Log in and activate Parallels RAS

After you've installed Parallels RAS, run the RAS Console and activate your new Parallels RAS Farm.

Start the Parallels RAS Console

By default, the Parallels RAS Console is launched automatically after you click Finish on the last page of the installation wizard. To launch the console manually, navigate to Start > Apps > Parallels and click on Parallels Remote Application Server Console.

When the Parallels RAS Console is launched for the first time, you are presented with the login dialog. In the dialog, specify the following:

• Farm: A Parallels RAS Farm to connect to. Enter the FQDN or IP address of the server where you have RAS Publishing Agent installed.
• If you've installed the Parallels Single Sign-On component when installing the RAS Console, you will see the Authentication type field from which you can select whether to log on using your credentials or SSO. If you reboot after the installation and select SSO, select Single Sign-On and then click Connect. Your Windows credentials will be used to log in to the RAS Farm. If you select Credentials, enter your credentials as described below.
• Username: A user account with administrative privileges on the server where Parallels RAS is installed (usually a domain or local administrator). The account name must be specified using the UPN format (e.g. administrator@domain.local). The specified user will be automatically configured as the Parallels RAS administrator with full access rights.
• Password: The specified user account password.
• If you select the Remember credentials option, this dialog will not be shown the next time you launch the Parallels RAS Console.

The Edit Connections button opens a dialog where you can manage your RAS connection. This dialog becomes useful if this is not the first time you are connecting to one or more of your RAS Farms. The left pane of the dialog displays RAS Farms to which previously connected (you can remove a Farm from the list by clicking the [-] icon if you no longer need it). The right pane displays at least the primary Publishing Agent for the selected Farm. If you've added a secondary Publishing Agents to a Farm, you can add it to this list by clicking the [+] icon and typing its hostname or IP address (click the "recycle" icon to verify the agent status). This way the RAS Console will try to connect to the primary Publishing Agent first and if it fails (e.g. the agent is offline or cannot be reached), it will try to connect to the secondary Publishing Agent. For more information about secondary Publishing Agents, please see Parallels RAS Publishing Agents chapter.

When you are done entering the connection information, click the Connect button to connect to the Parallels RAS Farm.

Sign in to Parallels My Account

To activate Parallels RAS, you must register for a Parallels business account. After you logged in to Parallels RAS, you'll see the Sign In to Parallels My Account dialog. If you already have an account, type the email address and password you used to register the account and click Sign In.

Note: If you use an HTTP proxy server on your network, you will see a dialog asking you to configure the proxy server connection settings. Click the Configure Proxy button. In the dialog that opens, select one of the following: Use system proxy settings (the default proxy settings from the Internet Explorer will be used) or Manual HTTP proxy configuration (specify the settings manually). If your proxy configuration changes, you can re-configure it later by navigating to Administration > Settings and clicking the Configure Proxy button.

If you don't have a Parallels business account, you can register for one as follows:

1. In the Sign In to Parallels My Account dialog, click Register. The Register Parallels My Account dialog opens.
2. Enter your name and email address, choose and type a password, and enter your company info (all fields are required).
3. Follow the links to Parallels Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. After reading them (and if you agree) select the I have read and agree to the Parallels Privacy Policy and Terms of Use checkbox.
4. Click Register to register an account. This will create a personal account for yourself and a business account for your organization to which you will be assigned as administrator.

Activate Parallels RAS

After you sign in to Parallels My Account, the Activate Product dialog opens asking you to activate the Parallels RAS Farm.

If you already have a Parallels RAS license key, select the Activate using license key option and enter the key in the field provided. You can click the button next to the field to see the list of subscriptions and/or permanent license keys you have registered in Parallels My Account. If the list is empty, it means that you don't have any subscriptions or license keys and need to purchase one first.

Note: You can manage your Parallels RAS license using the Licensing category in the Parallels RAS console. The management tasks include viewing the license information, switching to a different Parallels My Account, and activating the Parallels RAS Farm using a different license key. For more information, please see the Licensing section.

If you don't have a Parallels RAS license key, you have the following options:

• Purchase a subscription online by clicking the Purchase a license link.
• Activate Parallels RAS as a trial by selecting the Activate trial version option.

After entering a license key (or selecting to activate a trial version), click Activate. You should see a message that the Parallels RAS Farm was activated successfully. Click OK to close the message box.

The first dialog that you see informs you that you have no servers configured that can be used to host published resources. This means that to begin using Parallels RAS, you need at least one RD Session Host, VDI provider, or a Remote PC configured. We'll talk about configuring a Parallels RAS Farm in the next chapter. For now, click OK to close the message box. You will then see the Applying Settings dialog. Wait for the initial configuration of Parallels RAS to complete and click OK. You will now see the main Parallels RAS Console window where you can begin configuring the Parallels RAS Farm.

Read on to learn how to quickly add an RD Session Host, publish resources, and invite your users to Parallels RAS.