ERROR: Unable to check for updates

Symptoms

You are not able to download Parallels Desktop updates with the following error message:

    Unable to check for updates

or

    Unable to connect to the Parallels Update site. Please check your Internet connection and try again

Cause

You may have a faulty update domain listed in your local hosts file which prevents Parallels Desktop to update.

This problem also may be caused by proxy being turned on and being used on the host side.

Resolution

In order to resolve the issue follow the steps below:

1. If you have proxy turned on in your Mac - please turn it off at:
   System Preferences > Network > Advanced - Proxies
   And restart your Mac.

2. Open Applications > Utilities > Terminal and run the command below:

       cat /etc/hosts
   

3. Examine the output for similar entries (the output may be slightly different):

   127.0.0.1       pdfm.blist.parallels.com
   127.0.0.1       pdfm.vl.parallels.com
   127.0.0.1       registration.parallels.com
   127.0.0.1       update.parallels.com
   

4. In case such entries are present in your hosts file, remove them. To do it type it in Terminal:

   sudo perl -pi -w -e 's/127.0.0.1/#127.0.0.1/g;' /etc/hosts
   echo “127.0.0.1 localhost” | sudo tee –a /etc/hosts”`