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prlctl create

Creates a new virtual machine. A virtual machine can be created from scratch or from a virtual machine template. When created from scratch, the target operating system type or version must be specified. To create a virtual machine from a template, the template name must be passed to the command.

Syntax

prlctl create name { --ostype name | --distribution { name| list }} [ --location path ]

prlctl create name --ostemplate name [ --location path ]

Parameters

Name

Description

name

User-defined new virtual machine name. If the name consists of two or more words separated by spaces, it must be enclosed in quotes.

-o, --ostype name

The name of the family of the operating system that will be installed in the virtual machine. Select from one of the following:

  • windows
  • linux
  • macos
  • feebsd
  • os2
  • msdos
  • netware
  • solaris
  • other (specify this option if the operating system you are planning to install is not listed above).

-d, --distribution name| list

The operating system version that you are planning to install in the virtual machine.

To display the list of known operating systems, supply the list value instead of the OS name.

Or supply one of the following values (grouped by family):

Windows

  • win-311
  • win-95
  • win-98
  • win-me
  • win-nt
  • win-2000
  • win-xp
  • win-2003
  • win-vista
  • win-2008
  • win-7
  • win (specify this option if the Windows OS version you are using is not listed above).

Linux

  • rhel
  • rhel3
  • suse
  • debian
  • fedora-core (specify this option for all Fedora Core distributions except for Fedora Core 5).
  • fc-5
  • ubuntu
  • mandriva
  • centos
  • redhat
  • opensuse

Mac OS

  • macos-10.4
  • macos-10.5
  • snowleopard

FreeBSD

  • freebsd-4
  • freebsd-5
  • freebsd-6
  • freebsd-7
  • freebsd

MS-DOS

  • msdos-6.22
  • msdos (specify this option for all MS-DOS operating systems except for MS-DOS 6.22).

OS/2

  • os2-3
  • os2-4
  • os-45
  • ecomstation-1.1
  • ecomstation-1.2
  • os2 (specify this option for all OS/2 operating systems except for the ones listed above).

NetWare

  • netware-4
  • netware-5
  • netware-6
  • netware (specify this option for all NetWare operating systems except for the ones listed above)

Solaris

  • solaris-9
  • solaris-10
  • solaris-11
  • solaris (specify this option for all Solaris operating systems except for the ones listed above).

Other

  • qnx
  • openstep
  • other (use this option if the operating system version you are using is not listed above).

--ostemplate name

The name of the virtual machine template from which to create the new virtual machine. Use the prlctl list --template command to obtain the list of the available templates.

--location path

Name and path of the directory where to store the new virtual machine files. If this parameter is omitted, the files will be crated in the default virtual machine directory.

Remarks

When creating a virtual machine from scratch, you may specify the operating system family or version. If an operating system version is specified using the --distribution parameter, the virtual machine will be configured for that operating system. If an operating system family is specified using the --ostype parameter, the virtual machine will be configured for the default version of this OS family. The default versions are determined internally by Parallels and are kept in sync with other Parallels management tools such as Parallels Management Console. The best way to find out the default versions used in your Parallels installation is by creating a sample virtual machine.

Links

General Syntax

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