This topic describes how to configure existing FSLogix Profile Containers to be managed by Parallels RAS. FSLogix Profile Container configuration defines how and where the profile is redirected. Normally, you configure profiles through registry settings and GPO. Parallels RAS gives you the ability to configure profiles from the Parallels RAS Console or RAS Management Portal without using external tools.
Before you configure FSLogix Profile Containers in Parallels RAS, make note of the following:
You don't have to change the profiles themselves; existing profiles stay the same.
You can keep using your existing FSLogix Profile Container locations, such as SMB network shares or Cloud Cache.
Perform the following preliminary steps:
Back up your existing profiles. It is highly unlikely that profile data can be lost or corrupted, but it is best practice to have a valid backup prior to any change in profile configuration.
Turn off the GPO configuration of FSLogix Profile Containers. This step is important because you cannot have both GPO and Parallels RAS management of FSLogix profiles enabled at the same time.
Before configuring FSLogix profiles for a host in a RAS Farm, make sure there are no user sessions running on the host. As a suggestion, you can make the transition in a maintenance window out of working hours.
To configure existing FSLogix Profile Containers in Parallels RAS, you need to replicate your existing GPO to the FSLogix configuration in Parallels RAS. This can be done in the Parallels RAS Console or the Parallels RAS Management Portal.
To configure profiles in the RAS Console:
Follow the instruction from the FSLogix Profile Containers section and open the Disks tab.
In the Location of profile disks list box, specify existing SMB or Cloud Cache locations where you keep your FSLogix profiles. Also, specify the profile disk format, allocation type, and default size.
Configure the rest of FSLogix settings you may have on your servers, such as user exclusions, folder exclusions, and others.
To configure profiles in the RAS Management Portal:
Navigate to Infrastructure > RD Session Hosts.
Click a host in the list and then click Properties.
In the middle pane, click User Profile.
Specify the settings as described in steps above for the RAS Console.
Please note that at the time of this writing RAS Management Portal can only be used to configure RD Session Hosts to use FSLogix Profile Containers. For other host types, please use the desktop-based RAS Console.
When performing steps in the previous section, do not configure multiple (or all) servers in a RAS Farm right away. Begin with a single server (e.g. an RD Session Host) and then test it with a single user connection. After that, configure some other servers and test the same user logging in to multiple servers consecutively to confirm the profile is loaded and personalization is retained irrespective of a session host. If all is good, configure other hosts, host pools, or Site defaults.
Your RAS users can now connect to Parallels RAS using pre-existing FSLogix Profile Containers, which are now managed centrally through Parallels RAS.
User profile is a collection of settings and application data associated with a specific user. In a non-persistent remote environment, such as Parallels RAS, user profiles must be maintained to provide consistent user experience. This is achieved by storing user profile data in a network location to minimize sign in times and optimize file I/O between host, client, and the profile storage.
Parallels RAS supports the following technologies to manage user profiles:
User profile disk: [RD Session Hosts only] These are virtual hard disks that store user application data on a dedicated file share. This disk is mounted to the user session as soon as the user signs in to a session host. The disk is unmounted when the user logs out.
Note: The User Profile Disks technology is no longer being actively developed by Microsoft. It's recommended to migrate profiles to FSLogix. Please note that the User profile disk option is not available for VDI and Azure Virtual Desktop due to obsolescence.
FSLogix: A remote profile solution for non-persistent environments. FSLogix Profile Container redirects the entire user profile to a remote location and maintains user context in non-persistent environments, minimizing sign-in times and providing native profile experience eliminating compatibility issues. FSLogix Profile Container is the preferred profile management solution as the successor of Roaming Profiles and User Profile Disks.
User profiles can be configured for the following:
RD Session Hosts
VDI
Azure Virtual Desktop
User profile settings are configured for the above on the Site level (Site defaults) and can also be configured for individual components if the RAS administrator decides to use custom settings for a given component.
To configure user profile on the Site level, navigate to Farm > Site, click the Tasks > Site defaults menu and choose one of the following:
RD Session Host
VDI
AVD multi-session hosts
AVD single-session hosts
In a Site defaults dialog that opens, select the User profile tab. The user interface for configuring optimization is the same for all of the above.
The subsequent sections describe in detail how to configure the user profile functionality.
To configure User Profile Disks, specify the following settings:
When in the host "Properties" dialog, clear the Inherit default settings if you want to specify different settings for this host.
In the Technology section, select User profile disk.
In the drop-down list, select one of the following:
Do not change: Keep the current server settings (default).
Enabled: Enable the User Profile Disks functionality.
Disabled: Disable the functionality.
Click the Configure advanced User Profile Disks settings button to open the User Profile Advanced Settings dialog.
On the Disk tab, specify the following:
Disk location: If you selected Enabled in the previous step, specify a network location where the User Profile Disks should be created. Use the Microsoft Windows UNC format to specify a location (e.g. \\RAS\users\disks). Please note that the server must have full control permissions on the disk share.
Maximum size: Enter the maximum allowed disk size (in gigabytes).
On the Folders tab, specify the following:
Store all user settings and data on the user profile disk: All folders, except those specified in the exclusion list, will be stored on the user profile disk. To add or remove folders to/from the exclusion list, click the [+] or [-] buttons.
Store only the following folders on the user profile disk: Only folders specified in the inclusion lists will be stored on the user profile disk. There are two inclusion lists. The first one contains standard user profile folders (e.g. Desktop, Documents, Downloads, etc.) and allows you to select the folders that you want to include. The second list allows you to specify additional folders. Click the [+] or [-] buttons to add or remove folders.
Note that when you enable User Profile Disks, you need to restart the server for the changes to take effect.
Make sure to configure the following antivirus exclusions for FSLogix Profile Container virtual hard drives. Make sure to check the following information with your security team.
Exclude files:
%Programfiles%\FSLogix\Apps\frxdrv.sys
%Programfiles%\FSLogix\Apps\frxdrvvt.sys
%Programfiles%\FSLogix\Apps\frxccd.sys
%TEMP%*.VHD
%TEMP%*.VHDX
%Windir%\TEMP*.VHD
%Windir%\TEMP*.VHDX
\\storageaccount.file.core.windows.net\share**.VHD
\\storageaccount.file.core.windows.net\share**.VHDX
Exclude processes:
%Programfiles%\FSLogix\Apps\frxccd.exe
%Programfiles%\FSLogix\Apps\frxccds.exe
%Programfiles%\FSLogix\Apps\frxsvc.exe
When configuring optimizations, you can specify files and processes to exclude in the Windows Defender ATP category. For more information, please see Optimization.
Note: If you have existing FSLogix Profile Containers and would like their configurations to be managed by Parallels RAS, please read additional instructions in Configure managing existing profiles by Parallels RAS.
Parallels RAS has been tested with FSLogix releases up to and including release 2210 hotfix 2.
Before you configure FSLogix for a specific server or a template (described later in this guide), you need to configure the FSLogix installation method on the Site level as follows:
Navigate to Farm > Site > Settings and select the Features tab. Here you need to select a method that Parallels RAS will use to install FSLogix on individual hosts. You can select from one of the following:
Install manually: Select this option if you want to install FSLogix on every host yourself. If this option is selected, Parallels RAS will not attempt to install FSLogix on a host.
Install online: This option installs FSLogix on session hosts from the Internet. Select one of the supported FSLogix versions from the drop-down list or select Custom URL and specify a download URL. Click the Detect latest button to automatically obtain a URL of the latest FSLogix version.
Install from a network share: Select this option if you have the FSLogix installation files on a network share and specify its location.
Push from RAS Connection Broker: This option allows you to upload the FSLogix installation archive to the RAS Connection Broker server. When you enable FSLogix on a session host, it will be push installed on the host from the RAS Connection Broker server.
When done, click Apply in the RAS Console to apply your changes to Parallels RAS.
The dialog described above can also be used to upgrade FSLogix to a newer version. To upgrade, do one of the following:
Select Install online and choose from one of the provided FSLogix builds or specify a custom URL. The Detect latest button obtains a URL for the latest stable FSLogix build.
Download a new version from the Microsoft website, place it on a network share or upload it to the RAS Connection Broker server and then select Install from a network share or Push from RAS Connection Broker, whichever applies.
If FSLogix is already installed on one or more hosts and a new version of FSLogix becomes available when you do one of the above, FSLogix will be upgraded on hosts that have it installed. Note that if you specify a version that is earlier than the version installed on a host, then FSLogix will be downgraded.
To configure Site defaults or individual hosts for FSLogix, do one of the following:
For Site defaults, navigate to Farm > Site and click Tasks > Site defaults > RD Session Hosts (or VDI to configure defaults for VDI, or one of the AVD options to configure site defaults for Azure Virtual Desktop).
To configure individual hosts, navigate to Farm > Site > RD Session Hosts. Right-click a host and choose Properties.
When you add an RD Session Host to a Farm, the FSLogix settings are specified on the User profile page.
In the Site defaults or Properties dialog, select the User profile tab and specify the following options:
If you are in the host Properties dialog (or in a wizard where you add a new host or template), clear the Inherit default settings option if you want to specify different settings for this host.
In the Technology section, select FSLogix.
The Deployment method field shows the currently set deployment method as configured on the Site level (see the description above). You can click the Change... link and select a different method. Note that this will modify the Site setting, which will change it for all hosts in the Site.
If you want to use Profile Containers, select the Use Profile Containers options. Click the Configure button to configure settings:
Users and Groups tab: Specify include and exclude user and group lists. By default, Everyone is added to the FSLogix profile include list. If you want some user profiles remain local, you can add those users to the exclude list. Users and group can exist in both lists but exclude takes priority.
Folders tab: Specify include and exclude lists for folders. You can select from common folders or you can specify your own. Please note that folders must reside in user profile path.
Disks tab: Specify the settings of the profile disk. Location type: Select a location type for profile disks (SMB Location or Cloud Cache) and then specify one or more locations. Location of profile disks: Location(s) of profile disks. These are the locations of VHD(X) files (the VHDLocations setting in the registry as specified in the FSLogix documentation). Profile disk format: Select from VHD or VHDX according to your requirements. VHDX is a newer format and has more features. Allocation type: Select Dynamic or Full. This setting is used in conjunction with the Default size setting (see below) to manage the size of a profile. Dynamic causes the profile container to use the minimum space on disk, regardless of the allocated Default size. As a user profile is filled with more data, the amount of data on disk will grow up to the size specified in Default size, but will never exceed it. Default size: Specifies the size of newly created VHD(X) in megabytes.
Advanced tab: This tab allows you to modify advanced FSLogix registry settings. To modify a setting, select it and click Tasks > Edit. By default, the settings are disabled. To enable a setting, select the checkbox in front of its name. A description for each setting is provided in the RAS console. For further information regarding FSLogix Profile Containers configurations, visit https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/fslogix/profile-container-configuration-reference.
If you want to use Office Containers, select the Use Office Containers options. Click the Configure button to configure settings:
Users and Groups tab: Same as above.
Disks tab: Same as above.
Advanced tab: Same as above.
Click the Configure general settings button to configure FSLogix settings for all types of containers:
App Services tab: This tab allows you to modify advanced FSLogix registry settings. For more information about these settings, see https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/fslogix/reference-configuration-settings?tabs=profiles#app-services-settings.
Cloud Cache tab: This tab allows you to modify Cloud Cache settings. For more information about these settings, see https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/fslogix/reference-configuration-settings?tabs=ccd#fslogix-settings-profile-odfc-cloud-cache-logging.
Logging tab: This tab allows you to modify logging settings for profile containers. For more information about these settings, see https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/fslogix/reference-configuration-settings?tabs=logging#fslogix-settings-profile-odfc-cloud-cache-logging.
When you enable FSLogix for a new host while running the wizard, no additional steps are necessary. On wizard completion, the host is rebooted and is added to the active load balancing. An existing host must be rebooted manually using the Tasks > Tools > Reboot menu option.