify host pool properties as described below.
On the General tab, you can enable or disable the host pool. Note that if you disable it, all hosts and published resources will also be disabled.
You can also modify the host pool description and view general host pool properties.
In the Application group section, you will see the name of the application groups created for the host pool.
The Friendly name field shows the friendly name used for the workspace in Azure Virtual Desktop and Parallels RAS.
On the Configuration tab, examine the host pool configuration properties. You should be familiar with them from when you created a host pool.
You can modify the following properties on this page:
Load balancer
Limit number of sessions on host
Power on host on-demand
Validation environment
For the explanation of configuration properties, see Add an Azure Virtual Desktop host pool.
This tab is shown only for host pools with Template as a provisioning type. Here you can select a template if one has not been specified for the host pool yet. You can also create a new template by clicking the Create new button, which will open a wizard. If you don't have any templates, the only selection available is None, which means that there's no template to create hosts from. If that's the case, you need to create a template first and then select it here. See also Manage templates.
The Autoscale settings section contains settings that determine how hosts (virtual machines) are created from the specified template. These settings work the same as Autoscale settings for RD Session Host groups. The only difference is, in Azure Virtual Desktop we deal with hosts and host pools, while in RD Session Host groups we talk about servers and groups, otherwise the settings work in a similar manner. For details, please see the Autoscale subsection in Grouping and cloning RD Session Hosts.
The Specifications section allows you to overwrite the virtual machine size specified in the settings of the template used by the given host pool. Select the Overwrite the size specified in template properties option and select a desired size from the drop-down list. The selected size will only be used by this host pool. Other host pools using the same template will be unaffected. Note that available sizes may depend on the location, size, and power state of the host pool members and the template. Also note that overwriting the size requires a host reboot.
The Hosts tab lists hosts from this host pool. You can examine the status of a host and other properties by looking at the values in the table.
The Status column should indicate "OK" if a host is operating normally. To verify the agent status, right-click a host and choose Check agent. If you see a message that "Agent did not reply", click Install to try and install the agent. If everything goes well, the agent will be updated and the Status column should say "OK". You can also upgrade all agents by clicking Tasks > Upgrade all Agents.
To add a new host to the pool:
Click Tasks > Add.
Depending on the host pool provisioning type, do one of the following:
If the host pool provisioning is configured as Standalone, select one or more hosts from the list. You can also select the Show hosts in existing host pools not managed by RAS option to show hosts that exist in other host pools on Azure.
If the host pool provisioning is configured as Template, you cannot manually add hosts here. Instead, use the Hosts tab in the main Azure Virtual Desktop view.
Click OK.
See Using MSIX application packages.
The Assignment tab displays Active Directory users and groups assigned to Microsoft Entra ID objects. In order for users to see published desktops and applications, they must be assigned to the application group available in the host pool.
To create a new assignment:
Click Tasks > Add.
In the Select User or Group dialog, specify a user or group and click OK.
Follow the onscreen instructions and complete the assignment. Note that additional filtering in the Publishing category may be used to control Azure Virtual Desktop resource availability in Parallels Client. For details, see Publish resources.
By default, this tab inherits its settings from Site defaults. If you wish to specify custom settings, clear the Inherit default settings option. For the information about configuring user profile, please see Site defaults (Azure Virtual Desktop).
The Optimization tab allows you to specify settings that will be used to optimize session hosts for best performance in a Parallels RAS environment. You can select Windows components, services, and other options that will be disabled, removed, or optimized to ensure a more efficient, streamlined, and improved delivery of virtual apps and desktops. By default, this tab inherits its settings from Site defaults. If you wish to specify custom settings, clear the Inherit default settings option. For the information about configuring optimization options, please see Site defaults (Azure Virtual Desktop).
This tab allows you to configure settings such as sessions timeouts, client URL/Mail redirection, drag and drop and others. By default, this tab inherits its settings from Site defaults. If you wish to specify custom settings, clear the Inherit default settings option. For the information about configuring host pool settings, please see Site defaults (Azure Virtual Desktop).
The RDP Printer tab allows you to configure the renaming format of redirected printers. By default, this tab inherits its settings from Site defaults. If you wish to specify custom settings, clear the Inherit default settings option. For the information about configuring user profile, please see Site defaults (Azure Virtual Desktop).
Personal vs. pooled
Personal host pools contain single session hosts, each of which is assigned to a single user. The assignment is persisted even after the user logs off or the host is powered off. You can unassign the host from a user and assign it to a different user if needed.
Pooled host pools contain multi-user session hosts (RD Session Hosts or multi-session Window 10 machines), which are not assigned to any particular user. Each host in a pool can serve multiple users (multi-session).
Application vs. desktop
A host pool can only publish applications or desktops, but not both at the same time. When you create a host pool, you choose a publishing type from Desktop or Application. An application group of the appropriate type (Desktop or RemoteApp) for the host pool is created automatically. Note that you cannot change the publishing type later. If you decide that you want to change it, you'll have to delete the existing host pool and create a new one.
Template vs. standalone
When you create a host pool, you need to select from Template or Standalone. A host pool can contain hosts that already exist (Standalone) or it can use a template which in turn could be based on an existing guest VM or chosen to be created on the fly from images in Azure Marketplace or in your Shared Image Gallery.
Template: Hosts can be created from the template by the administrator manually or they can be created automatically when there's a demand. Automatic host creation (called Autoscale in Parallels RAS) can be turned on or off in the host pool properties.
Standalone: Hosts are added and removed to/from a host pool by the administrator. Hosts (virtual machines) must already exist in Azure and must be domain joined.
When you create a host pool and set its provisioning type as Template, you need to assign an existing template to it. This can be done when you create or modify a host pool, or you can assign a template to a host pool on the Templates tab.
To assign a template to a host pool:
Select a template and click Tasks > Assign to host pool.
Click Tasks > Assign to pool. A wizard opens.
On the Versions page, select the template version that will be assigned to the host pool.
(Optional) On the Host pool page, select the host pools that you want to recreate on schedule and click the Configure button. You will see a dialog that allows you to schedule recreation. Configure the schedule according to your needs and click Next.
Click Finish.
To remove a template from a host pool:
Select a template and click Tasks > Remove from host pool.
The Remove from Host Pool dialog opens listing all host pools using the selected template.
Select one or more host pools to remove the template from and click OK.
Note that if a host pool has hosts, they will be removed. You will see a message and need to confirm the removal.
If one or more host pools are being locked by another administrator, you will also see a message and will have to repeat the operation later when a pool is unlocked.
To create a template:
On the Templates tab, click Tasks > Add. This opens the Create Parallels Template Wizard.
On the first page, select an Azure Virtual Desktop provider (if you have more than one).
Select a template type from the following:
Multi-session: Multiple concurrent user sessions are allowed on a single host running a Windows Server operating system, Windows 10 or Windows 11 Enterprise multi-session.
Single-session: A single user session is allowed on a single session host.
On the Template Source page, select a source from the following:
Custom host: Displays a list of existing virtual machines.
Azure Gallery: Allows you to select an image and create a new virtual machine from it. Depending on the template type, multi-session or single-session, commonly used marketplace images such as Windows 10 Enterprise multi-session, are predefined to be easily chosen and created as a template. Select a location and specify the local administrator username and password. The Browse all images button opens a dialog where you can choose any other image from the Marketplace or Shared Image Gallery. When choosing an image from the Shared Image Gallery, select from a list of publishers, SKUs, offers, and other options.
On the Hosts page, select virtual machine properties from the predefine Azure values according to your needs:
First, specify an Azure resource group.
Select a virtual machine size.
Note: The virtual machine size can be overridden in the settings of the host pool using a given template. This gives you the ability to specify a different VM size at the host pool level.
Select a disk type.
Select a virtual network and subnet.
Note: In case using Accelerated networking for the Template, make sure you select the appropriate host size for session hosts that support accelerated networking.
On the General page, specify the following settings:
Template name: The name of the template.
Create an availability set: If selected, hosts will be deployed from the template in an availability set. Note that the maximum number of hosts that can be deployed in an availability set is 200 (this is an Azure limitation). If you require more than 200 hosts, clear this option and specify your own value in the Maximum number of hosts field.
On the Preparation page, select an image preparation and specify the required options. This is similar to how an image is prepared for a RAS VDI template. There are some minor differences, but the configuration procedure is essentially the same. For details, please see Preparation.
On the Optimization page, configure optimization settings. These settings are inherited from Site defaults but custom settings can be specified if needed. For details, please see Site defaults (Azure Virtual Desktop).
On the New template version page, specify the name and description and select the tags for the version. You can select several tags.
On the Summary page, review the settings and click Finish to create the template.
To view and manage Azure Virtual Desktop sessions, navigate to Farm > Site > Azure Virtual Desktop and select the Sessions tab. Sessions from all hosts in all host pools are displayed in the list.
For a detailed information about managing sessions, please see Session Management.
To modify an existing template, right-click it and choose Properties. Some properties cannot be modified, while many can. For the description of individual properties and settings, please refer to instructions in .
To delete a template, select it in the list and click Tasks > Delete. Note that at the time of this writing, there's a known issue that if a template is deleted in the RAS Console, the template and associated hosts may not be completely removed from Microsoft Azure. To make sure that all such objects are removed, it is recommended to do it from the Azure portal.
To manage Azure Virtual Desktop hosts, navigate to Farm > Site > Azure Virtual Desktop and select the Hosts tab.
The list displays hosts from all available host pools. You can apply a filter to the table to see hosts from a particular pool or using other criteria. To apply a filter, click the magnifying glass icon and specify the filter in a column (or columns) of interest.
Tasks that you can perform on a host are accessible from the Tasks menu and include the following:
Add: Add a host to one of the available host pools. See the Add a host subsection below.
Assign: This option is enabled for hosts from a Personal host pool. It allows you to assign the selected host to a user. If a host is already assigned to another user, you'll be asked if you want to change the assignment. Select an Microsoft Entra ID user when asked. The assignment is done in Azure, so the host status will change to "Assigning" for the duration of the operation.
Unassign: Removes the user assignment from the selected host, see Assign above. This menu option is enabled for hosts that are currently assigned to a user. The status of the host changes to "Unassigning" for the duration of the operation.
Search: Allows you to search for a host in the list by applying a filter.
Show sessions: Switches to the Sessions tab with a filter applied to show the selected host sessions.
Show published resources: Displays a list of resources published from the selected host.
Show application packages: Displays MSIX application packages added to the selected host.
Control: Control options, including enable or disable logons on the selected host, cancel a pending reboot (originated by scheduler), cancel a disabled state (originated by scheduler). See for details.
Start, Stop, Reset, Restart: Power operations that can be performed on the selected host. The Restart operation (graceful) has a 10-minute timeout. If not completed during this time, the Reset operation (forced) will be used. If you choose Stop, the host will be stopped and deallocated.
Upgrade all Agents: Upgrades agents on every host in the list (if necessary).
Stop optimization: When an optimization is applied to a host, it can be canceled in the beginning stages. For more information, see .
Tools: Standard RAS tools, including Remote Desktop, computer management, service management, event viewer, Powershell, and others. For the complete description, please see .
Troubleshooting: Allows you to check the agent status and update it if necessary. Also allows you to manage logging.
Details: Shows details when a host was not created due to a failure. The option opens a dialog describing the reason of failure and some additional information.
Change license type: Change the type of Azure license.
Recreate: Recreates a host.
Delete: Deletes a host from the list and from the host pool to which it belongs. The host (virtual machine) itself is kept or deleted depending on the host pool provisioning type. A host created from a template will be completely removed. A standalone host is not deleted, which means that the virtual machine stays intact.
Refresh: Refreshes the list.
You can add a host to a host pool from the Hosts tab. To do so:
Click Tasks > Add.
In the Add Hosts dialog, select a target host pool. Depending on the provisioning type configured for the selected host pool, do the following:
Standalone: Select one or more hosts from the list. You can also select the option at the bottom to show hosts in other existing host pools on Azure that are not managed by Parallels RAS.
Template: Specify the number of hosts to add to the pool from the template.
Click OK.
The Scheduler tab allows you to create scheduler tasks that will be performed on individual hosts or host pools at a specified time.
Note: When the scheduled event is triggered, affected hosts are disabled in Parallels RAS and their status is displayed as "Disabled (scheduler)" or "Pending reboot (scheduler)". You can cancel these states by right-clicking a host on the Hosts tab and choosing Control > Cancel disabled state (scheduler) or Control > Cancel pending reboot (scheduler).
To disable a host or a host in a pool:
Click Tasks > Add > Disable host or Disable host pool.
On the General tab, select the Enable Schedule option.
Specify a name for this schedule and an optional description.
Select a host or a pool in the Available list and click Add. The host or pool will appear in the Target list.
Select the Trigger tab and specify start date and time, duration, and recurrence settings for this event. To make this a one-time event, select Never in the Recur drop-down list.
Select the Options tab. It contains the following options:
Message list: Configure a message that will be sent to users before the host goes offline. Click Tasks > Add and specify the message title, body, and the time period when it should be sent.
On disable: Specify what should happen to current sessions when a scheduled task triggers. Select the desired option from the On disable drop-down list.
Enforce schedule for currently inactive hosts: This option is only enabled when you have an active message in the list. If the option is enabled, hosts that are currently offline are also monitored, and if such a server comes back online during the scheduled task execution, the task is applied to it too.
Click OK to save the schedule.
To reboot a host or a host in a pool:
Click Tasks > Add > Reboot host or Reboot host pool.
On the General tab, select the Enable Schedule option.
Specify a name for this schedule and an optional description.
Select a host or a pool in the Available list and click Add. The host or pool will appear in the Target list.
Select the Trigger tab and specify start date, time, and recurrence settings for this event. To make this a one-time event, select Never in the Recur drop-down list. In addition, specify the following options for the "Reboot host pool" task:
Complete in: Specify the time to complete the task.
Select the Options tab. It contains the following options:
Message list: Configure a message that will be sent to users before the host is rebooted. Click Tasks > Add and specify the message title, body, and the time period when it should be sent.
Enable Drain Mode and Force server reboot after: The two options work together. If you select the Enable Drain Mode option, then when the task triggers, new connections to a host are refused but active connections will continue to run and can be reconnected. The server will be rebooted when all active users close their sessions or when Force server reboot after time is reached, whichever comes first. For active users not to lose their work, create a message that will advise them to save their work and log off.
Enforce schedule for currently inactive hosts: This option is only enabled when you have an active message in the list. If the option is enabled, hosts that are currently offline are also monitored, and if such a server comes back online during the scheduled task execution, the task is applied to it too.
Click OK to save the schedule.
Note: This task applies only to hosts and host pools based on a template.
To start up a host or a host in a pool:
Click Tasks > Add > Startup host or Startup host pool.
On the General tab, select the Enable Schedule option.
Specify a name for this schedule and an optional description.
Select a host or a pool in the Available list and click Add. The host or pool will appear in the Target list.
Select the Trigger tab and specify start date, time, and recurrence settings for this event. To make this a one-time event, select Never in the Recur drop-down list.
("Startup host pool" task only) Select the Options tab. It contains the following options:
Percentage of members: Select this option to specify the percentage of hosts that must be started up in each pool.
Specific number of members to be started: Select this option to specify the number of hosts that must be started up in each pool.
Click OK to save the schedule.
To shut down a host or a host in a pool:
Click Tasks > Add > Shutdown host or Shutdown host pool.
On the General tab, select the Enable Schedule option.
Specify a name for this schedule and an optional description.
Select a host or a pool in the Available list and click Add. The host or pool will appear in the Target list.
Select the Trigger tab and specify start date, time, and recurrence settings for this event. To make this a one-time event, select Never in the Recur drop-down list.
Select the Options tab. It contains the following options:
Message list: Configure a message that will be sent to users before the host is rebooted. Click Tasks > Add and specify the message title, body, and the time period when it should be sent.
Enable Drain Mode and Force server shutdown after: The two options work together. If you select the Enable Drain Mode option, then when the task triggers, new connections to a host are refused but active connections will continue to run. The server will be shut down when all active users close their sessions or when Force server reboot after time is reached, whichever comes first. For active users not to lose their work, create a message that will advise them to save their work and log off.
Enforce schedule for currently inactive hosts: This option is only enabled when you have an active message in the list. If the option is enabled, hosts that are currently offline are also monitored, and if such a server comes back online during the scheduled task execution, the task is applied to it too.
Note: This task applies only to hosts and host pools based on a template.
To recreate a specific host or all hosts in a host pool:
Click Tasks > Add > Recreate host from template or Recreate host pool from template.
On the General tab, select the Enable Schedule option.
Specify a name for this schedule and an optional description.
Select a host or a pool in the Available list and click Add. The host or pool will appear in the Target list.
Select the Trigger tab and specify start date, time, and recurrence settings for this event. To make this a one-time event, select Never in the Recur drop-down list.
Select the Options tab. It contains the following options:
Message list: Configure a message that will be sent to users before the host is rebooted. Click Tasks > Add and specify the message title, body, and the time period when it should be sent.
Enable Drain Mode, Force host recreation after, and Force host pool recreation after: The options work together. If you select the Enable Drain Mode option, then when the task triggers, new connections to a host are refused but active connections will continue to run. The server will be recreated when all active users close their sessions or when the time specified in Force host recreation after or Force host pool recreation after is reached, whichever comes first. For active users not to lose their work, create a message that will advise them to save their work and log off.
Enforce schedule for currently inactive hosts: This option is only enabled when you have an active message in the list. If the option is enabled, hosts that are currently offline are also monitored, and if such a server comes back online during the scheduled task execution, the task is applied to it too.
For Disable Host and Disable Host Pool tasks, you can only send a message before the scheduled task is triggered. Hence, when creating a message, you can only select the "before" option when specifying when the message should be sent. You can create more than one message if needed and send them at different time intervals, so the users are notified more than once before the task executes.
For Reboot Host and Reboot Host pool tasks, you can send a message before or after the scheduled task is triggered. The "after" option is available for these tasks because you have the ability to enable the drain mode, which will keep the active sessions running for some time. During this time, you can send multiple messages to active users reminding them that they should finish their work and close their sessions. To use the "after" option, the Enable Drain Mode option must be selected. Please also note that the "after" time interval and the Force server reboot after setting should be coordinated. For example, if the force reboot occurs before the "after" time elapses, active users will not have a chance to see the message.
When you configure Azure Virtual Desktop components and objects in the RAS Console, some of the properties are inherited from Site defaults. When you see the Inherit default settings option in a dialog or tab page, it means that settings can be either inherited from Site defaults or custom values can be specified for a given object.
To view and configure Site defaults for Azure Virtual Desktop, navigate to Farm > Site, click the Tasks menu and choose one of the following:
AVD multi-session hosts: Opens a dialog to configure Azure Virtual Desktop site defaults for multi-session hosts.
AVD single-session hosts: Opens a dialog to configure Azure Virtual Desktop Site defaults for single-session hosts.
Each dialog is described below.
Configure the following settings:
Disconnect active session after: Specifies the amount of time each session remains connected in the background after the user has closed the published application. This option is used to avoid unnecessary reconnections with the server.
Logoff disconnected session after: This setting allows you to control how long it takes for a session to be logged off after it is marked as "disconnected".
Session readiness timeout: The maximum amount of time it should require to establish a session. If the specified timeout is reached, and the session is still not ready, the user will see an error message and will have to try to log in again.
Allow URL/Mail redirection: When a user tries to open a URL or an HTML Mailto link in a remote application, the link can be redirected to the client computer and open in a local default application (a web browser or email client) instead of an application on the remote host. This option allows you to enable or disable the redirection. Click the Configure button to choose from the following options:
Replace registered application — this option uses an alternative method of redirecting a link. It replaces the default web browser and mail client with "dummy" apps on the remote server side. By doing so, it can intercept an attempt to open a link and redirect it to the client computer.
Support Windows Shell URL namespace objects — the Shell URL namespace objects support means that Parallels RAS can intercept actions in published applications that use Shell namespace API to open links, which is a standard behavior in most applications. The ability to disable the support for Shell URL namespace objects is for compatibility with older versions of Parallels RAS.
Enable drag and drop: Allows you to set how the drag and drop functionality works in Parallels Clients. Click Configure and choose from "Disabled" (no drag and drop functionality), "Sever to client only" (drag and drop to a local application only), "Client to server only" (drag and drop to a remote application only), "Bidirectional" (drag and drop in both directions).
Note: At the time of this writing, the drag and drop functionality is only supported on Parallels Client for Windows and Parallels Client for Mac.
Allow 2XRemoteExec to send command to the client: Select this option to allow a process running on the server to instruct the client to deploy an application on the client side.
Manage RDP Shortpath: Configures RDP Shortpath. RDP Shortpath establishes direct UDP-based connection between a remote desktop client and session host. Direct connection reduces the dependency on the Azure Virtual Desktop gateways, improves the connection reliability, and increases the bandwidth available for each user session. This applies to RDP and RAS connections. A session host requires a restart for this setting to become effective.
RDP Shortpath can be used in two ways:
Managed networks, where direct connectivity is established between the client and the session host when using a private connection, such as a virtual private network (VPN). To allow access to the RDP Shortpath listener across network security boundaries, Azure Network Security Group must be configured to allow inbound UDP port 3390. VPN or ExpressRoute is required or each session host should have public IP address.
Public networks, where direct connectivity is established between the client and the session host when using a public connection. To allow access to the RDP Shortpath listener no inbound ports are required because outbound ports are being used.
When both RDP Shortpath for public networks and managed networks are enabled, a first-found algorithm kicks in, and whichever connection gets established first for that session is used. In most scenarios, when you have configured RDP Shortpath for managed networks you will want to have it take the precedence, and that is usually the case because building the session for RDP Shortpath for public networks takes a little longer.
Click the Configure button to enable and configure RDP Shortpath:
Use RDP Shortpath: Enables RDP Shortpath.
Use a smaller default range of ports: Limits the range of ports that remote desktop client can use to connect to a session host. The default range is 49152-65535. This only applies to RDP Shortpath for public networks.
Enable applications monitoring: Enable or disable monitoring of applications on the server. Disabling application monitoring stops the WMI monitoring to reduce CPU usage on the server and network usage while transferring the information to RAS Connection Broker. If the option is enabled, the collected information will appear in a corresponding RAS report. If the option is disabled, the information from this server will be absent from a report.
Allow file transfer command (Web and Chrome clients): Enables file transfer in a remote session. To enable file transfer, select this option and click the Configure button. For more information, see Configuring remote file transfer.
Enable drive redirection cache: Improves user experience by making file browsing and navigation on redirected drives much faster. For details, see Drive redirection cache explanation.
Use RemoteApp if available: Enable this option to allow use of remote apps for shell-related issues when an app is not displayed correctly. This feature is supported on the Parallels Client for Windows only.
The User profile tab allows you to configure the user profile functionality. You can select from Do not manage by RAS (user profiles will not be managed) or FSlogix. Microsoft FSLogix Profile Container allows to maintain user context in non-persistent environments, minimize sign-in times and provides native profile experience eliminating compatibility issues. For complete instructions, please see User profile.
The Application packages tab allows you to add, remove, or otherwise manage MSIX application packages on single-session hosts in the Site. For the complete description, please see subsection "Adding a package to Site Defaults" in section Using MSIX application packages.
The Optimization tab allows you to specify settings that will be used to optimize a session host for best performance in a Parallels RAS environment. You can select Windows components, services, and other options that will be disabled, removed, or optimized to ensure a more efficient, streamlined, and improved delivery of virtual apps and desktops. For the complete description, please see Optimization.
The RDP Printer tab allows you to configure the renaming format of redirected printers. The format may vary depending on which version and language of the server you are using.
Set your RDP Printer Name Format specifically for the configured server by choosing any of the below options from the RDP Printer Name Format drop-down list:
Printername (from Computername) in Session no
Session no. (computername from) Printername
Printername (redirected Session no)
The Remove session number from printer name does just that, it removes the session number from the name, so it's not visible.
To verify the Azure Virtual Desktop deployment, do the following:
Navigate to Farm > Site > Settings and select the Features tab. Verify that the Enable Azure Virtual Desktop management option is selected and the Status section says Available and displays the version number.
Navigate to Farm > Site > Azure Virtual Desktop. Select the following tabs and verify that corresponding components are configured and functioning properly:
Providers
Workspaces
Host pools
Templates (if you created a template, it should be listed on this tab)
Hosts (should list one or more session hosts)
After you deployed Azure Virtual Desktop in Parallels RAS and published resources from it, you can use Parallels Client to access applications and/or desktops that you published. This topic describes Parallels Client requirements and provides additional information about accessing published resources.
Parallels Client requirements for opening Azure Virtual Desktop apps and desktops are as follows:
Parallels Client for Windows:
Parallels Client for Windows version 18 or newer (Basic or Full versions).
Supported Windows versions: Windows 10 and Windows 11. Note that Windows Server operating systems are not supported.
Windows updates: Update for Universal C Runtime for Windows (KB2999226). Microsoft Windows 10 incorporates this by default.
Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6.0 or later is required. Microsoft Windows 10 incorporates .NET Framework 4 and has it enabled by default.
Microsoft Windows Desktop client, also known as Remote Desktop (MSRDC) client, must be installed. The client is downloaded and installed automatically upon launching an Azure Virtual Desktop resource from Parallels Client (if not already installed on a supported Windows client device). You may also download the client using the following link: .
Note: If you are using the client feature set option and Windows 10 and Windows 11 Enterprise Virtual Desktop as desktop OS where the Parallels Client is running (nested), the administrator needs to have the Windows Desktop client preinstalled using the per-device installation as highlighted by Microsoft in the following article: .
Microsoft Teams support: Starting with Parallels RAS 19, you can redirect audio and video from an Azure Virtual Desktop host running Windows 10 or 11 Multi-session, Windows 10, or 11 Enterprise to Parallels Client for Windows. For information on how to install Microsoft Teams on a Azure Virtual Desktop host, see .
Note: Video feed is not available if Microsoft Teams is accessed as a published application using the Advanced client feature set.
Note: At the time of this writing, it is not yet possible to use other platform-specific Parallels Clients to launch Azure Virtual Desktop resources. However, you can use Parallels Web Client to do that on certain operating systems (see below).
Parallels Web Client:
Windows, Mac, or Linux operating system installed on the user's machine.
System requirements as listed in .
When you connect to Parallels RAS from Parallels Client for Windows, all published resources, including Azure Virtual Desktop resources, are listed and made available for a user to access. Note that Azure Virtual Desktop resources are only shown in Parallels Client running on supported versions of Windows (see above).
If the Client feature set option is set to Advanced or Advanced with feedback, you can use advanced Parallels RAS features when running a published resource, such as RAS Universal Printing and Scanning, session prelaunch, accelerated file redirection, drag and drop, and others. If the option is set to Standard, these features will not be available. To view and modify this setting, navigate to Farm > Site > Settings, select the Features tab and select a desired setting in the Client feature set drop-down list.
Configure the following settings:
Disconnect active session after: Specifies the amount of time each session remains connected in the background after the user has closed the published application. This option is used to avoid unnecessary reconnections with the server.
Logoff disconnected session after: This setting allows you to control how long it takes for a session to be logged off after it is marked as "disconnected".
Session readiness timeout: The maximum amount of time it should require to establish a session. If the specified timeout is reached, and the session is still not ready, the user will see an error message and will have to try to log in again.
Allow URL/Mail redirection: When a user tries to open a URL or an HTML Mailto link in a remote application, the link can be redirected to the client computer and open in a local default application (a web browser or email client) instead of an application on the remote host. This option allows you to enable or disable the redirection. Click the Configure button to choose from the following options:
Replace registered application — this option uses an alternative method of redirecting a link. It replaces the default web browser and mail client with "dummy" apps on the remote server side. By doing so, it can intercept an attempt to open a link and redirect it to the client computer.
Support Windows Shell URL namespace objects — the Shell URL namespace objects support means that Parallels RAS can intercept actions in published applications that use Shell namespace API to open links, which is a standard behavior in most applications. The ability to disable the support for Shell URL namespace objects is for compatibility with older versions of Parallels RAS.
Enable drag and drop: Allows you to set how the drag and drop functionality works in Parallels Clients. Click Configure and choose from "Disabled" (no drag and drop functionality), "Sever to client only" (drag and drop to a local application only), "Client to server only" (drag and drop to a remote application only), "Bidirectional" (drag and drop in both directions).
Note: At the time of this writing, the drag and drop functionality is only supported on Parallels Client for Windows and Parallels Client for Mac.
Allow 2XRemoteExec to send command to the client: Select this option to allow a process running on the server to instruct the client to deploy an application on the client side.
Manage RDP Shortpath: Configures RDP Shortpath. RDP Shortpath establishes direct UDP-based connection between a remote desktop client and session host. Direct connection reduces the dependency on the Azure Virtual Desktop gateways, improves the connection reliability, and increases the bandwidth available for each user session. This applies to RDP and RAS connections. A session host requires a restart for this setting to become effective. To allow access to the RDP Shortpath listener across network security boundaries, Azure Network Security Group must be configured to allow inbound UDP port 3390. VPN or ExpressRoute is required or each session host should have public IP address.
Click the Configure button to enable and configure RDP Shortpath:
Use RDP Shortpath: Enables RDP Shortpath.
Use a smaller default range of ports: Limits the range of ports that remote desktop client can use to connect to a session host. The default range is 49152-65535.
Enable applications monitoring: Enable or disable monitoring of applications on the server. Disabling application monitoring stops the WMI monitoring to reduce CPU usage on the server and network usage while transferring the information to RAS Connection Broker. If the option is enabled, the collected information will appear in a corresponding RAS report. If the option is disabled, the information from this server will be absent from a report.
Allow file transfer command (Web and Chrome clients): Enables file transfer in a remote session. To enable file transfer, select this option and click the Configure button. For more information, see .
Enable drive redirection cache: Improves user experience by making file browsing and navigation on redirected drives much faster. For details, see .
Use RemoteApp if available: Enable this option to allow use of remote apps for shell-related issues when an app is not displayed correctly. This feature is supported on the Parallels Client for Windows only.
The RDP Printer tab allows you to configure the renaming format of redirected printers. The format may vary depending on which version and language of the server you are using.
Set your RDP Printer Name Format specifically for the configured server by choosing any of the below options from the RDP Printer Name Format drop-down list:
Printername (from Computername) in Session no
Session no. (computername from) Printername
Printername (redirected Session no)
The Remove session number from printer name does just that, it removes the session number from the name, so it's not visible.
The User profile tab allows you to configure the user profile functionality. You can select from Do not manage by RAS (user profiles will not be managed) or FSlogix. Microsoft FSLogix Profile Container allows to maintain user context in non-persistent environments, minimize sign-in times and provides native profile experience eliminating compatibility issues. For complete instructions, please see .
The Application packages tab allows you to add, remove, or otherwise manage MSIX application packages on multi-session hosts in the Site. For the complete description, please see subsection "Adding a package to Site Defaults" in section .
The Optimization tab allows you to specify settings that will be used to optimize a session host for best performance in a Parallels RAS environment. You can select Windows components, services, and other options that will be disabled, removed, or optimized to ensure a more efficient, streamlined, and improved delivery of virtual apps and desktops. For the complete description, please see .