Using Virtualized Resources

By adding the VDI Host to the Remote Application Server one can manage the virtual machines on the VDI Host, create guest clones and publish virtual desktops and applications from virtual guests.

The Parallels VDI Agent requires the following ports open to operate properly:

• TCP: 30006 and 30007
• UDP: 30006

Different hypervisors will require different configuration and setup processes. This is due to the fact that ever every platform works differently.

Within this document, the necessary setup and configuration for the following Hypervisors will be covered:

1. Microsoft HyperV VDI Host
2. VMWare VDI Host with Vcenter
3. vESXi VDI Host

Microsoft HyperV VDI Host

Adding a Microsoft Hyper-V hypervisor is in most cases the simplest of all deployments. In essence, the only prerequisites for successful operation are the following:

1. A machine running Microsoft Hyper-V (instructions here: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc732470%28v=ws.10%29.aspx)
2. Deployment of the VDI Agent role

Configuring a HyperV VDI Host

Configuration of a VDI host running Microsoft Hyper-V is possible as per the following steps:

• Highlight the VDI Hosts node from the navigation tree in the Farm category and from the Tasks drop down menu click Add
• In the first step of the wizard select MS Hyper-V from the VDI Type drop down menu and enter the hostname of the VDI host.

• Click Next when ready and proceed with the wizard to install the VDI agent on the Host

VMWare VDI Host with Vcenter

Configuration of a VDI host running VMware vCenter is possible as per the following steps:

• Select the VDI Hosts node from the navigation tree in the Farm category and from the Tasks drop down menu clickAdd

• In the first step of the VDI Hosts wizard, select VMware vCenter from the VDI Type drop down menu and specify VC as VDI Host. Click Next to proceed

  

• Like with other servers, proceed with the wizard to install the VDI Agent on the host machine where VMware vCenter is installed
• Once the VDI Agent is installed specify the credentials of the VMWare vCenter server so the product can connect to it

• Click OK to add the new VDI Host to the Parallels Remote Application Server farm.

vESXi VDI Host

Configuration of a VDI host running vESXi is possible as per the following steps:

Note: If the VMWare ESX server is managed by VCenter which have a Parallels VDI Agent installed on it there is no need to install the appliance on the ESX server.

Install Parallels VDI Agent Appliance

The below procedure shows the first pre-requisite in order to manage a vESXi host. The Parallels VDI Agent Appliance on the ESXi server will act as the VDI agent on the ESXi server. This can be done as follows:

• Download the necessary Appliance from: https://www.2x.com/ras/downloadlinks/
• Extract the 2X_VDI_Agent_Appliance_vSphere
• Login to the VMWare vEXSi server using vSphere client
• Select Deploy OVF Template from the File drop down menu to launch the wizard
• Click Browse, browse to the OVF template Parallels VDI Agent Appliance.ovf and click Open
• Proceed through the wizard and import the virtual machine
• Run the new Parallels VDI Agent Appliance and open the Console
• If prompted, specify a new password for the root account once prompted

Select the option to configure network manually once prompted and use the below details:

• IP Address: 192.168.131.25
• Network Mask 255.255.255.0
• Gateway: 192.168.131.2
• Name Server: 192.168.131.111

• Click Apply once ready

Adding ESXi as a VDI Host

Once the appliance has been setup, the next step is to configure the server as a VDI host. This can be done as follows:

• From the Farm category navigate to the VDI Hosts node and click Add from the Tasks drop down menu
• In the first step of the wizard, select VMware ESX from the VDI Type drop down menu and specify the VDI Host IP and the VDI Agent appliance IP in the VDI Agent input field

• In the Installing Parallels VDI Agent dialog box specify the credentials of the VDI Agent machine (using root as username)

• Proceed with the wizard to add the server to the Parallels Remote Application Server farm. With these steps, an Administrator should have his desired VDI host configured and available within the Parallels Console.

Managing Guests

Guests are the virtual machines running on the VDI Hosts. To manage the guests and publish resources from them, the Parallels VDI Guest agent has to be installed on the guest machines.

To list and manage guests on a VDI host, highlight the Host in the Parallels Console and click Virtual Guest Settings.

Default Guest Settings

To configure the default connection timeout and other settings related to the communication between the Parallels Remote Application Server and the guest, select Default Settings from the Tasks drop down menu.

Note: Default settings can be overridden when configured specifically on the guest.

Installing the Parallels VDI Guest Agent

For the VDI Agent to communicate with the Parallels Remote Application Server farm, the following ports should be open: - TCP: 30004 - UDP: 30004

To install the Parallels VDI Guest Agent: 1. Power on the guest from the Virtual Guests List dialog box 2. Highlight the guest and select Check Agent from the Tasks drop down menu 3. Proceed with a normal Parallels agent installation

Managing Guests Pools

Pools are used to manage extensive number of guests from VDI hosts. Pools can be managed from Pool Management tab in the VDI Hosts node.

Creating a New Pool

To create a new pool select Add from the Tasks drop down menu in the Pools section and specify a pool name.

Adding Members to a Pool

To add members to a pool, highlight the pool name from the Pools section and select the specific action from the Addin the Members section Tasks drop down menu.

Note: Parallels Remote Application Server also supports native pools of certain virtualization solutions. Hence should you have a pool already setup on one of your VDI hosts, you can add that native pool to a Parallels pool.

Publishing Resources from VDI Guests

• You can publish both virtual desktops and applications (unique feature to Parallels Remote Application Server) from VDI guests, or pools of VDI guests. By following this procedure you will be able to publish the notepad application from the bereavement vDesktopE1 guest:
• Click Add from the Publishing category to launch the publishing wizard
• In the first step of the wizard select Application

• In the second step of the wizard select Virtual Guest
• Proceed with the wizard and in the fourth step of the wizard specify the application details (click the browse (…) button to specify an application path)

• In the Virtual Guest Settings select Specific Guest and use the drop down arrow to select the guest vDesktop E1

  

• Click Finish to publish the application.

  Note: The same procedure applies when publishing a desktop from a VDI guest.

  

Managing Templates

Parallels Templates allow you to automatically create and deploy virtual guest clones when needed. Creating a Parallels Template

In this exercise you will create a Parallels template from the vDesktopE1 guest machine:

• Navigate to the Parallels Templates tab in the VDI Hosts node
• Select Add from the Tasks drop down menu

• Select vDesktopE1 from the Virtual Guests Lists and click OK

  

• Once you install the Parallels Guest Agent, click Make Template

  

  Note: During the template generation process the guest machine will be powered off

Once the template is ready, use the wizard to configure the guest templates by specifying: - Template name - Maximum number of guests - Pre-created guests - Guests names

In the second step of the wizard you have to specify: - Folder where the guest virtual templates will be created - Pool Name

In the third step of the wizard you have to specify SysPrep details, mainly: - Owner Name - Organization - Administrator password - Specify if virtual guests should be part of a workgroup or of a domain - In the last step of the wizard specify the operating system licenses used by the virtual guests.

At this stage you can proceed and publish desktops from the virtual guests.

Managing and Updating Templates

Prior to updating a Template, for example to apply a number of security patches so new virtual guests are created with such patch installed, switch the template to maintenance mode by highlighting the template name and select Maintenance from the Tasks drop down menu.

Once this is done, an Administrator can choose to publish Desktops or Applications from Virtual machines, automatically create clones of a VM based off a template based upon user requests and have extensive management of resources published through the console.