Modifying VDI Host Configuration

Read this section to learn how to modify the configuration of a VDI host in Parallels RAS.

Configuring a VDI host

To configure a VDI host:

1. In the RAS Console, navigate to Farm / <site> / VDI.
2. Select the Virtual Desktop Hosts tab page in the right pane.
3. Select a VDI host in the Virtual Desktop Hosts list and click Tasks > Properties. The Host Properties dialog opens.

Note: Some of the properties described below may be unavailable on some servers. This depends on the type of the hypervisor installed on the host.

Enabling or disabling a VDI host in the farm

By default a VDI host is enabled in the farm. When it is disabled, published applications and virtual desktops cannot be served from it. To enable or disable a VDI host, use the Enable Host in site option on the Properties tab page.

Configuring VDI host connection settings

The following settings can be configured on the Properties tab page:

• VDI Type: Hypervisor type.
• VDI Version: Hypervisor version. If the hypervisor version that you are using is not listed, select Other.
• VDI Host: The VDI host IP address.
• VDI Port: Port number on which the VDI host listens for incoming connections.
• Description: An optional description.
• Dedicated VDI Host Agent: Select this option if you have a dedicated RAS VDI Agent installed on the VDI host.
• VDI Agent: The virtual appliance IP address. This field is enabled if the option above is selected.

Specifying credentials

On the Credentials tab page, specify the user name and password to log into the VDI host. Click the Check Credentials button to verify the credentials that you've entered.

Configuring the RAS VDI Agent on the server

RAS VDI Agent can be configured on the Agent Settings tab page.

• Max connections: Specifies the maximum allowable number of connections.
• Publishing Session Timeout: Specifies the amount of time each session remains connected in the background after the user has closed the published application. This option is used to avoid unnecessary reconnections with guest VMs.
• Allow Client URL/Mail Redirection: Select this option to allow http and mailto links to be opened using a local application on the client computer rather than the server resources.
• Preferred Publishing Agent: Select a Publishing Agent with which the RAS VDI Agent should communicate. This can be helpful when site components are installed in multiple physical locations communicating through WAN. You can decrease network traffic by specifying a more appropriate Publishing Agent.
• Allow file transfer command: Allows you to enable or disable the remote file transfer functionality. For more information, see Enabling or Disabling Remote File Transfer.
• Allow local to remote drag and drop. Enables the drag and drop functionality in a remote application. When this option is enabled, an end user can drag and drop files to a remote application on their local device. For example, a user can drag and drop a file to the Acrobat reader to open a PDF file. Or a user can drag and drop a file to Windows Explorer running on a remote server, etc.

  Note: At the time of this writing the drag and drop functionality is only supported on Parallels Client for Windows and Parallels Client for Mac.

Configuring RDP printing

The RDP Printer tab allows you to configure the renaming format of redirected printers.  The format may vary depending on which version and language of the server you are using. Select the RDP Printer Name Format option specifically for the configured server:

• Printername (from Computername) in Session no.
• Session no. (computername from) Printername
• Printername (redirected Session no)

The other RDP Printing options available in the RDP Printer tab  are:

• Remove session number from printer name
• Remove client name from printer name

Configuring VDI host maintenance time window

The Scheduler tab page allows you to create a maintenance time window for the server. During this time, published resources won’t be accessible from that server.

To configure a maintenance time window click Tasks > Add and then set the following options:

• Start date
• Time
• Duration
• Repeat

The On disable option allows you to specify what should happen to current sessions when a scheduled task triggers.