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This chapter describes common Parallels RAS management tasks, including Farm status monitoring, license management, backup management, and others.
When you need to perform standard Windows computer management tasks, you can do it without leaving the RAS Console. The tasks include Remote Desktop Connection, Computer Management, Service Management, Event Viewer, PowerShell, Reboot, and others. To perform these tasks, use the Tools menu, which is accessible from the Site menu and individual Parallels RAS infrastructure servers and session hosts.
Some of the tools require an appropriate target host configuration before you can use them in the RAS Console. Please read the following requirements and make sure they are met.
To use Remote Desktop, remote connections must be enabled on a target host. You can verify that by using the standard Windows Remote Desktop Connection application and see if you can connect to a remote server.
PowerShell related tools require PowerShell remoting enabled on a target server. To enable PowerShell remoting, run the Enable-PSRemoting
cmdlet on a target computer in PowerShell window with administrator privileges. Please note the following:
The cmdlet configures a computer to receive PowerShell remote commands.
The cmdlet starts the WinRM (Windows Remote Management) service, among other tasks. To see if the WinRM service is running, use the Test-WSMan
cmdlet.
When you execute the cmdlet, it will ask you to confirm every task that it wants to perform. To execute the command silently, use the -Force
option.
If you receive an error saying that "WinRM firewall exception will not work since one of the network connection types on this machine is set to Public", you can try to execute the cmdlet with the -SkipNetworkProfileCheck
option, or you can change the network connection type on this host to Domain or Private.
To use PowerShell to manage a remote host, you also need to add the host to the TrustedHosts list on the computer where you have the RAS Console installed. To view the current TrustedHosts list, execute the following command in PowerShell window:
To add a host to the TrustedHosts list, use one of the options described below. Please note that all examples below, except the last one, always overwrite an existing TrustedHosts list. To add a specific computer to an existing list, use the last example (the one with the -Concatenate
parameter).
Add all computers to the list:
Add all domain computers:
Add specific computers:
Add a computer to an existing list (this is the only example that will not overwrite an existing TrustedHosts list):
The table below describes the tools available in the Tasks > Tools menu and their execution strings.
Remote Desktop
mstsc.exe /v:<selectedRDShostName>:<port> /admin
Launch a standard RDP connection to the selected RDS host.
Computer Management
compmgmt.msc /computer:<selectedRDShostName>
Launch Computer Management locally with connection to the selected host.
Service Management
services.msc /computer:<selectedRDShostName>
Launch Services Management locally with connection to the selected host.
Event Viewer
eventvwr.msc /computer:<selectedRDShostName>
Launch Event Viewer locally with connection to the selected host.
Shared Folders
smgmt.msc /computer:<selectedRDShostName>
Launch Shared Folders locally with connection to the selected host.
Powershell
Enter-PSSession –ComputerName <selectedRDShostName> [-Credential username]
Launch Powershell locally with connection to the selected host.
IPconfig
- Powershell remote connection to selected host
- Get-NetIPConfiguration
Provides network configuration for the selected host.
Ping
- Powershell remote connection to selected host
- Test-NetConnection -ComputerName www.microsoft.com | Select -ExpandProperty PingReplyDetails | FT Address, Status, RoundTripTime
Provides ICMP reply with status and RTT for the selected host.
Netstat
- Powershell remote connection to selected host
- Get-NetTCPConnection
Displays network connections for Transmission Control Protocol on the selected host.
Reboot
shutdown /m \\<selectedRDShostName> /f /r /t 0
Reboot the selected host.
Shutdown
shutdown /m \\<selectedRDShostName> /f /s /t 0
Shutdown the selected host.
Note that individual tools availability depends on the server type. For example, HALB has only Ping in the Tools menu.
When you add a server component (Connection Broker, Gateway, RD Session Host, Provider, etc.) to a RAS Farm you have to specify its FQDN or IP address. It is normally up to you whether to use FQDN or IP address. On the other hand, the server IP address can change in the future. If that happens, you will have to reconfigure the corresponding component in the RAS Farm. On the other hand, the server FQDN usually stays the same, so if you used it instead of the IP address, no RAS configuration changes will be necessary. For this reason, Parallels RAS gives you an option to always resolve IP addresses to FQDNs for all server components in a Farm.
To always use name resolution, do the following:
In the RAS Console, click Tools > Options on the main menu (that's the menu at the top of the RAS Console window).
In the Options dialog, select the Always attempt to resolve to fully qualified domain name (FQDN) when adding hosts option.
Click OK.
When you now try to add a component to a Farm and enter its IP address instead of a name, it will be automatically resolved to FQDN. If the FQDN cannot be determined, you will see an error message and will be asked if you would like to use the IP address instead.
The examples below demonstrate how the automatic name resolution works for different components.
On the Connection Brokers tab, click Tasks > Add.
In the Server field, enter the server IP address.
Click Next.
In the dialog that opens, observe that the IP address has been resolved to FQDN and the Server field contains the FQDN.
On the Gateways tab, click Tasks > Add.
In the Server field, enter the server IP address.
Click Resolve. This will copy the IP address to the IP(s) field and will enable the Next button.
Click Next.
In the Installing RAS Secure Gateway dialog, observer that the server IP address is replaced with the FQDN.
On the RD Session Hosts tab, click Tasks > Add.
On the first page of the wizard, enter the server IP address and click the plus-sign icon.
Observe that the server is added to the list, but the IP address is substituted with the FQDN that was automatically resolved.
In Farm > Site > Providers tab, click Tasks > Add.
Select the provider you want ot add.
In the Address field, enter the IP address of a Provider.
Enter the remaining properties and click Next.
Observe that the Provider address is replaced with the FQDN.
Parallels RAS gives you the ability to audit the modifications that were done to a Parallels RAS Farm, including changes to any of the components, objects, resources, and users. This information is stored in a database, so it can be reviewed and possibly reverted, if needed. The information is stored in the primary database but is replicated in a local database on the computer where Parallels RAS Console is running.
You can view the list of modifications using one of the following options:
By navigating to Administration > Settings audit. The tab displays the main list of all changes to any components/objects in the Farm. If a modification can be reverted, you can do it here.
By clicking Tasks > Settings audit on any pane in the RAS Console that supports this functionality. Compared to the main list (described above), you will only see modifications to the same types of components or objects that are managed on a given pane. You can also revert a modification here if it can be reverted. If the Settings audit menu option is not available on a particular pane, it means that the functionality is not available for the types of components or objects that this pane manages.
The following describes in detail how to view and revert Farm modifications.
To view the main list of all modifications for a Farm, do the following:
In the Parallels RAS Console, select the Administration category and then click the Settings audit tab.
The sync process will check that the local audit database is in sync with the primary database and will do an update if necessary (you may see a progress indicator while the syncing is in progress).
Once the syncing is complete, the Settings audit tab will be populated with data. Each entry in the list corresponds to a modification that was done either by a RAS administrator or a system service.
By default, Parallels RAS synchronizes audit databases across all Connection Brokers. This will take more time as the databases grow. You can turn off database synchronization, in which case you will only have access to the audit database on the current Licensing Connection Broker. If you change Licensing Connection Broker, you will not have access to the previous audit database without enabling synchronization.
To turn off audit databases synchronization:
On the Settings audit tab, click the Tasks drop-down list and select Settings.
Clear the Replicate administrators' audit data on all Connection Brokers option.
Click OK.
The information for each entry in the list includes the following:
Date: Date and time of the modification.
Session: Session ID.
Username: The name of the administrator or RAS service that was responsible for the modification. RAS services may include System (redundancy service) and Connection Broker (controller service).
Action: The action that was performed, such as Connect, Disconnect, Create, Update, Switch site, and others.
ID: The affected object's ID.
Site: The number and name of the affected Site. "Global" means the change affected all sites.
Type: The modification type. This usually makes sense when viewed together with the Action value.
Name: The value in this column is displayed for some entries and can provide additional information, such as the name of the changed object.
You can perform the following actions on the list:
To refresh the list, click the "recycle" icon (top right).
To view details for an entry, double-click it (or select an entry and click Tasks > View entry).
To search for a specific entry (or entries), click the magnifying glass icon (top right). An extra row is added at the top of the list allowing you to enter the search criteria. You can type a string to search for in one or multiple columns. The search is performed as you type and the list is filtered to include only the matching entries. To cancel filtering and display the complete list, click the magnifying glass icon again.
To revert a modification in the main list:
Double-click a desired entry on the Settings Audit tab.
The Audit Entry dialog opens. While here, you can click Next and Previous buttons to go to the next or previous item as they are displayed in the main list.
To revert the change, click the Revert button. If the button is disabled, it means that the change cannot be reverted.
Changes that can never be reverted include the following:
Any changes done by System or Connection Broker (as displayed in the Username column).
Changes that were done in previous versions of Parallels RAS where this feature did not exist.
Changes related to administrator accounts.
You can also view and revert configuration changes for a specific type of RAS components or objects. When you are on a particular pane (or tab) in the RAS Console, look for the Tasks > Settings audit menu option (or right-click > Settings audit). If it's there, then you can view the changes and revert them if needed. Consider the example below.
Let's say you want to see changes that were done to RD Session Hosts. To do so:
In the RAS Console, navigate to Farm > <Site> > RD Session Hosts.
Click Tasks > Settings audit.
The Settings Audit dialog opens listing all known modifications that were done to RD Session Hosts. The modifications may include creating, moving, deleting, or updating an RD Session Host. The type of the modification is displayed in the Action column in the list.
To revert a modification, select it and click the Revert button (in the lower right of the dialog). If the button is disabled when you select a particular entry, it means that the modification cannot be reverted.
The local settings audit functionality is available for most of the major components and objects in the Parallels RAS Console. This includes RD Session Hosts (including Groups and Scheduler), VDI, Remote PCs, Gateways, Connection Brokers, Themes, Publishing, Quick Keypad, and many others. Once again, when you view a particular pane, look for the Tasks > Settings audit menu option (or right-click > Settings audit). If it's there, then you can view the changes and revert them if needed.