Dear Linux users, We understand that this change may cause some of you inconvenience, and we didn’t make this decision lightly. Supporting this functionality has started to hold us back from improving the product with the latest technologies. We hope you will appreciate the upcoming changes to support newer Linux kernels and graphics.
As a result, Parallels Desktop 20.4.1 includes the final version of Parallels Tools for Linux kernels below 5.10. In newer Parallels Desktop versions, you won't be able to update the version of Parallels Tools for distributions based on those kernels.
Furthermore, when running Parallels Desktop 26, while you will be able to create virtual machines running on kernels <5.10, but you will not be able to install Parallels Tools in these machines, installer will return an error.
The virtual machine will run, but will not have Parallels Tools functionality that enables a smooth experience with Linux on a Mac and includes:
- Graphic and gaming acceleration
- Sharing and integration features.
However, if you still wish to try and install Parallels older Parallels Tools in older Linux releases, please see the section Proposed Solutions below.
Will your Linux machine stop working in newer Parallels Desktop versions?
No, your VM will work, but Parallels Tools update will not go through due to kernel being lower than 5.10
NOTE: If you have a VM with these Linux kernels and an older version of Parallels Tools, you can still use it on Parallels Desktop 26. However, the attempt to update Parallels Tools will not be successful.
Possible limitations
Due to the inability to maintain and update Parallels Tools anymore, some (or all) of them might stop working in some time for various reasons: incompatibility with newer builds of Parallels Desktop, corruption of the VM, operating system and others. As a result, some integration features might not function properly or not function at all.
Proposed solutions
Upgrade your kernel to 5.10 or higher
If possible for your particular requirements, please update your kernel in the virtual machine.
Installing older versions of Parallels Tools
If updating a kernel is not an option, but you still would like to have access to Parallels Tools functionality, you could try to perform the following workaround:
1. Download older version of Parallels Tools:
2. Follow the article for Manual installation of Parallels Tools in Linux virtual machines
However, we'd like to stress, that due to aforementioned Possible Limitations this is a workaround and for best results we strongly recommend running supported Linux kernel versions.
Disabling automatic update for Parallels Tools
Since installation of the newer versions will be successful and by default, tools are set to attempt an automatic update, its also recommended to disable this to avoid the necessity to decline the upgrade on a regular basis:
For Parallels Desktop Pro users
You can use the command line functionality:
Open Terminal on your Mac and execute the following command
Note: you can find out the UUID of your virtual machine by running the: prlctl list -a
For Parallels Desktop Standard users
1. Shut down your Virtual Machine (Click on the Actions menu on top of the mac menu bar > Select Shut down).
2. Locate .pvm file of the virtual machine as per https://kb.parallels.com/117333 > right-click on .pvm bundle > Show package contents > right-click config.pvs > Open with TextEdit.app
3. Press Command+F and type AutoUpdate then press enter to locate the section as shown:
<AutoUpdate dyn_lists="">
<Enabled>1</Enabled>
</AutoUpdate>
4. Change "1" value to "0".
It should look like the below:
<AutoUpdate dyn_lists="">
<Enabled>0</Enabled>
</AutoUpdate>
5. Press Command-S to save changes.
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