Configuring Guest VMs in a Pool

To configure a guest VM included in a pool, select a pool and then click Tasks > Show Guest VMs in Pool to open the Guest VM List dialog.

Checking the RAS Guest Agent status

A guest VM must have the RAS Guest Agent installed in it. The agent is installed by default when a guest VM is created from a RAS Template. If a guest VM was created outside the RAS Console using the native hypervisor tools, it may not have the agent installed in it. In such a case, the guest VM will be able to serve only the desktop, but no applications or documents.

To check if the RAS Guest Agent is installed in a guest VM:

1. Select a guest VM in the list and then click Tasks > Troubleshooting > Check agent .
2. The Guest VM Agent Information dialog opens displaying the information about the RAS Guest Agent.
3. If the agent is not installed, click the Install button and follow the instructions. The agent will be push installed in Windows running inside the guest VM.

Performing guest VM power operations

The power operations icons at the bottom of the dialog allow you to start, stop, suspend, and reset a guest VM.

Note: If you are using Nutanix Acropolis, the suspend operation is not available (the Suspend icon is disabled). The reason for this is Nutanix Acropolis does not support the suspend operation on its virtual machines.

Configuring guest VM properties

To view and modify properties of a guest VM:

Select a guest VM and click Tasks > Properties . The Guest VM Advanced Settings dialog opens. In the dialog, configure the following properties:

• Do not use this guest VM . If selected, the guest VM will not be used for remote application and desktop publishing.
• Computer name . Specifies the network name (domain name / IP address) that the system will use to connect to this guest VM.
• Port . Specifies the port number that the system will use to connect to this guest VM.
• Override default settings . Allows you to specify your own VM settings. By default, this option is cleared, so a VM is configured using default settings. To specify custom VM settings, select this option and then choose your own values for Connection timeout , Protocol , If session disconnects , and End a disconnected session options. For the descriptions of these options, please see the Configuring Default Guest VM Properties subsection below.

Configuring default guest VM properties

By default, all guest VMs in a site are configured using the default VM settings which are defined on a site level and automatically applied to all newly created VMs.

To view and modify the default settings, in the Guest VM List dialog, click Tasks > Default settings (or click the gear icon). The Default Guest VM Advanced Settings dialog allows you to view and modify the following properties:

• Connection timeout . If a connection with the guest VM cannot be established in this time period, Parallels RAS will cancel the connection attempt.
• Protocol . Specifies a protocol that Parallels RAS uses to communicate with the guest VM.
• If session disconnects . Specifies the action that should be taken if a user disconnects from a session. Actions include Suspend , Reset , Keep Current State , Stop . Use the after field to specify the amount of time that has to pass before the selected action takes place.

  Note for Nutanix Acropolis users: Nutanix Acropolis does NOT support the suspend operation on its VMs. If Suspend is selected in this field, no action will be applied to a Nutanix Acropolis VM when a session disconnect event occurs (a corresponding error will be recorded in the VDI Agent log). Since Suspend is the default action, you should consider selecting a different one if you are using Nutanix Acropolis.

Any modifications you make to default VM settings are immediately applied to all VMs in the current site that use them.