Failure to install Parallels Tools on Debian 11 Guest

P

PeterG17

Bit poster
Try as I might, I cannot successfully install Parallel Tools in my Debian 11 guest VM. I can mount and access the installation files, but the install process fails with the results entered into the log. It appears that it has to do with running the make command.

In this particular scenario, I am using a 2010 MacBook Pro, running macOS High Sierra (10.13.6). I am using Parallels 14.1.3 (45485) with a Debian 11 VM.
There was no issues creating the VM, just cannot successfully install Parallels Tools. I obtained the Debian ISO directly from the Debian site and used that to create the VM.

When running the VM, I can mount the Parallels Tools, but when attempting to run it, I am greeted with permissions errors. To get around them, I copied the files to a folder on the Linux VM, and then, used: sudo chmod 777 <folder name> -R to gain read/write access to it & its contents. That allowed me to use the: sudo ./install command to the start the installation process ... but again, it fails.
 
From my experience, i was unable to install Parallels Tools in Debian 11 using Parallels 14 or 15. I could barely do it with Parallels 16. Trying to install an older Debian version and upgrade to 11 did not work. I have read that the newer Linux kernals break things. This may be a reason for the make failure. There are posts on the forum about it. You might try installing Debian 11.0 or 11.1, then install the Parallels tools, and then upgrade Debian to 11.6 or latest version. The Parallels organization represented putting resources toward improving Linux support with Parallels 17, but i do not know what was accomplished. I recently needed to upgrade to Parallels 18 but have no experience with it yet.

The Linux supports needs to be improved. The Linux VMs run unacceptably slow and installing the VM tools is a like a hack challenge.
 
parallelso said:
From my experience, i was unable to install Parallels Tools in Debian 11 using Parallels 14 or 15. I could barely do it with Parallels 16. Trying to install an older Debian version and upgrade to 11 did not work. I have read that the newer Linux kernals break things. This may be a reason for the make failure. There are posts on the forum about it. You might try installing Debian 11.0 or 11.1, then install the Parallels tools, and then upgrade Debian to 11.6 or latest version. The Parallels organization represented putting resources toward improving Linux support with Parallels 17, but i do not know what was accomplished. I recently needed to upgrade to Parallels 18 but have no experience with it yet.

The Linux supports needs to be improved. The Linux VMs run unacceptably slow and installing the VM tools is a like a hack challenge.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the suggestions. I tried going with both 11.0 & 11.1, but unfortunately, both resulted with the same issue as 11.6. Looks like I will just use it without the tools as it doesn't appear to be supported in Parallels 14. Whereas, with Parallels 18, running on a M2 Mac, I had not issues at all. Thanks again.
 
I was reviewing some posts on the forum, and one poster described having a 2010 Macbook Pro with macOS El Capitan with Parallels 13 and he was installing Parallels Tools from newer versions such as from Parallels 15. And it worked! He did not describe futher, i assume he opens the installer file and extracts the Parallels Tools mounting image or similar. You might look into this. This may be a way to extend the useful service life of older Parallels installs by a couple of years.
 
parallelso said:
I was reviewing some posts on the forum, and one poster described having a 2010 Macbook Pro with macOS El Capitan with Parallels 13 and he was installing Parallels Tools from newer versions such as from Parallels 15. And it worked! He did not describe futher, i assume he opens the installer file and extracts the Parallels Tools mounting image or similar. You might look into this. This may be a way to extend the useful service life of older Parallels installs by a couple of years.
Click to expand...
So, I struggled a bit trying to figure out how to open the Parallels installer to access the Parallels Tools content. As such, I decided to download v15, as you suggested, and installed it. I was lead to believe that v14 was the latest version that can run on High Sierra, but v15 installed without a hitch. Interestingly, I am able to move the mouse cursor inside/outside of the VM as though Parallels Tools was installed ... so, at least, that was solved.
However, even after opening the v15 installer to access the Parallels Tools content, then copying it to a folder, and finally, using chmod to change its permissions, trying to install the tools still failed like before.
I think I'm going to consider what I was able to do as an accomplishment, and stop "banging my head" to get the tools to install. Regardless, thank you very much for trying to help. It is very much appreciated.
 
The guest tools from Parallels 15 will not work with Debian 11. I think Parallels 17 was the last version to support High Sierra.

Below is link to the original posting. The poster has Parallels 13 installed on his computer and tried installing the guest tools from Parallels 17/18 in order to use Linux Mint 21 with Parallels 13. He was able to get partial functionality such as network shares and clipboard.

https://forum.parallels.com/threads...mint-21-x-org-server-1-21.359544/#post-912614

I plan to look into this when i have a bigger block of time. I would suggest that you try installing Parallels guest tools from Parallels 17/18 with your Parallels 14 and see which provides the most functionality for Debian 11. The poster described getting partial functionality with Parallels 13 for Linux Mint 21 which is based on Ubuntu/Debian, so there is a good chance one will get similar results with Parallels 14 and Debian 11.
 
parallelso said:
The guest tools from Parallels 15 will not work with Debian 11. I think Parallels 17 was the last version to support High Sierra.

Below is link to the original posting. The poster has Parallels 13 installed on his computer and tried installing the guest tools from Parallels 17/18 in order to use Linux Mint 21 with Parallels 13. He was able to get partial functionality such as network shares and clipboard.

https://forum.parallels.com/threads...mint-21-x-org-server-1-21.359544/#post-912614

I plan to look into this when i have a bigger block of time. I would suggest that you try installing Parallels guest tools from Parallels 17/18 with your Parallels 14 and see which provides the most functionality for Debian 11. The poster described getting partial functionality with Parallels 13 for Linux Mint 21 which is based on Ubuntu/Debian, so there is a good chance one will get similar results with Parallels 14 and Debian 11.
Click to expand...

UPDATE: Progress! I went with your suggestion to try using Parallels 18's Parallels Tools. I followed the same installation technique as before, extracting and copying the installer files onto a local directory in the VM. This time, it successfully completed the non-graphical installation.
When I rebooted the VM, it now presented me with the graphical installation prompt, as I would have expected. It also ran successfully to completion. Upon reboot; however, it prompted me to run the installation again. I done this a second time, but upon each reboot, it prompts me again.
I elected to dismiss the install, and l found that I pretty much have most of the functionality I would expect with the tools installed ... just a few minor glitches at this point. Unlike before, I can now access network shares & printers, and freely move the mouse cursor between the VM & the host.
... so, running Parallels Tools v18, with Parallels v15, on a 2010 MacBook Pro (running macOS High Sierra), is workable ... at least with 90-95% functionality of the VM.
 
That is great news! My main development machine is a Macbook Pro 2011 with High Sierra and no longer supported by Parallels. I need it to continue working with newer versions of Linux for at least a couple more years until i migrate to a newer machine. Debian 12 is on the horizon so this upgrading the guest tools looks like a solution. Thanks go to the original poster who imagined the hack. Thanks go to you for documenting how to implement it.
 
Hi OP, Nice work...
I had started a thread (PD 13, Tools 16-18, OS 10.11) that was referenced above.
Can you say if your Tools 18 install has dynamic/higher screen resolution working as expected?
Like from your system info, or for example in Terminal does
$ xrandr
return a maximum resolution of 8192x8192 along with a long list of other resolutions,
or only a list of two, much lower ,like minimum 800x600 and maximum 1400 x 1050.?
 
Can't edit or add to posts here?
BTW, if it helps Debian users, in my test of P-Tools 16 in Debian 11 in P-Desktop 13 in Mac OS 10.11, it worked fine - including dynamic display resolutions - probably since 11.7 still uses X.Org Server 1.20.
PS Instead of copying over the installer, used the "Installing Parallels Tools in other versions of Linux guest OSs" instructions here to run it from the connected tools-iso.
 
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