Script to suspend parallels?

Prior to running scheduled backups with SuperDuper, I'd like Parallels to suspend and quit.

But I'm at a loss on how to achieve that.

Anyone who can help? I tried Automator, but I'm really not cut out for such stuff ...

 

There is a command-line utility called "prlctl" that can help automating Parallels Desktop 4 operations. Open Application->Utilities->Terminal and issue "prlctl" command to see what it can do for you. But I'd recommend to make experiments with some test VM first.

In particular, you can suspend your VM by issuing prlctl suspend "<your vm name>" command.

Older versions of Parallels Desktop do not feature command-line interface.

 

Suspended Encrypted machines, how to automate ?

Is there a way of suspending and resuming VMs using prlctl inn a script when the VM is encrypted ?

Strangely when an encrypted VM is running in parallels (noting passwords are not required to change the machine state) the command

prlctl suspend MachineName

doesn't suspend the VM without user intervention. The shell asks for the encyrption password
It seems the "prlctl suspend" command does not have a paramter for the password to be entered so the password can't be requested in a script to close down certain VMs

and when a VM is paused even

prlctl resume MachineName

needs a password
any of these commands work wirthout passwords when using the mouse to click on suspend or resume the VM.


finding out if a VM is encrypted is accomplished by

prlctl list --info MachineName

and then grep to find "encypted"; that's the easy part

what next ? any ideas ?