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Configure Deployment Configuration Options

The deployment package contains a special script, which is automatically executed on a target Mac after the package is transferred to it. When executed, the script reads the configuration parameter values from the deploy.cfg file, which you can modify according to your needs.

To modify the parameters, expand the License Key and Configuration folder in the deployment package and open the deploy.cfg file in a text editor. The configuration parameters are organized in sections, which are described below.  

License

The License section is used to specify the Parallels Desktop Business Edition license key.

Variable

Description

license_key

Specifies the Parallels Desktop license key. See Specify a License Key for more info.

Virtual Machines

The Virtual Machines section is used to specify virtual machine deployment options.

Variable

Description

vm_register_mode

Specifies the registration mode for the deployed virtual machines.

Possible values:

"Private" — The virtual machines will be registered for the active user only. The virtual machines will be placed into the /Users/<user>/Documents/Parallels folder.

"Shared" — The virtual machines will be registered for all users of a Mac. The virtual machines will be placed into the /Users/Shared/Parallels folder.

The default destination folder for virtual machines can be modified using the vm_destination_folder variable (see below).

vm_reset_hwid

Specifies whether the virtual machine SMBOIS ID (hardware ID) will be regenerated. Each Parallels virtual machine is assigned a universally unique SMBIOS ID when it is created. When you deploy a virtual machine to many Macs, each resulting copy of the machine will have the same SMBIOS ID. This is the default behavior and should not be normally changed. If your enterprise management system relies on unique SMBOIS IDs, you can change the value of the vm_reset_hwid variable as follows:

"no" — Keep the original SMBIOS ID.

"yes" — Regenerate the ID.

vm_deploy_mode

Specifies whether the virtual machines will be copied or moved from the deployment package to their target folders on a Mac.

Possible values:

"Copy" — Copy the virtual machine from the package to the destination folder.

"Move" — Move the virtual machine from the package to the destination folder.

Before a virtual machine can be registered in Parallels Desktop, it needs to be copied (or moved) from the deployment package to a folder on the Mac. You can specify whether to use a Copy or Move operation.

Copying is slower but must be used if the deployment package is read-only or is placed on a network share. The virtual machine file will not be removed from the package after it's been copied to a Mac.

Moving is fast and can be used when the deployment package is copied directly to a Mac. If the virtual machine destination folder and the deployment package are placed on the same mount point, the move operation completes almost instantly. The virtual machine is removed from the package as a result. Note that moving will be as slow as copying if the virtual machine destination folder and the deployment package are placed on different mount points.

vm_destination_folder

Allows you to change the default destination folder for virtual machines. The default folder is determined by the value of the vm_register_mode variable (see above). The vm_destination_folder  variable allows you to change the default folder while keeping the selected virtual machine registration mode.

vm_password_to_edit

Specifies a password that will be required to modify the configuration of a virtual machine. For more information, please see Restricting Virtual Machine Configuration with a Custom Password.

<VM_file_name>

This variable takes a name of a virtual machine file and allows you to change the destination location and/or name of the target virtual machine.

The virtual machines contained in the Parallels folder of the deployment package will be copied to a default location on a Mac, which is determined by the vm_register_mode variable (or the vm_destination_folder variable if is present). If you have more than one virtual machine in this folder, you can specify a different destination location and/or name for a specific virtual machine if needed.

To specify a different location, you need to define a variable/value pair as shown in the examples below. The variable name should be the same as the virtual machine file name (including the ".pvm" extension). The variable value should contain an absolute path where you want the virtual machine to be copied on a Mac. You can specify a different destination location, a different virtual machine name, or both. Note that only the specified virtual machine will be copied to the specified location. All other virtual machines will be copied to the default location.

Examples:

"Shared_VM.pvm"="/Users/Shared/Shared VM.pvm"

"Private_VM.pvm"="~/Documents/Parallels/Private VM.pvm"

The following three variables are grouped together and allow you to customize Parallels Desktop Control Center by displaying a custom HTML banner at the top of its window. For additional information, see Using Custom Graphics and Links in the Control Center.

control_center_banner_url

The URL of a custom HTML page to be displayed as a banner in the Parallels Desktop Control Center window.

To disable the banner, comment out the variable or specify an empty string as a value.

control_center_banner_height

The banner height, in pixels. The recommended value is 350.

To use the current value (if you are updating Parallels Desktop on a Mac), comment out the variable.

control_center_banner_min_width

The banner minimum width, in pixels. When resizing the Control Center window, its minimum width will be limited accordingly. The recommended value is 350.

To use the current value (if you are updating Parallels Desktop on a Mac), comment out the variable. To disable the minimum width limitation, comment out the variable or specify 0 (zero) as a value.

Launch Options

The Launch Options section is used to specify whether Parallels Desktop should run as a service on or an application.

Note: The start_pd_as_service option is no longer supported in Parallels Desktop 12 and later versions. Instead, Parallels Desktop makes a decision whether to start as a service based on how the virtual machines are configured. If virtual machines are configured to run in background, Parallels Desktop will start as a service. Versions of Parallels Desktop prior to 12 will continue to use the start_pd_as_service option.

Variable

Description

start_pd_as_service

Specifies whether Parallels Desktop should run as an application or as a service.

The value of "yes" specifies that Parallels Desktop will run as a service. The service will start automatically on host startup and will stop on host shutdown. The service can be managed by launchctl (the standard macOS command line utility that allows you to manage daemons, applications, processes, etc.).

The value of "no" specifies that Parallels Desktop will run as a macOS application. The user will have to start and exit Parallels Desktop manually.

Depending on whether Parallels Desktop is already installed on a target Mac or not, the following will happen:

- If Parallels Desktop is already installed on a Mac as a service and the value of "no" is specified, the new installation will set up Parallels Desktop to run as an application.

- If this option is commented out and Parallels Desktop is already installed on a Mac, no changes will be made to the way Parallels Desktop runs.

- If this option is commented out and Parallels Desktop is not installed on a Mac, it will run as an application.

Software Updates

The Software Updates section is used to configure Parallels Desktop automatic updates.

Variable

Description

updates_url

Specifies the update URL. Possible values are:

"Parallels" — Download updates from the Parallels website over the Internet. Updates are downloaded from a special server hosting Parallels Desktop Business Edition updates, which become available on the server at a slightly later date compared to Parallels Desktop Pro edition. This is the default and recommended option. For more info, please see Configuring Parallels Desktop Update Options.

"None" — Turn off automatic updates.

<URL> — Specifies a custom update URL. You can use this option in one of the following two cases:

1) If you have a local update server, specify a complete URL (in quotes) of the parallels_updates.xml file on your local Web server. For more information, please see Setting Up a Local Update Server.

2) If you don't want to wait until Parallels Desktop Business Edition updates become available, you can specify the URL to download updates intended for Parallels Desktop Home and Pro editions, which are released a bit earlier. For more info, please see Configuring Parallels Desktop Update Options. The URL is as follows (when assigning it to the variable, put it in quotes):  http://update.parallels.com/desktop/v13/parallels/parallels_sbscr_updates.xml

Note: The "v13" part in the URL above indicates the current Parallels Desktop version number. If you are using a later version, substitute it with the correct number.

updates_auto_check

Specifies how often Parallels Desktop should check for updates.

Possible values:

"0" — never

"1" — once a day

"2" — once a week

"3" — once a month

updates_auto_download

Specifies the automatic update download options:

"on" — Download updates automatically. This value should be specified when using a local update server.

"off" — Notify the user about updates but don't download them automatically. This option is useful only when updates are downloaded from the Parallels website and the user has full control over the update functionality.

Help and Support

The Help and Support section is used to specify the action for the Help > Support Center menu item in the Parallels Desktop graphical user interface.

Variable

Description

support_url

Specifies a URL of a page that will be displayed when user selects the Help > Support Center menu option in the Parallels Desktop graphical user interface. To display the default message, specify an empty string (this is the default behavior). To display your own Web page (help desk, wiki, etc.), specify its URL.

See also Customizing Support Center Option.

lic_admin_url

Specifies a URL that will be included in error message dialogs related to licensing operations. The URL should point to a web page or a resource that the user can visit to get help with the problem.

The error message appears when there's a problem with activating, renewing, or deactivating a Parallels Desktop license. If you specify a URL using this variable, it will be included in the message dialog in the form "For details click <URL>". If you don't specify a URL (comment out the variable or specify an empty string), the default "Contact your system administrator" message will be displayed.

Problem Reporting

The Problem Reporting section is used to specify whether Parallels Desktop problem reports should contain screenshots of the macOS and virtual machine desktops. You can exclude the screenshots for security reasons.

Variable

Description

report_allow_screenshots

"yes" — Include screenshots of the macOS and virtual machine desktops in Parallels Desktop problem reports.

"no" — Do not include the screenshots.

Customer Experience

The Customer Experience section allows you to specify whether the Macs should participate in the Parallels Customer Experience Program. The Parallels Customer Experience Program is a feedback solution that allows Parallels Desktop to automatically collect usage statistics and system information that will help Parallels to develop new features and updates for future releases.

Variable

Description

cep_participation

"off" — participation in the program is turned off.

"on" — participation in the program is turned on.

See also Participating in Customer Experience Program.

Security

The Security section allows you to enable or disable the password requirement for a number of Parallels Desktop operations.

Variable

Description

The following set of parameters allows you set a custom password and then specify whether this password is required to perform a corresponding action in Parallels Desktop. For more information about this feature, please see Restricting User Actions in Parallels Desktop with a Custom Password.

current_password

The current password (if one is already set in target Parallels Desktop installations).

Use this key if you want to disable or change the current password, or if you want to enable/disable any of the actions when the password is already set.

When disabling the password completely, simply specify the current password and leave the new_password key (below) commented out.

When changing the password, specify the current password here and the new password using the new_password key. You can also enable or disable any of the actions if needed.

When enabling or disabling any of the actions without changing the password, both the current_password and the new_password keys must contain the current password.

new_password

Custom password. If no password is currently set, use this key to specify the password. If a password is currently set, see the description above.

password_to_edit_prefs

"on" — require the password to open the Parallels Desktop Preferences dialog.

"off" — the password is not required.

password_to_create_vm

"on" — require the password to create a new virtual machine.

"off" — the password is not required.

password_to_add_vm

"on" — require the password to add an existing virtual machine.

"off" — the password is not required.

password_to_remove_vm

"on" — require the password to remove a virtual machine.

"off" — the password is not required.

password_to_clone_vm

"on" — require the password to clone a virtual machine or converting it to a template.

"off" — the password is not required.

The following set of parameters allows you to specify whether a local Mac administrator password is required to perform a corresponding action in Parallels Desktop. Please note that the parameters described above provide a higher level of security since they allow you to use a custom password.

admin_password_to_create_vm

"on" — require a local Mac administrator password to create a virtual machine.

"off" — a password is not required.

admin_password_to_add_vm

"on" — require a local Mac administrator password to add an existing virtual machine.

"off" — a password is not required.

admin_password_to_remove_vm

"on" — require a local Mac administrator password to remove a virtual machine from Parallels Desktop.

"off" — a password is not required.

admin_password_to_clone_vm

"on" — require a local Mac administrator password to clone a virtual machine.

"off" — a password is not required.

User Experience

The User Experience section allows you specify options related to user experience.

Variable

Description

enable_single_application_mode

Specifies whether to enable Single Application Mode. For more information, please see Single Application Mode.

Possible values:

"yes" — enable Single Application Mode.

If the parameter is commented out, Parallels Desktop will be deployed using the "standard" mode.

NOTE: Please note that you cannot redeploy Parallels Desktop with this option set to "no" or commented out to disable Single Application Mode. For that, you will need to completely remove Parallels Desktop from your Mac computers and then redeploy Parallels Desktop with this option commented out.

show_developers_menu

Specifies whether to show or hide developer tools in the Parallels Desktop GUI. For more information, please see Hiding Developer Tools in Parallels Desktop GUI

Possible values:

"no" — hide developer tools.

"yes" — show developer tools.

Please note that this setting will be applied to every virtual machine included in the deployment package. You can also configure each virtual machine to hide (or show) developer tools prior to deployment, but with this option you can apply the setting automatically during deployment.