Advanced Parallels Client Installation

The Parallels Client for Windows installer uses the MSI format. This enables you to deploy it remotely using Group Policies or any other deployment tool that can work with MSI installers.

There are two ways to modify the client installation settings:

  • Modify the original file using Orca.exe.
  • Run the installer from the command line: msiexec.exe /i RASClient.msi (or RASClient-x64.msi if using a 64 bit version)

Silent Install

To perform a silent install, run the following command:

msiexec.exe /qn /i RASClient.msi

In the command above, specify RASClient-x64.msi if using a 64 bit version of Parallels Client for Windows.

General Settings

When running an installation command specified above, you can pass the following properties to msiexec.exe using the PROPERTY=VALUE notation:

DEFSETTINGS: To use when Parallels Client installer reads 2xsetting.2xc (the file containing all settings to be used by the client) as default settings.

DEFSETTXML: To use when XML settings are entered manually.

OVERRIDEUSERSETTINGS: To override the user settings with client MSI settings.

  • 0 – Client settings are not overridden
  • 1 – Client settings are overridden with the new settings of the Client MSI setup.

DISABLEOPTIONS: To disable the Options button and hide the options to configure the client settings. This option can be applied to users without administrative rights.

  • 0 – Options are enabled
  • 1 – Options are disabled

DISABLEOPTIONSADMIN: To disable the Options button and hide the options to configure the client settings. This option can be applied to users with administrative rights.

DISABLESAVEPASSWORDADMIN: To disable the clients from saving the password even if they have administrative rights.

  • 0 – Option to save password is enabled
  • 1 – Option to save Password is disabled

DISABLESAVEPASSWORD: To disable the clients from saving the password. This option is ignored with users with administrative rights.

  • 0 – Option to save password is enabled
  • 1 – Option to save Password is disabled

INSTALLSSO: Exclude/Include SSO during silent installation.

  • 1 - Install SSO. ADDLOCAL=F_SSO is also required, as in ADDLOCAL=F_SSO INSTALLSSO=1
  • 0 - Exclude SSO

IGNORESETTCREDS: Controls the usage of credentials that are available in the .2xc file (available since builds 16.2.4.19490 and 16.5.1).

  • 0 - Connections imported from a .2xc file will use the credentials that are stored in the .2xc file (if any).
  • 1 - Credentials in the .2xc file are ignored (this is the default).

The IGNORESETTCREDS option above allows you to automatically add preconfigured RAS connection settings when you install Parallels Client. To do so:

  1. First install Parallels Client on some computer and configure the desired connection(s). Set a password for the connections and select Save Password.
  2. Export the client settings to a file.
  3. When performing a clean Parallels Client installation on a user's computer, use the following command line parameters:

    DEFSETTINGS=<2xc file> IGNORESETTCREDS=0

    where <2xc file> is the name of file that you exported in step 2.

  4. After the installation, the imported connection settings become available in Parallels Client for all users of a given computer.

SHAREDDEVICE: Creates a shared RAS connection for all users on a device. To use this command, you must have administrative privileges.

The command has the following format:

msiexec.exe /qn /i RASClient.msi SHAREDDEVICE="mode:settingsstring"

In the command above, the mode option can have the following values:

  • 0 - Deletes the shared connection. When this value is used, settingsstring must be empty, as in "0:".
  • 1 - Creates a shared connection. In this mode, an IT administrator configures the authentication type for the connection, and users authenticate using the selected type.
  • 2 - Creates a shared connection with shared credentials. In this mode, an IT administrator configures the credentials for the connection, and users authenticate automatically without providing them.

The settingsstring option can have the following values:

  • ui - Brings up the UI to enter the shared connection properties.
  • import - Imports shared connection properties from a .xml file created with the "export" command (below). Format: "1:import:c:\my data\my file.xml".
  • export - Exports share connection properties so that can be imported on another device with the "import" command (above). Format: "1:export:c:\my data\my file.xml".

Using Active Directory

There are two different ways that you can deploy an application through Active Directory. You can either publish the application or you can assign the application.

You can publish applications to users only, but you can assign applications to either users or computers. The applications are deployed in different ways, depending on which method you decide to use.

Parallels recommends that administrators assign the applications to COMPUTERS. The main reason is that the application is actually installed the next time the computer reboots.

When assigning to users, the application is not installed until the user actually clicks on the icons created for the application.

To assign an application to certain computers, simply do the following in Active Directory:

  1. Open the Group Policy Editor.
  2. To assign an application to a computer, navigate through the group policy console to Computer Configuration / Software Settings / Software Installation. Right-click the Software Installation container and click New > Package in the context menu. Select the appropriate MSI file and click Open. You are now asked whether you want to publish or assign the application. Select Assign and click OK.

Please note that when doing a silent installation, the MSI can be deployed using the following syntax (for the 64 bit version, use RASClient-x64.msi):

Example

The following example installs Parallels Client using the DISABLESAVEPASSWORD=0 option (enable the ability to save the password):

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Parallels Client Overview