Information
Parallels Desktop Business Edition provides ability to password-protect the configuration settings of a virtual machine. When deploying Parallels Desktop, you can set the password in the source virtual machine before adding it to the deployment package. The deployed virtual machines will retain the password and the Mac users will not be able to modify the configuration without providing the correct password.
Using Parallels Desktop interface to set a password
The password is set using the Parallels Desktop graphical user interface as follows:
In Mac OS, open Parallels Desktop and select the desired virtual machine (the source virtual machine when preparing it for mass deployment).
On the virtual machine menu bar, select Actions > Configure to open the virtual machine configuration dialog.
Open the Business tab.
Find the Restrict Editing option. If the option is turned off, the button caption will read Turn On. Click it to turn the option on.
- On the next screen, enter the password, then enter it again to verify, and then click the OK button. The button caption should now read Turn Off.
To change or remove the password:
To change the password, click the Change Password button and then enter the old and the new passwords.
- To remove the password, click the Turn Off button and then enter the current password to remove the configuration lock.
If the password is set and the user tries to view or modify the virtual machine configuration, a dialog will be displayed asking to provide the password. Without the correct password, the user will be denied access to the virtual machine configuration dialog.
Using command line tools to set a password
In addition to the graphical user interface, you can use the prlctl command-line utility to set, reset, and view a password for a virtual machine.
To set a password, type the following command in Terminal:
prlctl set "vm_name" --password-to-edit
where vm_name is the virtual machine name in quotes.
You'll be asked to enter a password and then confirm it.
Please enter a new password:
Please confirm password:
To change or remove the password, type the following command:
prlctl set "vm_name" --password-to-edit
where vm_name is the virtual machine name in quotes. You'll be asked to enter the current password.
Please enter current password:
You will then be asked to enter and confirm the new password.
To remove the password, leave the line blank and press Enter twice (when asked to enter and confirm the password).
Please enter a new password:
Please confirm password:
To view the current protection status, type the following command:
prlctl list "vm_name" -i
The output will look similar to the following:
Encrypted: no
Edit restricted: yes
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