Parallels RAS 22 is here: What's new

Parallels® Remote Application Server (RAS) 22 is now available.

Security is a major focus for this release, particularly at the endpoint. Client device posture checks give IT more information about the security status of a device. Session recording and playback provide a record of remote user activity for audits, investigations, and other situations where teams need to review what happened during a session.

RAS 22 also introduces File Access, giving users access to corporate file shares from the RAS User Portal, along with changes to the Mac experience and day-to-day administration. AVD Hybrid extends RAS management across AVD hosts running in Azure and on-premises infrastructure, while the AVD control plane remains in Azure.

Here's a closer look at the release.

Check device security before granting access

A successful sign-in tells IT who the user is. It says much less about the device they're using. Is antivirus software running? Is the device using an approved operating system or browser version? Those questions become harder to answer when employees and contractors connect from devices IT doesn't manage.

Client device posture checks let admins assess devices against security requirements and see their compliance status in RAS. For BYOD and contractor environments, IT can see more about the endpoint before deciding whether it meets the organization's requirements.

Open corporate files from the User Portal

RAS 22 adds a Files area to the RAS User Portal. Users can browse existing file shares alongside their applications and favorites, then select a file to open it in the appropriate published application. There's no need to leave the portal and use a separate file client just to find and open a document. File Access uses existing file shares, so IT can provide the experience without deploying separate file-access infrastructure.

Record and review remote sessions

An access log can show that someone connected to a resource. Sometimes IT needs to know what happened after they connected. Session recording and playback let teams record and review remote user activity. It can be used for audits, incident investigations, contractor governance, and compliance requirements. Organizations that provide contractors or other external users with access to sensitive resources can keep a record of session activity for later review.

Manage AVD hosts on any hypervisor with AVD Hybrid

Not every AVD host or dataset needs to live in Azure. Organizations may have infrastructure, cost, or data requirements that call for a mix of cloud and on-premises resources.

AVD Hybrid supports AVD hosts running outside of Azure, managed through Parallels RAS. The AVD control plane remains in Azure. Organizations can keep hosts and data on their own infrastructure where needed while managing those resources alongside Azure-hosted AVD workloads through RAS.

Apply access policies based on the connection

RAS 22 includes several changes to access and authentication.

Public IP access control lets admins apply policies based on where a connection originates. An external connection, for example, can follow different access or authentication requirements from a connection originating inside the corporate network.

SAML can now be used as a second factor for authentication.

Gateway resilience and API rate limiting help protect gateways and brokers against high volumes of connection attempts. Trusted farm verification adds trust verification between servers in a RAS deployment, while updates to the underlying SAML design strengthen the authentication implementation.

Protected session tunneling is now available for Linux and iOS/iPadOS clients as well.

Make remote applications feel more at home on Mac

True Coherence mode changes how published remote applications behave on a Mac. Remote applications integrate more naturally with the Dock, including live application previews, instead of feeling contained inside a separate remote environment.

RAS 22 also preserves image transparency when content is copied between a RAS session and a Mac. Images with transparent backgrounds no longer pick up an unwanted background when pasted.

Fix some everyday session annoyances

Some RAS 22 changes address smaller issues that can interrupt a remote session.

Unified keyboard layout synchronization carries local keyboard layout changes into the remote session automatically. Users who switch languages or input methods no longer need to make the same change separately inside the session.

Time zone redirection reflects the user's local time zone without requiring the RDSH role or additional server configuration..

Admins can configure redirected-drive write caching and file-copy performance settings from the UI. Password expiration notifications have also been improved to give users clearer notice when a password is approaching expiration.

Take a few steps out of RAS administration

RAS agents can now be updated while a host is in Drain Mode rather than requiring a separate maintenance step.

Admins can see RDSH uptime directly in RAS and get a clearer view of host-pool utilization through auto-scaler workload visibility. RAS monitoring can connect to the Grafana instance an organization chooses, and Cost Insights supports custom certificates.

RAS 22 also adds cookie-free User Portal load balancing, refreshes supported OS and SQL Server versions, and improves launch-parameter support for MSIX applications.

These are smaller changes than device posture checks or AVD Hybrid, but they address tasks admins handle regularly.

Explore Parallels RAS 22

Parallels RAS 22 brings new security capabilities, easier access to corporate files, and more flexibility in managing AVD environments. The release also includes improvements to authentication, monitoring, application delivery, Mac integration, and everyday administration.

Parallels RAS 22 is available now. Explore the release notes to learn more about what's new.