What’s new in Parallels RAS 20

Parallels RAS 20.1 and 20.2 updates introduce further capabilities, features, and fixes designed to enhance user and admin experiences.

Key Features

• Increased datastore flexibility options for VMware VM deployments
  

  VMware customers can now choose different datastores for their VM clones to provide high availability at the datastore level. A single template can be replicated across datastores to deliver automated and streamlined administration.

• Windows Server 2025 support
  

  All infrastructure components in Parallels RAS are now supported for Windows Server 2025. This includes the session hosts and management roles. Support for Microsoft Hyper-V 2025 coming very soon.

• Extended seamless accessibility with published applications
  

  The new Z-order configuration feature is particularly useful for those who work with both local and remote applications, as it enables the published applications to layer together with local applications, rather than occupy a single layer. This offers a more seamless and focused user experience, allowing users to concentrate on the task at hand without unnecessary distractions.

• Repair option to redeploy agents in Azure Virtual Desktop
  

  Ensure fast recovery from Azure Virtual Desktop connectivity issues caused by broken Azure Virtual Desktop agents. Administrators can centrally repair unavailable hosts and automatically redeploy Azure Virtual Desktop agents, streamlining the process and enhancing central management for IT teams.

• Schedule updates for Azure Virtual Desktop agents
  

  Now IT admins can create two maintenance windows for the Azure Virtual Desktop agent, so that updates don’t happen during peak business times, minimizing the risk of disruption. Learn more about upgrading Azure Virtual Desktop agents.

• Advanced webcam & camera capture playback on Parallels Client for Linux
  

  This update introduces advanced camera redirection for video and image capture, along with enhanced audio playback capabilities. These improvements deliver a significantly better user experience during remote video sessions while also reducing USB-related traffic associated with USB redirection.

• Smooth camera playback for Android and iOS/iPadOS

  The new camera redirection feature enables users to leverage their mobile device cameras during Parallels RAS remote sessions. This provides enhanced flexibility for professionals who rely on camera functionality in their daily workflows.

  For instance, in warehouse management software, this feature allows businesses to streamline and optimize stocking operations by utilizing mobile devices and their cameras to capture stock references directly into the software’s database.

• Increased flexibility in MFA choice

  IT Admins are no longer limited to five automations with RADIUS. When the number of automations exceeds five, a dropdown menu will automatically appear, streamlining the selection process and enhancing usability.

• Fast and effective Identity Provider integration

  IT administrators can now seamlessly integrate third-party identity providers (e.g., Azure, Okta, Ping) with Parallels RAS without the need for an RAS Enrollment Server or Certificate Authority.

  This capability will be extended to the User Portal to launch resources using Windows Client. So now this light weight SSO, which leverages SAML for presenting published applications and authenticating user credentials upon launching a published item, can be done in the native and web client.

• Smooth, dynamic display resizing for Parallels Client for Web

  This enables the Parallels Client for Web session resolutions to be resized dynamically at runtime in a similar way to the installed client. This feature enhances usability and improves the user experience.

• Latest support for Nutanix AHV (AOS) 6.10 LTS

  IT admins can now deploy Parallels RAS on Nutanix AHV (AOS) 6.10 LTS, gaining access to all the features from versions 6.6 through 6.81. This support is in addition to the previous Nutanix AHV (AOS) 6.5 Long Term Service release. It gives IT admins even more choice when deploying with Nutanix.

For a full list of capabilities, please see release notes.

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Parallels RAS 20 introduces a range of powerful new capabilities designed to enhance flexibility, security, and overall user and admin experiences.

Discover what's new in RAS 20 - watch the video

The update also includes key fixes and support improvements. Some of the most exciting enhancements include:

Key Updates

• Local App Launch
  

  Users can seamlessly launch local applications side-by-side with remote published applications from the same Parallels Client workspace, reducing connection delays and creating a unified end-user experience for both local and remote applications.

  This update reduces users’ context switching, as both local and remote apps are accessed through the Parallels Client. It enables admins to manage local application shortcuts on the desktop or in the Start Menu through the Management Console in the same way they do with remote apps and desktops.

• AWS Availability Zones support
  

  Customers can now deploy hosts (clones) from the same RAS template image and host pool across different Availability Zones in the same region in AWS, enhancing High Availability.

• Manage application delivery in Windows 365 cloud PCs
  

  IT admins can now deliver applications that are not locally installed on the Cloud PC for the “best of both worlds”. This improvement is ideal for Cloud PC users when Windows 365 is used as the primary desktop and business applications that are not locally installed on Cloud PC are delivered using Parallels RAS.

  It also unblocks customers who cannot move to Cloud PC because their backend resides on-premises and accelerates user onboarding to Cloud PCs, since apps are now “following” the user.

  Applications hosted in Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) or based on MSIX app attach are seamlessly and dynamically delivered through dedicated Parallels RAS. The introductory video illustrates the end-user experience using Cloud PC and Parallels.

• Cost dashboard UI (coming soon!)
  

  Provides IT administrators with real-time insights into current and future cost utilization when using Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) in both cloud and hybrid environments.

Other updates

Flexibility

• Additional Azure Marketplace offering

  In addition to Bring Your Own License (BYOL) and Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) offers, customers can now also consume a pre-paid Parallels Subscription directly from the Azure Marketplace.

  This allows customers to purchase Parallels RAS licenses using their Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment (MACC) and Parallels partners to create private offers for their customers.

  This approach enhances ease of deployment. It aligns with modern cloud-based purchasing strategies, offering a more convenient and cost-effective solution for managing remote access and virtualization needs.

Security and system updates

• Easily distinguish between farms in My Account

  This enhancement will help administrators distinguish between farms based on their assigned IP addresses, facilitating better support and security management.

• Updated system requirements

  The minimum system requirements have been updated to ensure secure and optimized environment for our customers. Get the current system requirements.

• New operating system support

  Parallels Client for Android now supports Android 15, Parallels Client for macOS now supports macOS 15 (macOS Sequoia), and Parallels Client for iOS/iPadOS now supports iOS/iPadOS 18.

Admin improvements

• New Column “last used secure gateway”

  See the last used Secure Gateway in a new column. This change allows an administrator to filter all users of a specific secure gateway, aiding in network management and troubleshooting.

The user experience

• High DPI support in Parallels Client for Web

  The user experience is improved by support for higher resolution or high DPI (dots per inch) displays, resulting in enhanced picture clarity and quality crispness when interacting with the remote apps and desktops via the Web Client (HTML5).

• New French and Belgian keyboard layouts

  Enjoy support for French and Belgian keyboard layouts in the Parallels Web client, improving the user experience. These layouts can also be controlled centrally via Parallels RAS policies.

• Resume sessions across multiple devices

  This update allows applications to automatically launch when a user logs into their Parallels RAS session, regardless of the device they are accessed from. Users can begin working immediately upon logging in without needing to manually restart applications they were previously using.

These updates collectively enhance the performance, security, flexibility, and overall user experience of Parallels RAS, aligning it with the latest cloud and virtualization trends.

For a full list of features, refer to the Parallels RAS 20 release notes.

Further enhancements, capabilities, and fixes have been introduced with the Parallels RAS 19.4 updates. These features prioritize in areas of environment flexibility, security, and user experiences, as well as essential bug fixes and support updates.

Some of the most exciting enhancements in the latest updates include:

Flexibility

• Light-weight integration with Identity Providers
  IT administrators can now seamlessly integrate third-party identity providers (e.g., Azure, Okta, Ping) with Parallels RAS. This allows end users to sign in and access Parallels RAS resources, such as apps and desktops, without the need for an RAS Enrollment Server or Certificate Authority. As a result, users will be prompted to enter their credentials when launching these resources. This functionality is enabled by a new Parallels RAS feature that leverages SAML for presenting published applications and authenticating user credentials upon launching a published item.
• Enhanced whitelabeling and customizations
  Businesses wishing to change the background image of the user pool environment can now upload both JPEG or PNGs and se within the administration portal. This can help ensure the same look at feel for its workforce, particularly if there is a migration to Parallels RAS from an existing provider. This feature further enhances the whitelabeling capabilities already established within Parallels RAS and the custom options available for the user portal.

Security

• Read-only drive redirection
  Read-only drive redirection allows drives to be redirected from client to server but restricts them to read-only access, thereby mitigating data leaks. This feature extends the existing drive redirection capabilities.
• Granula clipboard restrictions
  Extending today's capabilities, clipboard functionality can now be configured for either bidirectional or unidirectional use. Administrators can specify text-only format, providing greater control and reducing the risk of data leaks. This allows users to retain copy/paste functionality without supporting all formats.

User Experience

• New Swiss German and Swiss French Keyboard Layouts
  The keyboard layout settings have been updated to include Swiss German and Swiss French options, enhancing the user experience for those familiar with these layouts.
• Parallels Client Progressive Web Apps (PWA) for Windows Shortcut Key
  The Parallels Admin console now supports configuring Windows apps as PWAs in user sessions running from the ChromeOS web browser. This update provides a more convenient way to deliver and launch key applications through Chrome.
• Central configuration of Parallels Client with IGEL User Management System (USM)
  New settings now offer IT adminstrators the ability to profile and configure the IGEL Ready Parallels Client. This enhancement allows for more efficient management of Parallels Clients across IGEL OS12 devices.

For a full list of features, refer to the Parallels RAS 19.4 release notes.

Built upon the foundation laid by Parallels® RAS 19.0 and further enhanced with the 19.3 release, the Parallels 19.4 update represents an elegant refinement. This update prioritizes Nutanix AHV support for the latest image management capabilities in Parallels RAS.

Furthermore, it boasts enhancements in provisioning and automation, security, and performance, as well as essential bug fixes and an elevated admin and user experience.

Watch what's new in 19.4

Some of the most exciting enhancements in Parallels RAS 19.4 include:

NEW go-to-market (GTM) opportunity

• Extended GTM route for partners with Azure Marketplace listing
  Parallels RAS is now listed as a transactional offering in the Microsoft Azure Marketplace, in addition to the current bring your own license (BYOL) listing.
  Parallels partners can benefit through private offerings and simplified selling through personalized offerings. It allows for easier access to connect Parallels solutions with businesses and organizations across the globe. Furthermore, Parallels RAS is engineered for swift deployment, seamlessly integrating with Azure Virtual Desktop for automated setup.

Provisioning and Automation

• Extended image management for Nutanix AHV (AOS)
  Image management features introduced in the Parallels RAS 19.3 release for Microsoft Azure, Azure Virtual Desktop, Hyper-V and VMware vCenter, and ESXi are now compatible with Nutanix AHV. This includes template versioning, enhanced image lifecycle management with tags, and the ability to stagger and schedule template updates. This support expands flexibility by enabling customers to choose their preferred infrastructure.
  Find out more about the latest image management features with our Tech Bytes videos.
• Support for scale computing SC//HyperCore 9.2
  Parallels RAS 19.4 now supports SC//HyperCore 9.2 as a provider to automate provisioning, scaling, and power management of session host workloads.
• Agent Auto-Upgrade
  For IT administrators overseeing numerous backend session hosts, Agent Auto-Upgrade streamlines this process by automatically updating agents and session modules without requiring manual intervention. This functionality simplifies upgrades across all environments, whether on-premises, cloud, or a combination of the two.
• Template versioning improvements
  A few smaller updates enhance template versioning capabilities, including new APIs and new visual representation of the template versions to help optimize the IT administrator experience in version 19.4.

Security

• Self-service registration for email-based one-time passwords (OTPs)
  Organizations can opt for email-delivered OTPs as a secondary authentication method. Email OTP, a multi-factor authentication option, sends the OTP directly to the user's email address. This feature also supports external email addresses that are not stored in the Active Directory.
• Extended PCI-DSS compliances with HTTP host header injection
  Further enhancements of PCI-DSS compliance now include an HTTP host header validation at the gateway to mitigate vulnerabilities associated with HTTP host header injection, enhancing the overall security posture of the platform.
• Configuring certificate authority templates
  Organizations using SAML SSO with our enrollment server can leverage a larger key size in our certificate templates for security purposes. This new feature will enable the Parallels enrollment agent and the Parallels smartcard logon certificate templates to use the 4096-bit key size if the organization requires them.

User experience

• Multi-monitor support in Parallels Client for web
  End users can now utilize multiple displays with the Parallels Client for Web during published sessions, whether they're working within an application or in a desktop environment.
• Host pool reporting
  New host pool reporting options track areas in the user sessions, including session disconnects, bandwidth availability, latency, connection quality UX evaluator, log-on duration, and host pools in Transport protocol.
• SAML SSO capability
  SAML SSO capability is now available when using Parallels RAS + Azure Virtual Desktop under the standard feature set.

Administration experience

• Customize “Help” options with URL support
  A new custom option under the Help menu within the RAS Console allows the customization of a URL, supporting redirection to local support or any other designated URL.
• Set management permissions for a dedicated Active Directory group
  Lead administrators, as part of a shared farm, can restrict lower-level administrators' permissions to customize settings only within their respective Active Directory groups.
• View "License" permission options
  Manage custom administrator view permissions by implementing "license" view-only access in the RAS Console and Web Management Portal. This feature offers flexibility to limit the visibility of specific license information from other administrators.

For a full list of features, refer to the Parallels RAS 19.4 release notes.

Parallels RAS 19.3 introduces new enhancements in areas of administration, security, and user experience, offering further benefits in management and security when deploying and managing at scale.

Key enhancements:

Image management (Template Versioning & Provisioning Updates):

• Template Versioning
  Now with RAS, IT administrators can create multiple versions of the same RAS template, enabling the validation of new image versions and assign to select host pools in dev/test environment before implementing into production. Additionally, this update offers administrators the ability to swiftly revert to previous versions if required, resulting in lower hardware footprint and management overheads.
• Version Tags
  Improve image lifecycle management with tags. Assign key identities for different templates like production, pre-production and custom tags (editable names) without extensive manual configuration.
• Scheduled Template Image Updates
  Reduce workforce disruptions by staggering template updates with RAS. IT administrators can choose to schedule when new template updates are introduced. They can allow users to continue working without disruptions until they next log off, or alternatively, they can force users to log off so that users are using new updated workload VMs.
  

Continued enrichment of Azure Virtual Desktop Experience:

• Enhanced Redirection in Azure Virtual Desktop
  RAS continues to build on its redirection capabilities in Azure Virtual Desktop, offering a range of new features that come standard with its latest 19.3 release.
  • Universal Printing: For built-in efficient and effortless printing on locally available printers.
  • URL Redirection: Specify URLs to be opened on the client side, making use of client-side resources.
  • Accelerated File Redirection: Enabled drive cache capability to speed up enumeration of local files and folders from Azure Virtual Desktop resource.
  • RemoteExec: Allows admin to specify to launch an application on the client from the Azure Virtual Desktop resource.
• FSLogix Office Containers
  Simplify user profile management with the latest Office Container integration by allowing administrations to leverage just Microsoft 365 app data or combine with existing profile containers directly from the RAS management console.
  

Security & compliance:

• TLS 1.3 and FIPS 140-2 SSL 3.0 support
  Upleveled security with built-in TLS 1.3 support and FIPS 140-2 SSL 3.0 compliancy. Administrators can easily specify in the RAS console the preferred protocol for all native and web clients. RAS has also been verified by Veracode, due to its exceptional integrated security measures that are built directly into its code. For more information, visit https://www.veracode.com/verified/directory
  

User experience:

• Modern and unified user experience
  Introducing an upgraded, unified user interface for web and native Parallels Clients, designed with modern aesthetics and familiarity to optimize user workflow. The new design seamlessly blends with native OS elements while maintaining a contemporary look. This minimalist approach enhances productivity and user experience by adapting to individual preferences, like offering both dark and light modes. The Parallels Client for web is available now with the Parallels Client for Windows and macOS made available in the fall Y23. Across Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android clients, we have introduced the much-requested "Favourites" feature, enabling users to select and access their preferred applications effortlessly from the resource list.

For a full list of features, refer to the Parallels RAS 19.3 release notes.

Parallels RAS 19.2 focuses on Azure Virtual Desktop integration, making it easier for administrators with little or no knowledge of Azure to maximize the benefits of multi-user Windows 10/11 workloads.

Watch the on-demand webinar.

Key enhancements:

Azure Virtual Desktop

• HTML5 Web Client
  Access Azure Virtual Desktop resources from Windows, macOS, and Linux devices using any browser.
• MSIX app attach
  Packaged applications can now be appended to Azure Virtual Desktop workloads.
• RDP Shortpath
  UDP-based transport between client and session host can now be limited to a specific port range.
• Storage cost optimization
  As an extension of the auto-scaling and power management cost optimizations, managed disk storage can automatically be downgraded when Azure Virtual Desktop virtual machines are powered off.

Additional enhancements

• User experience
  Users can granularly select specific monitors for virtual desktops. In addition, pre-created client connections can be designated for shared devices.
• Microsoft Authenticator
  For Time-based One-Time Password (TOTP) authentication, Microsoft Authenticator is now available.
• Administrative improvements
  Persistent desktop assignments, as well as new PowerShell cmdlets and APIs make administration easier.

Parallels RAS 19.1 is an incremental update that adds new capabilities, supports new technology, and includes performance and security improvements. Highlights include:

• MSIX app attach enhancements
  Parallels RAS 19.1 extends MSIX app attach application delivery to virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI). Now MSIX app attach application packages can be assigned to VDI desktops in addition to RD Session Hosts. MSIX app attach lets administrators work more efficiently by dynamically adding, removing, and updating apps without installing the apps on the desktop image or Parallels RAS templates.
• Support for Nutanix AOS 6.5
  Parallels RAS 19.1 supports the latest Nutanix AOS Long Term Supported (LTS) version for IT organizations that use Nutanix to automate provisioning, scaling, and power management of session host workloads.
• New policy search
  The new Search capability in the Parallels RAS Management Console makes it faster and easier for administrators to find and configure available policies.
• New user experience reports
  Monitor, troubleshoot, and enhance user experience with information from new preconfigured reports for Transport Protocol (TCP/UDP), Network Latency, Connection Quality, and Bandwidth Quality. IT administrators can now retrieve historic user session data to reveal areas where user experience can be improved.
• Parallels Client for Linux now supports Ubuntu 22.04 LTS
  Parallels Client for Linux extends its flexibility and connectivity with support for the latest Ubuntu LTS version, 22.04.
• New PowerShell cmdlets and REST APIs
  PowerShell and REST APIs allow IT administrators to deploy and manage Parallels RAS using automation. The following list of PowerShell cmdlets and REST APIs are now available and reverse proxy can be used with REST APIs.
  • MSIX app attach: Deploy and configure MSIX app attach for RD Session Hosts and VDI desktops.
  • Tenant Broker: Join Tenant to Tenant Broker and get Tenant Broker status.
  • Logon Hours: Configure logon hour restrictions.