Last month Parallels released version 3 of the Parallels Mac Management for SCCM. Today we will have a look at the new features that are coming with this new release. If you want to see what I covered in the five earlier blogs, look here (1), here (2), here (3), here (4) and here (5) 🙂 See in this blog my highlights of the new version. When installing the plugin, the configuration wizard will help you setting it up and a SQL database is created to store the configuration. Before installing the new version, the old 2.5 version needed to be uninstalled by hand but all objects in ConfigMgr are preserved and usable with the 3.0 version.
PKI support
Version 2.5 of Parallels Mac Management for SCCM used self-signed certificates while connecting with the client to the Parellels Proxy. In this new version you are able to use Public Key Infrastructure that you have already in place and maybe used to configure your Configuration Manager 2012 environment to communicate via HTTPS. You need to create a special Certificate Template for the SCCM Proxy and the clients can be using the Certificate Template that can be used to secure communication for workgroup clients with Configuration Manager.
Clients that get a certificate enrolled while installing the new client receive the error from the CA, the only downside is that the certificate is issued to a (random) guid instead to the Mac OS X device, in other words the hostname of it. 🙂
Application Model Support
This new version supports both the (legacy) packages and programs but also now the new Application Model! So this means that you are able to deploy the wrapped CMMAC applications using the new application model, like described here.
Application Portal
Applications deployed via the new Application Model will become available in the Parallels Application Portal. This Application Portal can be used by the user to install available software on demand. A real nice addition if you ask me!
So that concludes the series about the Parallels plugin for now, very useful if you ask me so expect more on this blog if there is more news to bring. 🙂
Very good review … I like the fact to don’t have the need of a PKI …. But why Parallels don’t have the same application for Unix/Linux clients ?