Running Parallels Server Bare Metal 5.0 in Virtual Machines

Starting with version 5, you can install Parallels Server Bare Metal in virtual machines. Running Parallels Server Bare Metal 5.0 in a virtual machine may prove useful if you want to evaluate the product but do not have a spare physical server.

To run virtual machines with Parallels Server Bare Metal 5.0, a physical server must meet the following requirements:

Have the following architecture:

• Intel with VT-x and EPT (Nehalem, Westmere, SandyBridge)
• AMD SVM and RVI (Barcelona, MagnyCore, Bulldozer)

  Run one of the following products:

• Parallels Desktop for Mac 7
• Parallels Workstation for Windows 6
• Parallels Workstation for Linux 6
• VMware Fusion 3

Recommended Virtual Machine Configuration

A virtual machine is best optimized for use with Parallels Server Bare Metal 5.0 if it has the following configuration:

• CPU:

  2 or more virtual CPUs

• Memory:

  2 GB or more RAM

• Hard disk:

  40 GB or more disk space; the disk must be of the plain type.

The process of installing Parallels Server Bare Metal in a virtual machine does not differ from that you use to install the product on a standalone server. For detailed installation instructions, refer to the Parallels Server Bare Metal 5.0 Installation Guide .

Restrictions and Peculiarities

When using Parallels Server Bare Metal in a virtualized environment, keep in mind the following restrictions and specifics:

• Running Parallels Server Bare Metal in a virtual machine is intended for evaluation purposes only. You are not recommended to use such installations in production.
• If you change the configuration of a virtual machine where Parallels Server Bare Metal is installed, you may need to reactivate the product.
• VMware Fusion may show a warning when you start a virtual machine with Parallels Server Bare Metal that it requires full access to the network traffic. Ignore this message, and proceed with booting the virtual machine.
• To run in a virtualized Parallels Server Bare Metal environment, a virtual machine must have Parallels Tools installed. So before starting a virtual machine for the first time, make sure that you have installed Parallels Tools in it.
• Virtual machines may run only 32-bit operating systems and have only one CPU.