Parallels RAS MSIX App Attach Integration

Welcome to Parallels Remote Application Server How-To Video Series. Parallels RAS 19 introduces a new and modern application delivery method, Application Packages, which is based on MSIX App Attach technology. MSIX App Attach is a Microsoft's application layering solution that allows you to dynamically attach applications, containerized in MSIX packages to a user session. Separating the application from the operating system makes it easier to create a template and get more control by providing the right application for the right user. In this session, we are going to see how to enable Application Packages feature, assign packages to a RD session host, manage packages versions, and publish the application or the whole desktop using Parallels RAS console. Let's get started. To start working with MSIX Application Packages, you need to enable the Application Packages feature. Navigate to Farm, Settings, and select the Application Packages tab. Select the Enable Application Packages option. Here you are also seeing three version tags to mark specific versions of packages and simplify the package update procedure. Tags cannot be added or deleted, but you can rename them. You can also enable automatic installation of certificates on sessions hosts by selecting Provision Package Certificates Automatically. Once you enable the Application Packages feature, you will see the new subcategory Application Packages. Next, you need to import the package itself. For example, Firefox. Click Add. The Add from MSIX Image Wizard opens. In the MSIX Image Path field, click the Browse button to select an image file from a network share. You can add packages from VHD, VHDX, and CIM images. In the Package dropdown list, select the package that you want to add. In the Display Name field, specify the name that will be used for this package in Parallels RAS. After that, the rest of the fields will be populated automatically. Click Finish. You can add several different versions of the same package. To assign a tag to a package, open Application Package Properties and select one or multiple version tags. Next, you need to assign the package to an RD session host. Navigate to a farm RD session host. Double-click a session host. On the Application Packages tab, click Add. Select a package that you want to assign to the RD session host. In the Version column, select the specific version of the package or a version tag. As you can see, there is no Firefox application in the published session host desktop. But once you apply from the console, MSIX Image will be attached to the session host and the packaged application will be registered and become available for all users, like Firefox. That is the dynamic delivery of the application. After being added, a packaged application behaves the same way as a regular application as if it was installed on a session host. You can also publish the packaged application itself based on filtering. You can filter who is able to access specific resources or not. To do so, navigate to Publishing and Add Application, selecting RD Session Hosts and Application Packages as a type, and Servers to publish from with a signed application package. You can edit application properties, if required. And once you apply from the console, immediately and without logging off, users can get the published packaged application, like Firefox version 98 in this example. To change and update application version, you can navigate to Application Packages subcategory and change tag, selecting another version of application package. The change will not affect users who may continue to use the previous version of the app. But after the relaunch, they will start using the new application version immediately. This concludes our video on MSIX App Attach integration. You can sign up for a free fully featured 30-day trial, available directly in the Microsoft Azure and AWS marketplaces, or download and install Parallels RAS on your cloud of choice or on-premises in your infrastructure. Thank you for watching. To learn further details or contact us, please visit parallels.com slash RAS.