Remote PC pools is a Parallels RAS feature that allows you to create pools of standalone (preferably domain-joined) PCs and optionally assign them to specific users. The Remote PC pools functionality is integrated into RAS VDI to take advantage of the infrastructure that already handles host pools.

Remote PC pools vs. Remote PCs

Remote PCs are standalone machines (physical or virtual) that can be used to host published resources in Parallels RAS. Remote PCs are managed in the Parallels RAS Console in the Farm > <Site> > Remote PCs section. The Remote PCs chapter describes this functionality in detail. Remote PC pools described here are handled separately and differently from standalone Remote PCs. They are managed in the Farm > <Site> > VDI section of the RAS Console.

To set up a Remote PC pool in the RAS Console, you first need to add a Provider of type Remote PC. This is a special type that exists specifically for the purpose of creating and managing Remote PC pools. It is not a real Provider, so it doesn't need a hypervisor installed. It simply uses the existing VDI functionality to create and manage computer pools. Note that when you add a Provider of this type, you can manage it like any other real Provider with some limitations, such as you cannot create templates and use some other strictly VDI (hypervisor)-specific functionality.

To add a Provider of type Remote PC:

1. Navigate to Farm > <Site> > Providers.

2. On the Providers tab, click Tasks > Add.

3. Select one of the following:

   • Remote PC dynamic: This approach assigns PCs using the information from Active Directory. All you have to do is specify an organizational unit (OU) containing computer accounts to be assigned to the host.

   • Remote PC static: Using this approach, Remote PCs are assigned to the Provider by entering their FQDN or IP address (one by one) or by importing a list from a CSV file.

4. In the wizard that opens, specify the following:

   • Name: Name of the provider.

   • Description: Description of the provider.

   • Address: FQDN or IP address of a server that will manage Remote PC pools. This must be a server with RAS Provider Agent installed. You can use the RAS Connection Broker server, since it has the RAS Provider Agent built in, but it can be any other server running a dedicated RAS Provider Agent.

   • Username: Account name in the UPN format (e.g. administrator@domain.local). This must be a domain user account with administrative rights on the server specified above. Using a local Windows account is also possible with some limitations and only when using the static PC assignment (see below). Using a domain account is recommended.

   • Password: Account password and an optional description.

5. Click the Manage Credentials button to specify the accounts that will be used to deploy RAS agents.

6. Click the Advanced Settings link to open the Advanced Provider Settings dialog. The dialog allows you choose the following options:

   • Use dedicated Provider Agent: Select this option if you will install (or have installed) the RAS Provider Agent yourself. Clear the option if you will use the built-in RAS Provider Agent.

   • Agent address: This option becomes enabled if you select the option above it. Specify the FQDN or IP address of the server where the RAS Provider Agent is (or will be) installed. This can be either a physical box or virtual machine.

   • Preferred Connection Broker: Select a RAS Connection Broker to be the preferred agent for this Provider. For more info, see Enabling high availability for VDI.

7. Click Next.

8. The wizard will display the new Provider information and will indicate the RAS Provider Agent status. If everything is OK, click Next.

9. If you selected Remote PC dynamic in step 3, specify the following:

   • Target OU: Organizational unit (OU) containing computer accounts to be assigned to the host. You can click the [...] button to browse Active Directory. Note that a maximum of 1000 Remote PCs can be returned in a single AD/OU search result.

     Note: When using dynamic assignment, Remote PCs must be domain-joined. You cannot manage such PCs using a local Windows user account.

     When you use the dynamic assignment, you have an option to install RAS Guest Agent on every PC by adding a Group Policy to the organizational unit with a script to deploy RAS Guest Agent. The following is an example of such script:

     msiexec /i RASInstaller-<version & build>.msi ADDLOCAL=F_GuestAgent /qn+ /norestart

     Other agent installation options are described in RAS Guest Agent installation options.

   • Subnet mask: Subnet mask used for calculating the directed broadcast address from the IP adderesses of the Remote PCs. It is used for sending a directed broadcast of the Wake on LAN magic packet.

10. If you selected Remote PC static in step 3, do one of the following:

    • Click Tasks > Add and type FQDN or IP address of a PC you want to add. You can click the [...] button to search for it. Next, specify the subnet mask used for calculating the directed broadcast address from the IP address of the Remote PC. It is used for sending a directed broadcast of the Wake on LAN magic packet. After this, enter the MAC address of the computer you are adding. Note that all fields are mandatory.

    • Click Tasks > Import from CSV file and then select a CSV file containing the list of computers. The CSV file must contain two columns: (1) FQDN or IP address; (2) MAC address. Once again, both columns are mandatory and must contain valid values.

    Parallels RAS 18 (and newer) supports a maximum of 1000 Remote PCs per Provider.

• Click Finish.

To be managed in a Remote PC pool, a Remote PC must have RAS Guest Agent installed. This can be done using one of the following options:

• When you add an individual Remote PC to a pool, you'll be asked to upgrade the agent. Follow the onscreen instructions and install or upgrade it.

• When you add all Remote PCs in a host to a pool at once, you can add them first and then use the Tasks > Upgrade all Agents menu option in the Desktops tab.

• When you assign Remote PCs to a Provider via Active Directory, you can have a Group Policy in the OU with a script to deploy the agent. See .

• To install or upgrade the agent on an individual Remote PC, select it in the Desktops tab and click Tasks > Troubleshooting > Check agent option. In the dialog that opens, click Install.

• Finally, you can install RAS Guest Agent manually by running the Parallels RAS installer on a Remote PC and selecting to install the RAS Guest Agent component.

A persistent Remote PC is a PC assigned to a particular user. Once a PC is assigned, no other user can connect to it.

There are two ways to make a Remote PC persistent:

• When you publish a resource (application, desktop, etc.) from a pool-based Remote PC using the publishing wizard, you can select the Persistent option in the Virtual Guest Settings section. This way, a Remote PC in a pool will be assigned to the first user that opens the published resource. For more info, see Publishing from a pool-based Remote PC.

• You can also assign a Remote PC to a user manually. To do so, navigate to Farm > <Site> > VDI, select the Desktops tab, then select a Remote PC in the list and click Tasks > Assign. In the dialog that opens, specify the target user.

To remove persistence from a Remote PC, select it in the Desktops tab and click Tasks > Unassign.

Once you assigned PCs to a Provider, you can add them to a Remote PC pool as follows:

1. In Farm > <Site> > VDI, select the Pools tab.

2. Add a new pool by clicking Tasks > Add in the Pools pane.

3. Select the pool that you've created and then in the Members pane, click Tasks > Add and choose one of the following:

   • All Hosts in Host: Adds all Remote PCs assigned to the Provider. When you click this option, a dialog opens allowing you to select a Provider. Select the host and click OK.

   • Host: Adds an individual Remote PC. In the dialog that opens, select a desired Remote PC and click OK. Another dialog may open asking you to upgrade RAS Guest Agent on a Remote PC (the agent is required for a PC to be managed in a pool). Click OK to upgrade (or install) the agent. You can also upgrade the RAS Guest Agent on one or more PCs at another time as described in RAS Guest Agent installation options.

Once you add one or more Remote PCs to a pool, they will appear in the Pool management tab and in the Desktops tab.

Management of pool-based Remote PCs includes assigning a PC to a specific user, upgrading the RAS Guest Agent, viewing and modifying PC properties, performing some standard administrative tasks, and some others.

To manage Remote PCs in a pool:

1. In Farm > <Site> > VDI, select the Desktops tab.

2. Note that the list on this tab includes all managed desktops, including hosts and pool-based Remote PCs. You can order the list by the Pool column to see Remote PCs assigned to a particular pool.

3. Select a Remote PC, click the Tasks drop-down list and choose one of the options described below. Note that not all options available in the Tasks menu are applicable to Remote PCs. The list below describes only the options that you can use with pool-based Remote PCs.

The Tasks menu options that apply to Remote PCs are:

• Upgrade all Agents. Upgrade RAS Guest Agent in all Remote PCs (and hosts) in the list.

• Assign. Assign a Remote PC to a specific user (make a PC persistent). Click the menu option and specify a user.

• Unassign. Remove the user assignment (persistence) from a Remote PC.

• Show sessions. Switches the view to the Sessions tab and displays the session information.

• Tools. Allows to perform a set of standard operations, such as establishing a remote desktop connection, pinging, rebooting/shutting down a Remote PC, and others. For the description of power operations, please see Performing power operations below.

• Troubleshooting. Check and install/upgrade the RAS Guest Agent in a Remote PC.

• Reset properties. Resets Remote PC properties to their default values. See Properties below.

• Properties. Opens a dialog where you can view and modify Remote PC settings. The General tab allows you to temporarily disable the Remote PC in a pool (use the Do not use this host option). This is specifically useful when you need to perform maintenance tasks on a PC. You can also view and modify the Remote PC display name, computer name, and the port number on which it communicates with the Provider. For the description of Settings and Security tabs, see Site defaults.

Performing power operations

For remote power operations to work, WMI must be enabled in Windows running in a VM and TCP ports 30004 and 30005 must be open. At the time of this writing, this is not automated in Parallels RAS but will be in future versions.

To perform power operations on a host (start, stop, restart, suspend, reset), open the VDI > Desktops tab, select a host, then click Tasks and choose an operation that you want to perform (for start and stop operations, you can click the corresponding icons at the top). The restart operation (graceful) has a 10 min timeout. If not completed during this time, the reset operation (forced) will be used.

Please note if you are using Nutanix AHV (AOS), the suspend operation is not available (the Suspend icon is disabled). The reason for this is Nutanix AHV (AOS) does not support the suspend operation on its virtual machines.

You can add Remote PCs to a Provider in two ways:

• In the wizard while adding the provider as described in Adding a VDI Host.

• After creating the provider, as described in this section.

To add Remote PCs to a Provider after it has been created:

1. Right-click a Provider that you created and choose Properties.

2. Select the Remote PCs tab.

3. Add Remote PC as described in steps 9 and 10 in Adding a VDI Host.