Parallels Desktop | User's Guide

Installing and Upgrading Parallels Tools in Text Mode in Linux

After upgrading to Parallels Desktop, the X Server may fail to start in Linux virtual machines. To fix the problem, you need to install Parallels Tools in text mode.

1. Start the virtual machine.
2. When you see a message that X Server failed to start, switch to another virtual console using Ctrl+Option+F1 (Ctrl+Alt+F1) or Ctrl+Option+F2 (Ctrl+Alt+F2) and enter your login details.
3. Choose Install Parallels Tools from the Actions menu to connect the Parallels Tools ISO image to your virtual machine.
   Note: If the Install Parallels Tools option is grayed out, make sure that Parallels Tools can be installed in your guest operating system. To see the list of guest OSs supported by Parallels Tools, refer to the Parallels Tools Overview section in Parallels Desktop User's Guide.

   The prl-tools-lin.iso image file will be connected to the virtual machine's CD/DVD drive.

4. In the virtual machine console, type the following command to gain the root privileges:

   su

5. Check if the Parallels Tools CD image is mounted by entering

   mount | grep iso9660

   If this command does not return anything, proceed to the next step.

   If this command returns anything like

   /dev/cdrom on /media/cdrom type iso9660 (ro,exec,nosuid,nodev,uid=0),

   skip the next step and proceed to the following one.

   If this command returns anything like

   /dev/cdrom on /media/cdrom type iso9660 (ro,noexec,nosuid,nodev,uid=0)

   with the noexec option present in parentheses, you need to unmount the disc using the following command and then proceed to the next step:

   umount /dev/cdrom

6. To mount the Parallels Tools installation disc image, enter the following:

   mount -o exec /dev/cdrom /media/cdrom

   Note: /dev/cdrom is the virtual machine's CD/DVD drive and /media/cdrom is the mount point for this device. In some of the Linux operating systems the virtual CD/DVD drive may appear as /dev/sr0 or /dev/hdb and the mount point /mnt/cdrom. Some Linux OSs do not have the CD/DVD drive mount point. In this case, you should create the mount point directory manually.
7. When the installation disc image is mounted, change the directory to the CD/DVD drive directory using

   cd /media/cdrom/

8. In the CD/DVD drive directory, enter the following to launch Parallels Tools installation:

   ./install

   Note: You must have the root privileges to run this command.
9. Follow the Parallels Tools Installer instructions to complete the installation.
10. When the installation of Parallels Tools is complete, restart your virtual machine.

For general information on installing Parallels Tools in Linux, refer to Installing Parallels Tools in a Linux Guest OS.