How to upload files to a Parallels file share

Information

Parallels Support Team may ask you to upload files for further issue investigation, from screenshots and video recordings to core or memory dumps, or even a virtual machine.

Depending on the file size, use one of the following instructions below.

NOTE: Always compress file(s) to an archive. You may do that using native macOS functionality (right-click > Compress), or using Archive tool from Parallels Toolbox.

Before uploading files Parallels Support will share a destination directory for the upload. For instance: http://fe.parallels.com/85495f79c3447f92b1ced3e79a227295/

Uploading files less than 2GB

1. Open Finder > click on Go at menu bar > Connect to Server... > copy and paste the provided link to the 'Server Address' field

   

2. Click Connect > on the pop-up window select Connect As: Guest

   

3. Wait for the connection to be established. A Finder window will be opened with a remote directory.
4. Drag'n'drop required file(s) to the remote directory.
5. Wait for the upload process to finish.
6. Unmount fe.parallels.com from the list of Shared computers in the Finder sidebar.

   

Alternative way (suitable for files over 2GB as well)

The instruction below is provided for uploading a virtual machine image.

1. Shutdown or suspend your virtual machine. Please, do not archive running VM, since its disk will be corrupted and unusable.

2. Open the  folder where .pvm bundle of the virtual machine resides. To easily locate your virtual machine bundle in the Finder please use KB 117333.

3. Compress PVM using native macOS functionality, or using Archive tool from Parallels Toolbox.

4. Open the link for upload in any browser.

   

5. Check "I have read and agree to the Parallels Privacy Policy and Terms of Use" and press Continue.

   

6. Drag compressed virtual machine into "Choose files or drag it here" space or click this option and navigate to the VM and press Open.

   

   

7. The upload will begin. Once it completes, you will see the Hide button instead of Cancel.

   

   

8. Refresh the page - you will see the uploaded file under Parent Directory.

   

Note: If after uploading is finished and refreshing the page the file still does not appear or something does not seem to have worked correctly, you may follow the steps for uploading large files below.

Uploading large files (more than 2GB)

1. Open Terminal application (Applications -> Utilities -> Terminal) and switch to the folder where your virtual machine is located. Type in:

   cd 
   

   then drag the icon of the folder where your virtual machine is located into the Terminal window next to the cd command.

   

   

   So the result will look similar to this:

   cd /Users/jappleseed/Documents/Parallels
   

   Press Return

2. Then type in:

   tar -czf vm.tgz
   

3. Open Finder and drag the icon of your virtual machine next to tar -czf vm.tgz, like this:

   

   

   The result will look similar to this:

   tar -czf vm.tgz /Users/jappleseed/Documents/Parallels/Windows7.pvm
   

   Press Return and wait till the file is compressed. It will take some time and then the default Terminal string will appear.

4. Once compession is done, issue the following command:

   md5 
   

   Then drag the vm.tgz file from the Finder (the same folder with your virtual machine) next to md5, like this:

   md5 /Users/jappleseed/Documents/Parallels/vm.tgz 
   

   then type

   > vm.md5
   

   right next to the previous string, so the result will look like this:

   md5 /Users/jappleseed/Documents/Parallels/vm.tgz > vm.md5
   

NOTE: If you have a lack of disk space, you can pre-generate md5 for all VM files by using command "find . -type f -exec md5 '{}' \;" and upload VM in file-by-file mode. (before running this command cd to the directory where the VM is stored, e.g. run cd ~/Documents/Parallels/).

1. Once the vm.md5 and vm.tgz files are created (they should now appear in the folder your virtual machine is located), issue the following commands to upload the files to Parallels:

   rsync --progress vm.md5 
   

   add the upload link provided by the Parallels Support representative, for example rsync://fe.parallels.com/85495f79c3447f92b1ced3e79a227295/, so the result will look similar to this:

   rsync --progress vm.md5 rsync://fe.parallels.com/85495f79c3447f92b1ced3e79a227295/
   

   press Return, once vm.md5 file is uploaded, type in:

   rsync --progress vm.tgz 
   

   then add the upload link provided by the Parallels Support representative, for example rsync://fe.parallels.com/85495f79c3447f92b1ced3e79a227295/, so the result will look similar to this:

   rsync --progress vm.tgz rsync://fe.parallels.com/85495f79c3447f92b1ced3e79a227295/
   

   press Return.

   Wait till the files are uploaded. It will take some time (up to several hours, depending on your connection speed and a file size) and then return a default starting line in Terminal. The flag --progress allows observing the approximate time left till uploading is finished.