The User Portal (Web Client) category allows you to configure Theme settings for User Portal. These settings affect how the User Portal looks and behaves in a web browser.

Themes in Parallels RAS is a functionality that allows you to do the following:

• Allow access to a Theme to specified groups of users while configuring certain Theme properties that will apply to these groups. This functionality is supported by Parallels Client on all available platforms.

• Customize the appearance of User Portal, which enables you to implement custom branding of User Portal for different groups of users. Note that this functionality is only available for RAS Web Client and Parallels Client for Windows.

To manage Themes, in the Parallels RAS Console, navigate to Farm > <Site> > Themes. The Themes view in the right pane displays the available Themes. The list contains at least one default Theme. This Theme cannot be removed but you can customize it as needed. In addition to the default Theme, you can create your own Themes.

To create a new or modify an existing Theme:

• Click Tasks > New Theme (or click the [+] icon) to create a new Theme.

• Double-click an existing Theme (or right-click it and choose Properties).

The Theme Properties dialog opens. Use the dialog to create a new or modify an existing Theme. The instructions in the subsequent sections apply to both scenarios.

The URLs category is used to specify the Theme login page URL and add additional URLs to the User Portal page:

• Show Parallels Client download URL. If selected, users will see the Download Client link on the Web Client page, which can be used to download, install, and configure Parallels Client on users' computers.

• Override download URL for branded Parallels Client (Windows): Specifies a location from which your Windows users will download Parallels Client for Windows. By default, Parallels Client is downloaded from the Parallels web site. If you use a branded version of Parallels Client, you can specify its location in this field.

• Footer URLs. This option allows you to specify custom URLs that will be placed in the Web Client footer. To add a URL, click Tasks > Add and specify a URL, a text that will appear on the page footer, and a tooltip text. When entering similar URLs, you can duplicate an existing one by right-clicking it and choosing Duplicate (or select an entry and click the "duplicate" icon next to the [-] icon). If you've added multiple URLs, you can reorder them by clicking the up or down arrow icons or selecting Up or Down items in the Tasks menu. The URLs will appear in the footer in the order listed (you can click the Preview HTML4 Theme button to see how it looks).

Select languages that will appear in the language selector on the User Portal page. The selector appears as a language flag icon on the page header to the right of the user name.

The Theme settings described below apply to Parallels Client for all available platforms.

• Override authentication domain: Allows you to specify a domain name that will be passed to Parallels Client, so users don't have to enter it manually. This setting overrides the domain name setting in Connection > Authentication. For more information, see Allowing users to change domain password.

• Limit access to this Theme to members of these Active Directory groups: If this option is cleared, any Parallels RAS user can access the Theme if they know its URL. To limit access to a particular group (or groups), select this option and then click Tasks > Add (or click the [+] icon) and select the desired group(s).

• MFA provider: Select an MFA provider for the Theme.

• (Default theme only) Allow gateway tunneling connections: Allow gateway tunneling connections for the deafult theme.

The Branding category allows you to configure the branding of User Portal.

The following properties can be customized:

• Webpage title: Specifies the title that appears on the webpage. You can type any title you like.

• Login to: Specifies a name that will appear in the User Portal login dialog. For example, if you type "ABC" here, the login page will say, "Log in to ABC". There are two predefined variables that you can use here: %FARM% (the actual Farm name; this is the default value) and %SITE% (the Licensing Site name).

• Company logo: Displays the image which is displayed on the User Portal page header. To change the image, select browse and then specify the image file. Note that changing the logo image also removes the default Remote Application Server part from the page header.

• Favicon icon: Displays the currently set favicon icon. To change the icon, click Browse and select an icon file.

On this pane, you can specify pre-logon and post-logon messages:

• A pre-logon message will appear on the Log in page.

• To override the default post-logon message (see Messages in the beginning of this topic), select the Override post-logon message option and enter a message.

The messages must be 500 characters or less.

The Colors category allows you to customize the appearance of the User Portal pages.

The following properties can be customized:

• Header options: Configures the appearance of the header.

• Work area image: Configures the background image for User Portal. You can choose one of the preset images or upload an image from a URL or a local computer. The supported file types are JPG, PNG, and SVG. The size of the image file must be under 10 MB.

• Colors: Specifies the desired colors for various User Portal elements, such as header, footer, work area, buttons, etc.

Input prompts specified here will appear on the login page to help users enter their username and password correctly in the fields provided. For example, the default user@domain login prompt will appear as a light gray text in the login field, hinting the user that they should enter their name in the UPN format. Predefined input prompts are provided for every supported language. You can specify your own prompts if needed.

The Secure Gateway category can be used to override the default User Portal settings, which are configured for the RAS Secure Gateway. Normally, you shouldn't override the gateway settings if you are running a traditional Parallels RAS Farm and using a single Theme in a Site. Scenarios when overriding the settings may by needed include the following:

• You have multiple Themes for different groups of users and would like different Themes to behave differently in terms of application launching methods and restrictions.

• You are using RAS multi-tenant architecture where RAS Secure Gateways are running in Tenant Broker and are shared by Tenants, which are separate Farms. Themes in this kind of deployment are defined on the Tenant level, so each Tenant can have its own Web Client look and feel. Since gateways are shared by Tenants, it is logical to configure these settings on a Theme level, which is exactly what the Secure Gateway category allows you to do. For the complete description of what Tenant Broker and Tenants are, please read the RAS Multi-Tenant Architecture chapter.

To override the RAS Secure Gateway settings, select the Override Secure Gateway settings for the Theme option and then specify your own settings. For the description on how to configure these settings, see Configure Web Client.

Cookie consent

Select the Enable cookie consent option to show a notification about User Portal cookie policy to users on first time use. This provides users with information regarding the use of cookies and the option to accept.

End User License Agreement

Select the Enable EULA option to show the Parallels End User License Agreement (EULA) to users on first time use. User intervention is required to read and accept the agreement to complete the login process.

Panes under the Windows client heading allow you to configure Theme settings for Parallels Client for Windows. By configuring a Windows client Theme, you can make the client appear to end users as your organization requires.

Branding

On the Branding pane, specify the following:

• Company name: Used to create the Start menu hierarchy: Start \ Company Name \ App Name.

• Application name: Displayed in the app caption and the Start menu entry name.

• Connection banner: Displayed when a connection is being established.

• Application icon: The application icon used for the Start menu and by the main app window.

Messages

To override the default post-logon message, select the Override post-logon message option and enter a message.

Custom menu

The Custom Menu pane allows you add a menu item to the Help menu in white-labeled Parallels Client for Windows. For example, if you enter "&Notepad" in the Menu item field and "notepad.exe" in the Command field, a new menu item will appear under the Help menu in every white-labeled Parallels Client for Windows connecting to this Farm. The item will be named Notepad (with the "N" being the shortcut) and it will open the Notepad.exe application when clicked. The Command field can contain an executable name, a URL, or any other command that can be properly executed on a Windows machine. For instance, you can add a menu item specifying a URL of your Helpdesk solution, so your users can easily reach it when needed.

Create Windows client package for mass distribution

After configuring a Windows Client Theme, you can create a Windows client package for mass distribution as follows:

1. While still in the Windows client section of the Theme Properties dialog, click the Generate Windows client package button.

2. In the dialog that opens, specify the following options:

   • Specify the target folder on your local computer where the package will be created.

   • Select or clear the "Open the folder in Windows Explorer .... " option as needed.

3. Click Generate. This will create the ClientDownloader.exe file. When you run the file, it will download the latest version of Parallels Client for Windows installer (MSI) and will apply your custom Theme to it.

You can now distribute the installer to end users. When they run the installer, it will install Parallels Client for Windows with all customizations (start menu shortcuts, desktop shortcut, images and icons) specified in the Theme. In the future, if you need to upgrade an installed copy of Parallels Client for Windows to a newer version, you don't need to repeat the instructions described above. Simply upgrade the older version and the branding features will remain intact.

Select Messages in the left pane and specify a post-logon message (up to 500 characters). The post-logon message appears as a message box immediately after the user successfully logs in. The message can be overridden for Web Client and Windows client individually (see Messages for each client in the subsequent sections).

When you are done customizing a Theme, click OK to save it and return to the Parallels RAS console.

You can also perform the following actions on the Themes tab in the Parallels RAS Console:

• Duplicate a Theme — right-click a Theme and choose Duplicate (or select a Theme and click Tasks > Duplicate).

• Preview User Portal — right-click a Theme and choose Preview User Portal (or Tasks > Preview...).

• Delete a Theme — right-click a Theme and choose Delete (or Tasks > Delete).

When done creating or modifying Themes, click Apply in the Parallels RAS Console to commit the changes to Parallels RAS. You can now test the Theme by opening its URL in an HTML5-enabled web browser.

If your organization has multiple user groups, all sharing centralized Parallels RAS resources, you have the ability to delegate session management permissions to an administrator of a particular group. When you do, the administrator can see and manage Parallels RAS sessions only for users who belong to that group.

Here's how this functionality works:

1. A separate Theme is created for each group. Session management permissions for the Theme are delegated to a custom administrator (see Managing Administrator accounts).

2. When a custom administrator logs in to the Parallels RAS Console, they are presented with a limited user interface displaying sessions that belong to the Theme (or multiple Themes) that the administrator is allowed to manage.

The rest of this section describes how to configure and use this functionality.

Create a Theme and delegate session management permissions

If you don't have a Theme for a user group, you need to create it. Follow the instructions provided earlier in this chapter. To delegate session management permissions, you specifically need to do the following:

1. When specifying settings on the General page, select the Limit access to this Theme to members of these Active Directory groups option and add one or more groups.

2. After creating or configuring the Theme, close the Theme Properties dialog, then right-click anywhere in the list and choose Delegate Permissions.

3. If you already have a custom administrator account that you would like to use, it will appear in the list. If you don't have an account, create one as follows:

   1. Click Tasks > Add.

   2. In the Account Properties dialog, click the [...] button next to Name and select an account.

   3. The Permissions field is read-only and set to Custom administrator (the type that must be used here).

   4. Populate the rest of the fields (email, mobile, etc.) as needed.

   5. Click OK.

4. Back in the Delegate Permission dialog, select the administrator in the left pane.

5. In the lower portion of the right pane, select permissions (view, modify, manage sessions) for the desired Theme. You can also set permissions in the upper portion of the right pane, but they will apply to all existing Themes, and this is probably not what we are trying to do here.

6. Click OK.

Manage sessions

Once the above is complete, the custom administrator can manage sessions that belong to the specified Theme(s). To manage sessions:

1. Run the Parallels RAS Console and log in using the credentials of a custom administrator.

2. The right pane will contain sessions that belong to the members of the group(s) assigned to the Theme.

3. To manage a session, select it, then click the Tasks drop-down list and choose a desired option (Disconnect, Log off, Send message, etc.).

Settings audit

Any changes to administrator permissions are recorded in the settings audit. Possible actions are create, update, and delete. You can view the changes by going to Administration > Settings audit or Farm > Themes > Settings Audit.

Using Themes in Parallels Client for Windows

In order for a user to use a corresponding Theme, the connection properties must be properly set. To do so:

1. In Parallels Client for Windows, right-click a connection and choose Connection Properties.

2. On the Connection tab, the server name must be followed by the Theme name after a forward slash, as in Server-name/Theme-name.

When the administrator views sessions in the RAS Console, a client using a Theme can be identified by the Theme name in the Theme column.

The Theme settings described below apply to Parallels Client for all available platforms.

General

Select General in the left pane and specify the following Theme properties:

• Enable Theme: Enable or disable the Theme (the default Theme cannot be disabled).

• Name: Specify a Theme name.

• Description: Specify an optional Theme description.

• Path: Specifies a postfix for the Theme login page URL. This field is populated automatically with the Theme name when you save it, but you can specify a name of your choice. The complete URL of the Theme login page is comprised of "https://<host-name>/" followed by the name specified in this field. For the explanation of what the <host-name> should be, please see Web request load balancing.

  For example, if you name the Theme "Theme-S1", the complete URL is https://<host-name>/Theme-S1. When you save the Theme, the URL is displayed on the Themes tab in the RAS Console (the User Portal URL column).

  Please note that the URL described above is the short version, which is easier to remember and use. The full version is:

  https://<host-name>/userportal/?theme=<team-name>

  Both the short and the long versions are equally valid.