Configuring a VDI provider

If you don't have the VDI provider properties dialog open, right click a VDI provider that you created and choose Properties.

On the Properties tab of the dialog, select Enable host in site to enable the host.

In the VDI subtype drop-down list, select how Remote PCs will be assigned to this VDI provider, so they can be later added to a Remote PC pool. The following options are available:

• Static: Using this approach, Remote PCs are assigned to the VDI provider by entering their FQDN or IP address (one by one) or by importing a list from a CSV file.
• Dynamic: This approach assigns PCs using the information from Active Directory. All you have to do is specify an organizational unit (OU) containing computer accounts to be assigned to the host.

Please note that once you choose one of the options above and assign PCs to the host later, you cannot switch from static to dynamic or vice versa later.

Depending on which VDI subtype you select on the Properties tab (see above), the Remote PCs tab will look differently. The subsections below describe Static and Dynamic scenarios respectively.

Static (VDI subtype)

Using this approach, Remote PCs are assigned to the VDI provider manually one by one or are imported from a CSV file. Parallels RAS 18 (and newer) supports a maximum of 1000 Remote PCs per VDI provider.

Note: To be manageable, Remote PCs should be domain-joined. In case of static assignment described here, it is possible to add non-domain joined PCs, but you will have to create the same local user account on each and everyone of them. Using a domain account and domain-joined PCs is recommended.

To add a PC, select the Remote PCs tab and do one of the following:

• Click Tasks > Add and type FQDN or IP address of a PC you want to add. You can click the [...] button to search for it. Next, enter the MAC address of the computer you are adding. Note that both fields are mandatory.
• Click Tasks > Import from CSV file and then select a CSV file containing the list of computers. The CSV file must contain two columns: (1) FQDN or IP address; (2) MAC address. Once again, both columns are mandatory and must contain valid values.

Dynamic (VDI subtype)

To use dynamic assignment, you need to specify an organizational unit (OU) containing computer accounts to be assigned to the host. To do so, select the Remote PCs tab and specify the organizational unit in the Target OU field. You can click the [...] button to browse Active Directory. Note that a maximum of 1000 Remote PCs can be returned in a single AD/OU search result.

Note: When using dynamic assignment, Remote PCs must be domain-joined. You cannot manage such PCs using a local Windows user account.

When you use the dynamic assignment, you have an option to install RAS Guest Agent on every PC by adding a Group Policy to the organizational unit with a script to deploy RAS Guest Agent. The following is an example of such script:

msiexec /i RASInstaller-<version & build>.msi ADDLOCAL=F_GuestAgent /qn+ /norestart

Other agent installation options are described in RAS Guest Agent installation options.