Configuring a RAS Template

The Create Parallels RAS Template Wizard is used to configure a new Parallels RAS Template. You need to complete the wizard before you can use the template to create virtual machines from it. The wizard consists of several pages, which are described below.

Note: You can access the same configuration pages for an existing RAS Template by selecting it in the list and then clicking Tasks > Properties . This will open a dialog (instead of the wizard described below), but the pages and configuration options will be the same.

General

On the first page of the wizard (or the General tab page when modifying an existing template), specify the following options:

• RAS Template. Specify a name for the template.
• Maximum guest VMs . Specify the maximum number of guest VMs that can be created from this template. Once the number of existing guest VMs exceeds this number, a VM is deleted to comply with the limitation.
• Pre-created guest VMs . Specify the number of VMs that will be automatically created in advance. This is done in order to have some VMs ready right away. If all pre-created VMs are already in use and another one is needed, it will be created on demand.
• Virtual machine name prefix . Specify a name prefix for guest VMs. A VM ID will be appended to it to make the final VM name unique.
• Delete unused guest VMs after the following period . Enable this option to automatically delete VMs that haven't been used for a specified period of time. Use the drop-down list to specify the time period.
• Clone method . Specify whether virtual machines should be created from this template as full or linked clones (see the Note and the Full vs. linked clones section below for more info). These options are only available when you create a new RAS Template; they are disabled when you modify the configuration of an existing template.

  Note: If the Create a linked clone option is grayed out, it means that the current version or Parallels RAS does not support linked clones with the hypervisor that you are using. At the time of this writing, support for linked clones is available for VMware, MS Hyper-V, and KVM. Please note that Citrix XenServer support in Parallels RAS includes full clones only. Fast clones support will be added in the near future.

  Full vs. linked clones: Guest VMs are created as clones (copies) of a RAS Template. A full clone is a complete copy of a template. As such, it occupies as much space on the physical hard drive as the source template and takes a significant time to create. A linked clone is a copy of a template made from a snapshot that shares virtual disk with the source template, therefore it takes much less space on the physical hard drive and it takes only a couple of minutes to create. Linked clones have other advantages, such as simplified disaster recovery, added security, single image management, to name a few.

Advanced

On the Advanced page, specify the following options:

• Folder . Specify the folder where guest VMs created from this RAS Template will be stored. This option is available if you are using Hyper-V, Hyper-V Failover Cluster, VMware vCenter, Citrix XenServer, KVM, or Nutanix.
• Native Pool . Specify the native pool to add the VMs to. This option is available if you are using VMware ESX and VMware vCenter.

Preparation

On the Preparation page, you can select and configure an image preparation tool. First, select whether you want to use RASprep or Sysprep.

RASprep is the Parallels RAS tool, which prepares Windows in a VM after cloning it from a base image. RASprep performs the following tasks during the initial startup of each new VM:

• Creates a new computer account in Active Directory for each guest VM.
• Gives the guest VM a new name.
• Joins the guest VM to the Active Directory domain.

Compared to Sysprep, RASprep works much faster because it modifies a lower number of configurable parameters and requires less reboots. The following table lists the main differences between RASprep and Sysprep:

After selecting the preparation tool, specify the following options:

• Computer name . A name pattern that should be used to assign a computer name to a VM. For example, Windows10-RAS-%ID%.
• Owner name . Owner name (optional).
• Organization . Organization name (optional).
• Administrative password . Local Windows administrator password.
• Join domain . Name of a domain for the VM to join.
• Administrator . Domain account.
• Password . Domain account password.
• Target OU . Full DN of an organizational unit. Click the [...] button to browse Active Directory and select an OU.

License Keys

On the License Keys page, specify the license key information that will be used to activate virtual machines created from this template.

First, select the license key management type that you are using in your organization (KMS or MAK). Parallels recommend to use KMS because MAK has limited activations.

Key Management Service (KMS): If you are using KMS, click the Finish button to save the template configuration information. Virtual machines that will be created from this template will look for KMS in DNS (at the end of the OS mini-setup and domain joining) and will be activated accordingly.

Multiple Activation Keys (MAK): If you are using MAK, do the following:

1. Click the Add button and type a valid key in the License key field.
2. In the Max guest VMs field, specify the maximum number of VMs that can be created from this template.
3. Click OK .

Note: Parallels RAS does not keep the old MAK key in guest VMs if it was updated in the Parallels RAS Template properties.

Summary

Review the template summary information. If not satisfied, click Back to correct the info as needed.

Select the Launch Parallels RAS Test Template Wizard on completion option to start a wizard allowing you to test the health of the template. The wizard allows you to see upon completion that all post-prep activities complete correctly. This includes checking DHCP settings, DNS registration, correct VLAN, joining the AD domain, correct target OU, etc. The wizard is described in the topic that follows this one .

Click Finish to save the template configuration information and close the wizard.

If you need to change the template configuration later, select it in the RAS Templates list and click Tasks > Properties . Use the dialog that opens to view and modify the template properties. The dialog consists of tab pages which are exact copies of the wizard pages described above.