Parallels Remote Application Server

Parallels Client for Mac User's Guide

19.3

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Contents

Getting Started .......................................................................................................... 5

Parallels RAS 19 release history ....................................................................................... 5

System Requirements ..................................................................................................... 6

Installing Parallels Client Using an Invitation Email ............................................................. 6

Parallels Client Overview ........................................................................................... 7

Using Parallels Client for Mac ................................................................................... 9

Adding a New Connection ............................................................................................... 9

Configuring a RAS Connection ...................................................................................... 12

Connection ............................................................................................................................ 13

Display .................................................................................................................................. 15

Printing .................................................................................................................................. 17

Local Resources .................................................................................................................... 19

Experience ............................................................................................................................ 20

Network ................................................................................................................................ 20

Authentication ....................................................................................................................... 21

Advanced .............................................................................................................................. 22

Using a RAS Connection ............................................................................................... 23

Launching Published Resources............................................................................................ 23

Working with Remote Applications ........................................................................................ 26

Managing Sessions ............................................................................................................... 27

Configuring an RDP Connection .................................................................................... 27

Connection ............................................................................................................................ 28

Display .................................................................................................................................. 29

Local Resources .................................................................................................................... 30

Programs .............................................................................................................................. 31

Experience ............................................................................................................................ 32

Network ................................................................................................................................ 32

Authentication ....................................................................................................................... 32

Advanced .............................................................................................................................. 33

Contents

Using an RDP Connection ............................................................................................. 34

Modifying Parallels Client Preferences ............................................................................ 34

Exporting and Importing Parallels Client Settings ............................................................ 37

Index ........................................................................................................................ 38

Parallels

Client for Mac is an app that allows you to connect to Parallels RAS from a Mac

computer and run remote applications and desktops.

In This Chapter

Parallels RAS 19 release history .............................................................................. 5

System Requirements ............................................................................................ 6

Installing Parallels Client Using an Invitation Email .................................................... 6

Parallels RAS 19 release history

The following table lists the Parallels RAS 19 release history. Parallels RAS documentation is

updated for every release. This guide refers to the latest Parallels RAS 19 release from the table

below. If you are using a newer Parallels RAS release or version, please download the current

version of the guide from

https://www.parallels.com/products/ras/resources/

Parallels RAS Version Release Date

19.0 Initial release 07/27/2022

19.0 Update 1 08/31/2022

19.0 Hotfix 1 09/16/2022

19.0 Hotfix 2 09/30/2022

19.0 Hotfix 3 10/14/2022

19.1 Update 2 11/15/2022

19.2 Update 3 07/06/2023

19.3 Update 1 11/06/2023

C HAPTER 1

Getting Started

System Requirements

Hardware

Parallels Client for Mac runs natively on Mac computers with the Apple M1 chip and Mac

computers with an Intel processor.

macOS versions

Parallels Client for Mac supports macOS 12 Monterey up to macOS 14 Sonoma.

Installing Parallels Client Using an Invitation Email

Your system administrator will send you an invitation email with the instructions on how to install

Parallels Client for Mac and configure a Parallels RAS connection. The invitation email will contain

the following information and action links:

• A message from your system administrator.

• A link to download and install Parallels Client for Mac from the Mac App Store (links to Parallels

Client for other platforms may also be included if you are using other devices in addition to a

Mac computer).

• A link to automatically configure Parallels Client on your computer, so you can connect to

Parallels RAS.

• Parallels RAS connection properties. You can use this information to manually create a Parallels

RAS connection. The automatic configuration via the link (described above) is the preferred and

the easiest method, but you can use this information to create a connection manually if needed

for any reason.

To install Parallels Client using an invitation email:

1 In the invitation email, click the Apple thumbnail. This will open the Parallels Client page in the

web browser.

2 Click the link to view the app in the Mac App Store and then click Get > Install App.

3 Follow the instructions and install the app on your Mac.

To automatically create a Parallels RAS connection:

1 In the invitation email that you received from your system administrator, find the Configure

section and click the Click Here to auto configure the downloaded client link and follow the

instructions.

2 Once the Parallels Client is configured, it will open and ask you to log in to Parallels RAS.

Parallels Client Overview

3 Enter your credentials (e.g. your domain user name and password) and click Login.

4 If the login is successful, the main Parallels Client window opens displaying the published

resources that you can use.

Note: If you haven't received an invitation email from your system administrator, but would still like to

install Parallels Client on your Mac, you can visit the Mac App Store and search for the Parallels Client

app. You can then install it like any other app on your Mac. For the information on how to manually

configure a connection, please refer to Adding a New Connection section (p. 9).

Parallels Client for Mac RAS 19.3.1 introduces new modern interface that streamlines the

experience and makes it easier to access all your RAS resources in one place.

Modern interface

Modern interface is divided into the following sections (from left to right, top to bottom):

Parallels Client Overview

• Navigation drop-down list. Allows to switch between different RAS and RDP connections.

• Settings (p. 34) button. Opens Parallels Client settings.

• Main menu. Allows to perform popular actions with RAS and RDP connections.

• Favorite and All apps (p. 23) tabs. Contain published applications and desktops you can

connect to.

• View button. Allows to switche between list and table view for published resources.

• Sort button. Allows to sort published resources in different ways.

• Search button. Allows to search for specific resources.

• Resource navigation and breadcrumbs. Allows to quickly navigate between published folders.

• Resource area. Shows published resources.

Read this chapter to learn how to set up Parallels RAS connections, configure preferences, and use

Parallels Client to launch remote applications and desktops.

In This Chapter

Adding a New Connection ...................................................................................... 9

Configuring a RAS Connection ............................................................................... 12

Using a RAS Connection ........................................................................................ 23

Configuring an RDP Connection ............................................................................. 27

Using an RDP Connection ...................................................................................... 34

Modifying Parallels Client Preferences ..................................................................... 34

Exporting and Importing Parallels Client Settings ..................................................... 37

Adding a New Connection

Parallels Client allows you to have more than one connection, so you could easily connect to

different servers or using different connection properties

To manually add a connection:

1 From the main menu, click File > New Connection or select New Connection in the

drop-down menu in Parallels Client.

2 Do one of the following:

• If you want to create a Parallels RAS connection, enter the Parallels RAS IP address, its

hostname (this should be the server where the RAS Secure Gateway resides), or your work

email address.

Note: Connection discovery by email needs to be configured by system administrators. Contact

your system administrator to make sure that this option is enabled.

• If you want to create an RDP connection, click the Create RDP Connection instead link.

3 Click Next.

C HAPTER 2

Using Parallels Client for Mac

4 On the next screen, enter the connection properties.

When creating a connection, your system administrator should give you the connection

information that must be specified in this dialog. If you received an invitation email from your

administrator, you can find this information at the bottom of the message. The information will

look similar to the following:

To manually configure the RAS Connection, use the following settings:

Server: 192.168.1.10

Port: 443

Connection Mode: Gateway SSL Mode

When creating a Standard RDP connection, you need to know the IP address or hostname of

the remote computer you want to connect to.

5 If creating a Standard RDP connection, specify the remote computer IP address or hostname in

the Server field. If you are creating a Parallels RAS connection, this field will be auto-populated.

6 The Connection mode drop-down list is enabled only when creating a Parallels RAS

connection. Select one of the following options:

• Gateway Mode. Parallels Client connects to the RAS Secure Gateway and the session

connection is tunneled through the first available connection. This mode is ideal for servers

that are only reachable via the gateway and do not require a high level of security.

• Gateway SSL Mode. Same as the gateway mode above, but uses encryption to secure the

data.

• Direct Mode. Parallels Client first connects to the RAS Secure Gateway for the best

available terminal server and then connects directly to that server. This is best used when

the Parallels Client and the terminal server reside on the same network.

• Direct SSL Mode. Same as the direct mode above, but uses encryption to secure the data.

Using Parallels Client for Mac

7 In the Friendly name field, choose and type a friendly name for this connection.

8 The Advanced settings link opens the Connection Properties dialog where you can specify

additional connection properties. For more information, please see Configuring a RAS

Connection (p. 12) or Configuring an RDP Connection (p. 27).

9 Click OK to create a connection and connect to Parallels RAS.

10 This step may, or may not, appear depending on whether the two-factor authentication using

the Google Authenticator app is configured in Parallels RAS by the administrator. If Parallels

RAS is configured to use Google Authenticator, you will need to take additional steps. First you

need to install the Google Authenticator app on your mobile device. When you click Connect in

Parallels Client, you'll see a dialog displaying a barcode (also known as QR code) and a secret

key. Scan the code (or enter the secret key) into the Authenticator app. The app will generate a

one time password. Click Next in Parallels Client and enter the one time password in the OTP

field. Click Connect. On every subsequent logon, you'll only have to enter the OTP. For

step-by-step instructions, see the Using Google Authenticator subsection below.

On successful connect, the Grant access to Home folder dialog may (or may not, depending on

the server side configuration) open automatically. If you see the dialog, you can use it to specify

which folders on the local disk drive should be available to remote applications. For more

information about configuring local folders, see the description of the Disk drives option in

Configuring a RAS Connection > Local Resources or Configuring an RDP Connection >

Local Resources.

Using Google Authenticator

Use the following instructions when you see the multi-factor authentication dialog during the login

procedure. The dialog is displayed when your IT administrator configures two-factor authentication

using the Google Authenticator app.

Important: To use Google Authenticator, the time on your computer must be synchronized with a global

NTP time server, such as time.google.com. Otherwise, Google authentication will fail.

To use Google Authenticator, you need to install the Authenticator app on your iOS or Android

device. Simply visit Google Play or App Store and install the app. Once the Authenticator app is

installed, you are ready to connect to Parallels RAS using two-factor authentication.

To connect to Parallels RAS:

1 Opens Parallels Client and log in using your credentials.

2 The multi-factor authentication dialog opens displaying a barcode (also known as QR code) and

a secret key.

3 Open the Google Authenticator app on your mobile device:

• If this is the first time you use it, tap Begin and then tap Scan a barcode.

• If you already have another account in Google Authenticator, tap the plus-sign icon and

choose Scan a barcode.

Using Parallels Client for Mac

4 Go back to your computer and scan the barcode displayed in the Parallels Client login dialog.

If scanning doesn't work for any reason, go back in the Authenticator app, choose Enter a

provided key and then enter the account name and the key displayed in the Parallels Client

5 Tap Add account. This will create an account for your RAS connection and display a one time

password.

6 Go back to Parallels Client, click Next and enter the one time password in the OTP field.

On every subsequent logon, you only need to type your credentials (or nothing at all if the Save

password options was selected) and enter a one time password obtained from the Google

Authenticator app (the app will continually generate a new password). Please note that your IT

administrator has an ability to reset user accounts in Google Authenticator. If your account is reset,

you'll need to repeat the registration procedure described above.

Configuring a RAS Connection

To modify Parallels RAS connection properties, right-click it and choose Connection Properties.

The following subsections describe the tabs that you can click to view and configure the groups of

connection properties.

Using Parallels Client for Mac

Connection

Configuring the Primary Connection

On the Connection tab page, you can define a primary connection and one or more secondary

connections.

The primary connection is established with the specified RAS Secure Gateway. To specify the

primary connection information:

1 In the Primary Connection field, specify the server name or IP address. To connect to a

specific RAS Theme, specify its name after the server name or IP address separated by a slash.

For example, workspaceus.parallelsras.net/theme1. If not sure which Theme you should use,

ask your system administrator.

Using Parallels Client for Mac

2 In the Connection Mode drop-down menu, select one of the following options:

• Gateway Mode. Parallels Client connects to the RAS Secure Gateway and the session

connection is tunneled through the first available connection. This mode is ideal for servers

which are only reachable via the gateway and do not require a high level of security.

• Gateway SSL Mode. Same as the gateway mode above, but uses encryption to secure the

data.

• Direct Mode. Parallels Client first connects to the RAS Secure Gateway for the best

available terminal server and then connects directly to that particular server. This is best

used when the Parallels Client and the terminal server are on the same network.

• Direct SSL Mode. Same as the direct mode above, but uses encryption to secure the data.

3 In the Port field, specify the port on which the gateway listens for incoming connections.

4 In the Friendly Name field, choose and type a name of your choice for the connection.

Configuring a Secondary Connection

If the Parallels RAS farm you are connecting to has more than one RAS Secure Gateway, you can

define a secondary connection, which will be used as a backup connection in case the primary

gateway connection fails.

To add a secondary connection:

1 Click the Secondary Connections button.

2 In the Secondary Connections dialog, click the + button and specify a server name or IP

address. This should be a server hosting a secondary RAS Secure Gateway (the primary

gateway is used by the primary connection).

3 Select the connection mode and modify the port number if necessary.

4 If you have more than one secondary connection, you can move them up or down in the list. If

the primary connection cannot be established, Parallels Client will use secondary connections in

the order listed.

5 Click OK to close the Secondary Connections dialog.

Configuring the Logon Information

In the Logon section, specify the following properties:

1 Select Auto Start to enable Parallels Client to connect automatically on startup using this

connection.

2 In the Authentication Type field, select one of the following:

• Credentials. Enter credentials to log in to Parallels RAS.

• Smart card. Insert a smart card into the card reader and then enter a PIN when prompted.

• Web. Use the SAML SSO authentication.

Using Parallels Client for Mac

3 If you select Credentials in the previous step, enter your username, password, and domain

information.

Display

On the Display tab page, specify display properties as follows.

General Options

• Color Depth. Specify the desired color depth.

• Size. This option is available for standard RDP connections only.

• Graphics Acceleration. Choose the graphics acceleration type. The more advanced the

acceleration, the better will be the quality of the graphics. Please keep in mind that higher

quality accelerations require more processing power and faster network.

Using Parallels Client for Mac

Note: The acceleration setting does not affect connections with color depth less than 32 bit.

• None. No graphics acceleration.

• Basic. Basic acceleration.

• RemoteFX. More powerful graphics acceleration using the RemoteFX codec.

• RemoteFX Adaptive. Best graphics acceleration using RemoteFX Adaptive and H.264

codecs.

Note: If you select RemoteFX or RemoteFX Adaptive, the color depth is forced to 32 bit.

• Published Applications - Use primary monitor only. If selected, only the primary monitor

connected to your Mac will be used to display remote applications.

• Desktop Options - Span desktops across all monitors. If selected, remote desktops will be

spanned across all connected monitors.

•

Using Parallels Client for Mac

Printing

The Printing tab page allows you to configure printing options.

Technology

In the Technology drop-down menu, select the technology to use when redirecting printers to a

remote computer:

• None. Printers will not be redirected.

Using Parallels Client for Mac

• RAS Universal Printing technology. Select this option if you want to use RAS Universal

Printing technology.

• Microsoft Basic Printing Redirection technology. Select this option if you want to use

Microsoft Basic printing technology.

• RAS Universal Printing and Microsoft Basic redirection technologies. Select this option to

use both Parallels RAS and Microsoft technologies.

RAS Universal Printing

If you selected RAS Universal Printing technology, select printers to redirect in the Redirect

Printers drop-down menu:

• All. All printers on the client side will be redirected.

• Default only. Only your Mac's default printer will be redirected.

• Specific only. Select the printers to redirect in the provided list. The list becomes enabled for

selection only if you select this option.

Microsoft Basic Printing Redirection

Click the Configure button (enabled if Microsoft Basic Printing is selected above) and configure the

following options:

• Select Destination. Select a destination printer.

• Driver. Specify the printer driver to use.

• Open PDF in Preview. Opens a PDF document when previewing the material being printed.

Default printer settings

To configure default printer settings, click the Change Default Printer settings button.

The default printer list shows the available printers that are ready to be redirected by the client to

the remote computer. The list also includes the printing technology that the available printers will

use. The technology reflects the setting selected, as described in the Technology section above.

For example, if the technology was set to RAS Universal Printing technology, only the printers

using RAS Universal Printing will be listed.

To disable the default printer, select <none>. To redirect the default local printer on the client side

to the remote computer, select <default local printer>. When <custom printer> is selected, you

can specify a custom printer on the remote computer if one exists. The first printer that matches

the printer name inserted in the custom text box, will be set as the default printer on the remote

computer.

Select Match exact printer name to match the name exactly as inserted in the custom text box.

Please note that the remote printer name might differ from the original printer name. Also note that

local printers might not be redirected due to server settings or policies.

Using Parallels Client for Mac

Printing to a PDF file

Parallels Client for Mac gives you the ability to print to a PDF file. For that, a special option "Print to

PDF for %user% by Parallels" is added to the standard Print dialog. When you choose this option,

the document will be converted to PDF on the server side and then sent to Parallels Client for

printing.

Local Resources

Use the Local Resources tab page to configure how local resources are handled by the remote

computer.

Audio

Use the Remote Computer drop-down menu to specify whether the remote computer sound

should be played on your local computer.

Using Parallels Client for Mac

Select the Recording (if applicable) option to enable audio recording.

Local Devices and Resources

Clipboard. Select this option to enable the clipboard in a remote session. Click the Configure

button and choose clipboard redirection from one of the following: Bidirectional (allows to copy in

both directions), Server to client only, and Client to server only. You can copy and paste content

in plain text, RTF, and HTML formats.

Smart cards. Enables or disables smart card redirection to be used for authentication.

Video capture devices. Specifies video capture devices to redirect from a user device to the

remote session. This is a high-level redirection that allows to redirect a composite USB device,

such as a webcam with a microphone. When this option is selected and you click Configure, a

dialog opens where you can select a particular device or select one of following options: All — all

currently connected devices will be used; Use also devices that I plug in later — a device that is

plugged in after a session is started will also be used.

Folders. Allows you to specify local folders to automatically mount in a remote session. Select the

Folders option, then click the Configure button and add the desired folder(s) to the list. When you

run a remote application, you will see these folders mounted in the "Drives on user's

<computer-name>" folder. Under the list of the added folders you can find the Enable drive

redirection cache option that makes file browsing and navigation on the redirected drives much

faster.

Experience

The Experience tab page allows you to tweak the connection speed to optimize the performance

of the connection with the remote server.

If you are connecting to a remote computer on a local network that runs at 100 Mbps or higher, it is

usually safe to have all of the experience options turned on. It is also recommended to enable

compression to have a more efficient connection.

Network

Use the Network tab page to configure a proxy server if you have to use one to connect to

Parallels RAS.

To configure a proxy server, select the Use proxy server option and then select the protocol from

the following list:

• SOCKS4. Enable this option to transparently use the service of a network firewall.

Using Parallels Client for Mac

• SOCKS4A. Enable this option to allow a client that cannot connect to resolve the destination

host’s name to specify it.

• SOCKS5. Enable this option to be able to connect using authentication.

• HTTP 1.1. Enable this option to connect using the standard HTTP 1.1 protocol connections.

Specify the proxy host domain name or IP address and the port number.

For SOCKS5 and HTTP 1.1 protocols, select Proxy requires authentication and enter user

credentials.

Authentication

Use the Authentication tab page to specify what happens if Network Level Authentication fails.

In the If authentication fails drop-down menu, select one of the following options:

• Connect. The user can ignore the certificate of the server and still connect.

• Warn. The user is alerted about the certificate and still has the ability to choose whether to

connect or not.

• Do not connect. The user is not allowed to connect.

Using Parallels Client for Mac

Advanced

The Advanced tab page allows you to specify the following properties:

• Redirect URLs to this computer. Enable this option to use the local web browser when

opening 'http:" links.

• Redirect Mail to this computer. Enable this option to use the local mail client when opening

‘mailto:’ links.

• Use Pre Windows 2000 login format. If this option is selected, it allows you to use legacy

(pre-Windows 2000) login format.

• Network Level Authentication. Check this option to enable network level authentication,

which will require the client to authenticate before connecting to the server.

Using Parallels Client for Mac

• Override computer name. Specifies the name that your computer will use during a remote

session. If set, this will override the default computer name. Any filtering set by the administrator

on the server side will make use of the name specified here.

• Multifactor Authentication - Remember last used method. Select this option to remember

the last authentication method and use it the next time.

• Web Authentication - User default OS browser. Select this option to use the default web

browser. If cleared, the built-in browser will be used.

• Session prelaunch. Enables session prelaunch. This will make a remote application appear to

start faster. Use the Mode drop-down list to select Basic or Machine Learning. If you select

Basic, a session will be launched when Parallels Client gets the application listing. Because

the session will be launched some time before you start an application, it will take less time to

open the app. Please note that for the Basic mode to start working for this connection, you

need to enable it and then run an application using this connection for at least 15 minutes. This

is to prevent session prelaunch in connections that are not actively used.

The Machine Learning option will record and analyze your habits of starting applications and

will prelaunch a session a few minutes before you usually open an application on a given day of

the week.

Using a RAS Connection

To connect to Parallels RAS, select a connection in the drop-down menu. You can have multiple

active connections at the same time (both Remote Application Server and standard RDP). To

switch between active connections in Parallels Client, select a connection you want to switch to.

Note: If your domain password has expired or will expire soon, you will see a notification when you

connect to Parallels RAS. You can change your domain password at this time or (if it's still valid) you can

change it later.

On successful connect, the Grant access to Home folder dialog may (or may not, depending on

the server side configuration) open automatically. If you see the dialog, you can use it to specify

which folders on the local disk drive should be available to remote applications. For more

information about configuring local folders, see the description of the Disk drives option in

Configuring a RAS Connection > Local Resources.

Launching Published Resources

To launch a published resource, double-click it (or right-click and then chose Open). The resource

will open on your macOS desktop. Please note that there could be a slight delay before the

application opens. If during this delay you double-click the resource again, Parallels Client will

ignore it (i.e. the application will not be launched twice).

Using Parallels Client for Mac

You can have multiple published resources open at the same time. To switch between resources,

click Window in the main menu and then select a resource from the list (or simply select a resource

on your local desktop). To switch between apps using the keyboard, use "cmd + tilda" key

combination to switch between all running published app windows and the RAS Client

window/launcher. Please note that in Parallels RAS 18.1, this works with macOS 10.15 and

macOS 11 only.

Favorites

The Favorites tab allows you to quickly access frequently used applications.

To add an item to the Favorite tab:

Right-click the item you want to add and select Add to Favorites from the context menu or

click on the star icon near the item.

To delete an item from the Favorite tab:

Right-click the item you want to remove and select Remove from Favorites from the context

menu or click on the star icon near the item.

Using Parallels Client for Mac

Using the full screen mode

To view Parallels Client in full screen, click View > Enter Full Screen. To exit full screen, move the

mouse pointer all the way up to display the menu and click View > Exit Full Screen. Please note

that there is a delay displaying the menu, so it doesn't distract the user if the mouse pointer is

moved to the top of the screen unintentionally.

When you launch a remote application while in the full screen mode, Parallels Client will be

minimized to Dock and the application will be displayed on the macOS desktop. To switch to the

Parallels Client main window, click Window > Main Window in the main menu. To switch to a

remote application, move the mouse pointer up and click the application name in the Window

menu list.

Toolbar

The two-tier toolbar is displayed at the top of the main Parallels Client window. Using the toolbar

items you can:

• Switch between RAS connections and RDP connections.

• Open the RAS connection settings.

• Opening the connection menu (see below).

• Change the published resources view to display resources as icons or as a list.

• Sort resources in different ways.

• Search for a resource in the Search box.

Connection menu

Connection menu allows you to do the following:

• Refresh. Refresh the published resources view. The information is re-retrieved from the remote

server.

• Log Out. Log out and end the session on the remote server. All opened remote applications

will be closed, so you should save your work before using this option.

• Change Domain Password. Change the current user's domain password. Opens the Logon

dialog where you need to type your current domain password to be authenticated. Click OK to

open the Change Domain Password dialog and type a new password in both fields. The

password must meet the requirements set by your system administrator. The requirements are

displayed in the dialog, and the password that you enter is validated against these

requirements. To proceed with changing your password, all of the requirements must be met.

• Create Shortcuts for Favorite Items. Create shortcuts for favorite items in the folder selected

for shortcuts.

• Delete Connection. Delete the current connection.

Using Parallels Client for Mac

Changing desktop resolution

When you change your macOS desktop resolution, the resolution of a remote application or

desktop has to be adjusted on the server side to match the local resolution. In order to do so,

Parallels Client needs to disconnect from Parallels RAS and then connect to it again. This is done

automatically and transparently to the user.

Getting Help

To read the Parallels Client for Mac User's Guide, click Help > Parallels Client Help. This will

open an online version of this guide.

Working with Remote Applications

When a remote application is launched on your Mac, you can work with it just like you would with a

local application.

You can perform any of the following tasks:

• Open local files in the application.

• Create new files and save them locally.

• Maximize and minimize the application (if it has the controls for it).

• Move the application around macOS desktop.

• Print documents or graphics to a local printer.

Drag and drop functionality

You can drag and drop files to and from remote applications. For example, you can drag and drop

a local file to a remote application to open it, or you can drag and drop a file from the remote

Windows Explorer to the local Explorer. You can also drag and drop object like images and text

from/to remote applications. Some limitations apply, so it may not work for all types of files and

applications. The list bellow describes formats that are supported:

• Files — files can be dragged from Finder and dropped to a remote application. The remote

application will open the file given that it has access to the file itself. Any changes are done to

the original file.

• Virtual file contents — dragging of virtual files similar to dragging attachments from a mail

client to a remote application. A copy of the file is used temporarily. Usually the original file is not

modified.

• Global data formats — dragging of elements like images or text blocks. This highly depends

on the format itself, so it is not guaranteed that all applications and formats will work.

• EMF format — when combining images and text, some applications convert the data into EMF

(Enhanced Metafile), which is supported.

Using Parallels Client for Mac

• HTML format — dragging of HTML content from web browsers is supported.

Please note that while drag and drop is in progress, you cannot interact with the source and

destination folders or applications. If the amount of data being transferred is large, you may have to

wait until the transfer is complete.

Managing Sessions

When you connect to Parallels RAS and launch a published resource, a session is created on the

server side. You can manage sessions from the Sessions menu as follows:

• Disconnect session. Disconnect from the remote server. The session, and all opened remote

applications, will continue to run on the server. To reconnect to the section, open any published

resource.

• Disconnect all RAS sessions. Disconnect all active sessions (not just the current one). The

sessions will continue to run on the remote server.

• Send Ctrl+Alt+Delete. Send Ctrl+Alt+Delete to the remote session.

• Session Information. Display the session information. For this menu to be enabled, you need

to select a running published resource.

• Smart Sizing. Specifies how resolution behaves when application screen size is changed:

• Scale (fit to window). Application screen size can be changed but the resolution does not

change.

• Resize (update resolution). Resulting changes together with the application screen size.

• Disabled. Application screen size cannot be changed.

Configuring an RDP Connection

To modify a standard RDP connection properties, right-click it and choose Connection

Properties. This opens the connection properties dialog. The following subsections describe the

tabs that you can click to view and configure the groups of RDP connection properties.

Using Parallels Client for Mac

Connection

To specify the connection information:

1 In the Primary Connection field, specify the remote computer host name or IP address.

2 The Port field contains the TCP port 3389 by default, which is the standard port for RDP

connections. You can modify it if the port number was changed on the remote computer.

3 In the Friendly Name field, choose and type a name of your choice.

In the Logon section, specify the following properties:

1 Select the Auto Start options to enable Parallels Client to connect automatically (using this

connection) on startup.

2 Enter your username, password, and domain information.

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Display

On the Display tab page, specify display properties as follows.

General Options

• Color Depth. Choose the color quality.

• Size. Choose the size of a remote desktop as it will appear on your screen.

• Graphics Acceleration. Choose the graphics acceleration type. The more advanced the

acceleration, the better will be the quality of the graphics. Please keep in mind that higher

quality accelerations require more processing power and faster network.

Note: The acceleration setting does not affect connections with color depth less than 32 bit.

• None. No graphics acceleration.

• Basic. Basic acceleration.

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• RemoteFX. More powerful graphics acceleration using the RemoteFX codec.

• RemoteFX Adaptive. Best graphics acceleration using RemoteFX Adaptive and H.264

codecs.

Note: If you select RemoteFX or RemoteFX Adaptive, the color depth is forced to 32 bit.

Desktop Options

Span desktops across all monitors. If selected, a remote desktop will be spanned across all

monitors connected to your local Mac.

Local Resources

Use the Local Resources tab page to configure how local resources are handled by the remote

computer.

Using Parallels Client for Mac

Audio

Use the Remote Computer drop-down menu to specify whether the remote computer sound

should be played on your local computer.

Select Recording (if applicable) to enabled audio recording.

Local Devices and Resources

Clipboard. Select this option to enable the clipboard in a remote session. Clear the option to

disable the clipboard.

Folders. Allows you to specify local folders to automatically mount in a remote session. Click the

Folders option, then click the Configure button and add the desired folder(s) to the list. When you

run a remote application, you will see these folders mounted in the "Drives on user's

<computer-name>" folder. Under the list of the added folders you can find the Enable drive

redirection cache option that makes file browsing and navigation on the redirected drives much

faster.

Smart cards. Enables or disables smart card redirection to be used for authentication.

Video capture devices. Specifies video capture devices to redirect from a user device to the

remote session. This is a high-level redirection that allows to redirect a composite USB device,

such as a webcam with a microphone. When this option is selected and you click Configure, a

dialog opens where you can select a particular device or select one of following options: All — all

currently connected devices will be used; Use also devices that I plug in later — a device that is

plugged in after a session is started will also be used.

Printers. Select this option to redirect local printers.

To specify local printers:

1 Select Printers and then click Configure.

2 In the Select Destinations drop down list, specify All printers or a specific printer.

3 In the Driver drop-down list, select the printer driver to use.

4 Select the Open PDF in Preview option to be able to open PDF documents in preview before

printing.

Programs

On the Program tab page, you can specify a program to start automatically on the remote

computer when you establish a Remote Desktop connection with it.

Select the Start the following program on connection option, then specify the program path and

file name, and the start-in folder, if needed.

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Experience

The Experience tab page allows you to tweak the connection speed to optimize the performance

of the connection with the remote host.

If you are connecting to a remote computer on a local network that runs at 100 Mbps or higher, it is

usually safe to have all of the experience options turned on. It is also recommended to enable

compression to have a more efficient connection.

Network

Use the Network tab page to configure a proxy server if you have to use one to connect to a

remote computer.

To configure a proxy server, select the Use proxy server option and then select the protocol from

the following list:

• SOCKS4. Enable this option to transparently use the service of a network firewall.

• SOCKS4A. Enable this option to allow a client that cannot connect to resolve the destination

host’s name to specify it.

• SOCKS5. Enable this option to be able to connect using authentication.

• HTTP 1.1. Enable this option to connect using the standard HTTP 1.1 protocol connections.

Specify the proxy host domain name or IP address and the port number.

For SOCKS5 and HTTP 1.1 protocols, select Proxy requires authentication and enter the

credentials.

Authentication

Use the Authentication tab page to specify what happens if Network Level Authentication fails.

In the If authentication fails drop-down menu, select one of the following options:

• Connect. The user can ignore the certificate of the server and still connect.

• Warn. The user is alerted about the certificate and still has the ability to choose whether to

connect or not.

• Do not connect. The user is not allowed to connect.

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Advanced

The Advanced Settings tab page allows you to customize the default behavior or Parallels Client.

You can specify the following properties:

• Connect to Console. This option is used for administration of a Remote Desktop Session Host

server. It acts as if a standard Remote Desktop connection is initiated from the command line

with the /admin option.

• Use Pre Windows 2000 login format. If this option is selected, it allows you to use legacy

(pre-Windows 2000) login format.

Using Parallels Client for Mac

• Network Level Authentication. Check this option to enable network level authentication,

which will require the client to authenticate before connecting to the server.

• Override computer name. Specifies the name that your computer will use during a remote

desktop session. If set, this will override the default computer name. Any filtering set by the

administrator on the server side will make use of the name specified here.

Using an RDP Connection

After adding a Standard Remote Desktop connection, select RDP Connections in the drop-down

menu, find you connection and double-click it (or right-click > Connect) to establish a connection

with the remote computer.

On successful connect, the Grant access to Home folder dialog may (or may not, depending on

the server side configuration) open automatically. If you see the dialog, you can use it to specify

which folders on the local disk drive should be available to remote applications. For more

information about configuring local folders, see the description of the Disk drives option in

Configuring an RDP Connection > Local Resources (p. 30).

You can have multiple active connections at the same time. To switch between active connections

in Parallels Client, click a connection icon in Parallels Client.

When you connect to Parallels RAS and launch a remote a desktop, a session is created on the

server side. You can manage sessions from the Sessions menu as follows:

• Disconnect. Disconnect from the remote server. The session continues to run on the remote

server. To re-connect, double-click the RDP connection again.

• Send Ctrl+Alt+Del. Send a Ctr-Alt-Del key combination to the remote computer. For this item

to be enabled, you must select a running remote desktop.

• Session Information. Display the session information. For this item to be enabled, you must

select a running remote desktop.

• Disconnect all RDP sessions. Disconnect all active RDP sessions. The sessions continue to

run on their respective remote servers.

To switch to the main Parallels Client window when a remote desktop is in full-screen mode, click

Window > Main Window in the main menu.

Modifying Parallels Client Preferences

To modify Parallels Client preferences, click Parallels Client > Settings in the main menu.

Using Parallels Client for Mac

General

• Show Parallels Client icon in menu bar. Adds Parallels Client icon to the Mac menu bar.

• Logging. Allows you to set logging level. The View Log and Clear Log buttons allow you to

view and erase the log file.

Keyboard

On the Keyboard tab page, you can choose keyboard shortcuts to send Windows-specific

commands to remote applications or desktops:

• Send Ctrl key using: Select one or more options to send the Ctrl key command.

• Send Windows logo key using: Select one or more options to send the Windows logo key

(the key on a standard PC keyboard with the Windows logo on it).

Using Parallels Client for Mac

Advanced

• Do not warn if server certificate is not verified. When connected over SSL, and the

certificate is not verified, a warning message will be displayed. You can disable this warning

message by enabling this option.

• Raw printing support. When this option is enabled, printing will work for applications sending

data in RAW format.

• Close error messages automatically. When this option is enabled, errors that occur during

application launch are not shown.

• Swap Mouse Buttons. When enabling this setting, the mouse buttons will be swapped on the

remote computer.

• DPI aware. Select this option when running a remote desktop session on a Retina display for

best image quality. Please note that if you are already connected to Parallels RAS, you will need

to fully sign out and then sign in for this option to take effect. Please also note that a Windows

application must have proper support for HiDPI scaling to look crisp on a Retina display.

• Allow Parallels Client to create shortcuts configured by the administrator. Create shorcuts

configured by your administrator on the server side.

• Shortcuts folder. Select a folder for creating shortcuts.

Using Parallels Client for Mac

Exporting and Importing Parallels Client Settings

You can export current Parallels Client settings to a file to have a backup or to import the settings

into a Parallels Client installed on a different computer. The following settings are exported:

• All existing connections including all individual connection properties.

• Parallels Client preferences.

To export the current Parallels Client settings to a file, click File on the main menu and then click

Export Settings. In the dialog that opens, specify a file name and a destination folder. Click Save

to export the settings. The file is saved with the ".2xc" extension.

To import the settings, click File > Import Settings. In the dialog that opens, select the ".2xc" file

and click Open. Please note that the Parallels Client settings stored in a file will override the current

Parallels Client settings.

Index

Adding a New Connection - 9

Advanced - 22, 33

Authentication - 21, 32

Configuring a RAS Connection - 12

Configuring an RDP Connection - 27

Connection - 13, 28

Display - 15, 29

Experience - 20, 32

Exporting and Importing Parallels Client

Settings - 37

Getting Started - 5

Installing Parallels Client Using an Invitation

Email - 6

Launching Published Resources - 23

Local Resources - 19, 30

Managing Sessions - 27

Modifying Parallels Client Preferences - 34

Network - 20, 32

Parallels Client Overview - 7

Parallels RAS 19 release history - 5

Printing - 17

Programs - 31

System Requirements - 6

Using a RAS Connection - 23

Using an RDP Connection - 34

Using Parallels Client for Mac - 9

Working with Remote Applications - 26

Index