Parallels Mac Management v8.7 Server Tools is Your Answer to Time-consuming Deployment Tasks
Prepping a Parallels® Mac Management deployment, while straightforward, can still take a substantial amount of time. That’s why we’re introducing Parallels Mac Management Server Tools, a collection of PowerShell scripts that simplify and automate the most tedious and time-consuming tasks associated with Parallels Mac Management configuration and deployment.
Arriving with Parallels Mac Management v8.7, our initial release of Parallels Mac Management Server Tools includes the following key capabilities:
- Creating certificate templates for Parallels Configuration Manager Proxy in PKI mode
- Creating certificate templates for Parallels Mac Clients in PKI mode
- Configuring permissions required for running Parallels Configuration Manager Proxy Configuration Wizard
- Configuring permissions required for running Parallels Configuration Manager Proxy
Creating certificate templates for Parallels Configuration Manager Proxy and Parallels Mac Clients
The first two features significantly reduce the time it takes to create certificate templates for the Parallels Configuration Manager Proxy and Parallels Mac Clients when in PKI mode. PKI mode is required if your Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) infrastructure is configured to use HTTPS.
Basically, the resulting certificate templates will be used to create PKI certificates, which in turn will enable Parallels Mac Clients, the Parallels Configuration Manager Proxy, and SCCM to carry out mutual authentication and encrypted data transfers—both crucial in improving the security posture of your IT infrastructure.
Normally, certificate template creation is a simple but lengthy process carried out in the Certificate Authority console, a GUI-based tool in Windows Server. That lengthy process is reduced to just two cmdlets in PowerShell, one for Parallels Configuration Manager Proxy and one for Parallels Mac Clients.
Configuring permissions required for running the Parallels Configuration Manager Proxy Configuration Wizard and the Parallels Configuration Manager Proxy Service
The two other features also reduce the time to configure the permissions needed by a domain user to run 1) the Parallels Configuration Manager Proxy Configuration Wizard/Utility and 2) the Parallels Configuration Manager Proxy Service.
Essentially, in order to run the Parallels Configuration Manager Proxy (CM Proxy) Configuration Utility, you need a domain user with a certain set of permissions such as:
- DCOM Remote Activation permissions for enabling communications between the CM Proxy configuration utility and the SMS Provider using DCOM.
- Full Administrator rights in SCCM for making changes in WMI objects in SCCM during CM Proxy configuration.
- Specific permissions in the System/Parallels Services and Program Data/Parallels containers in Active Directory.
Similarly, in order to run the Parallels Configuration Manager Proxy service, you also need a domain user that, in addition to the first two permissions/rights enumerated above, has Read and Write permissions on the SCCM Network Share.
As with certificate template creation, these permissions/rights and the domain user itself are configured through a lengthy process in a GUI-based tool in Windows Server. Parallels Mac Management Server Tools reduces these time-consuming processes into two separate cmdlets.
Parallels Mac Management Server Tools can help IT administrators realize huge time savings that may be reallocated to more important tasks. If your time means a lot to you, you must give these tools a try. For more information, please refer to these online resources.
