Parallels Support for Ubuntu 18.04 LTS

Discussion in 'Linux Virtual Machine' started by NathanH4, Apr 30, 2018.

  1. NathanH4

    NathanH4 Bit poster

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    Just curious if there is work happening on support for the new LTS Ubuntu release, and if so, is there any sort of timeline available? Right now 18.04 is critically broken on parallels, even with a clean install.
     
    Craig4 likes this.
  2. AJ@Parallels

    AJ@Parallels

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    Hello NathanH4, Parallels Desktop 13 for Mac supports only up to Ubuntu 17.10 as the guest OS, Our engineers are working hard to add support for Ubuntu 18.04. Once it is fully supported by Parallels, we will add it to the list of supported guest OS's. At this time, we do not have a fixed date for adding support for the said guest OS.
     
  3. Bill Standen

    Bill Standen Member

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    AJ, with respect that simply is not good enough.

    A primary use case of Parallels is prototyping and testing with upcoming releases. I can understand a minor release causing issues but you need to be ready on release day for major ones and there's few more major than a new LTS Ubuntu.

    This product is becoming increasingly hard to justify. The standard of support for new OSs has slipped markedly in recent years and Parallels as a whole needs to lift its game.

    We've licenses coming up in September. At this stage I don't see how they will be renewed.
     
  4. BrandonW6

    BrandonW6 Bit poster

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    The current list still only shows 16.04. If you support 17.10 where is that documented?
     
  5. Ajith1

    Ajith1 Parallels Support

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    You can share the link where you can see the supported guest OS list shows Ubuntu 16.04. You can check this article for the supported guest OS list.
     
  6. ParallelsU109

    ParallelsU109 Bit poster

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    when creating a new virtual machine, there is a choice to dowwload Ubuntu, and it's stilll Ubuntu 16.O4. That makes sense, since it is a LTS version (long term support). Or that MADE sense until a new LTS version was released. There is a new LTS version every two years and since Ubuntu is open source, the code is available in advance. So it's hard to understand why Parallel is not ready for it, and can't even give a date of release.
     
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  7. Bill Standen

    Bill Standen Member

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    Furthermore, the breaking change to the kernel is over 6 months old now.
     
    sidneysch likes this.
  8. Hemnath@Parallels

    Hemnath@Parallels Parallels Support

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    Hello folks. Our management is fully aware of this situation. Please be assured that support for Ubuntu 18.04 will be added at the earliest.
     
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  9. LudekS

    LudekS Bit poster

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    Too late. VirtualBox vorks great. Parallels is paid solution and no support for new LTS releases. There was a lot of time for adding support in time (from beta releases for example).
     
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  10. StephenC9

    StephenC9 Junior Member

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    Have to agree with LukekS, VirtualBox works fine with the latest releases and it's difficult to justify a paid subscription for software that lags behind a free offering. Granted, VirtualBox doesn't have all the bells and whistles of Parallels and needs a bit more work to use - but I suspect most folk who pay for the Pro subscriptions, etc. are quite capable of doing that. This situation has certainly prompted me to try out VB as a replacement...
    Rushing an update and introducing bugs won't help - the issue is that the work, which should have started when the kernel was released in beta should have been complete by now. The fact that it isn't suggests a lack of support resources - which should be a concern for those who rely on Parallels for their business services.
     
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  11. Craig4

    Craig4 Bit poster

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    Yeah this is pretty unacceptable. I had this same issue with 17.04 came out. Took a whole new version in order to support it (which meant a pay for upgrade at the time, before going subscription based model). As someone who uses Ubuntu as their main desktop (I have to keep the mac side and run in a vm because it's a work machine and they won't let me remove it) I find this incredibly frustrating.

    So I've been shopping around because of this and I found that if you want some bells and whistles, VMware Fusion (I tried it out, it's pretty cool these days) supports 18.04 and they have a competitive upgrade so if you have a Parallels subscription, they'll give you a discount for switching. Plus you can also import your parallels boxes into it, so you don't have to rebuild anything.

    I can't deal with the lag of Parallels anymore. Ubuntu has a very set timed release schedule (here's the link in case your product manager forgot how to use google: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Releases). How can you not prepare for this? The next release is 18.10 on October 18, 2018, can you prepare for that on time? I'd understand if it was a moving target, but it's so far from it. I really think I'm going to switch and I don't think I'll be paying for another year's subscriptions. Parallels, get it together.
     
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  12. BenD5

    BenD5 Bit poster

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  13. StephenC9

    StephenC9 Junior Member

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    Transferring a VM works, as you say, but I would always try and start fresh if I could - which is certainly the case with 18:04. I managed to copy one of my Parallels Windows 10 VMs into VirtualBox - it worked (though I didn't test out reactivation as it was only a trial at that stage) but the VM file/drive created by VirtualBox was horrendous (~250GB from a 75GB VM). Not a significant problem on my iMac with >1TB of local drive space free but out of the question for my MBP with a paltry 512GB SSD. I haven't tried converting my 16.04 or 14.04 VMs as the Windows issue means (for the time being) I need to keep Parallels, but VirtualBox is now on hand for 18.04 (and will be a serious contender as a replacement sometime in the future).
     
  14. BenD5

    BenD5 Bit poster

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    Uhhh ...not sure what method you're using to transfer your VMs. Mine are exactly the same size as they were under Parallels. When you create the VirtualBox VM, select the "Use an existing virtual hard disk file" option. The files should then remain the same size unless you create a new disk image file such as a fixed-size image. Take a look at the steps under the section titled "Migrating the Parallels Virtual Machine" on the page I posted above.
     
  15. StephenC9

    StephenC9 Junior Member

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    I don't recall the exact process as I tried a few different routes - the most successful (in that it gave me a functioning VM) involved creating a new disk image with .hds file. I proved to myself that a transfer was feasible but, for the time being, I wasn't going to get rid of Parallels. I'd previously explored Fusion options which offers a licence for both my iMac and MBP for less than I currently pay for my two-machine Parallels licence - VB is even cheaper for what I need. But, if Parallels can get back up to speed, I usually stay with what is working...
    This is a thread regarding Linux and Parallels falling behind in compatibility, so I'll stop there.
     
  16. BillW4

    BillW4 Bit poster

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  17. StephenC9

    StephenC9 Junior Member

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    If it is as simple as a few straightforward edits it begs the question why Parallels haven't updated... but though, I read that others have been successful, it still reports an error whilst installing. I have the VB alternative that works so I'll leave it at that for now.
     
    Last edited: May 17, 2018
    Craig4 likes this.
  18. DavidF23

    DavidF23 Bit poster

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    Yeah I'm going to agree with everyone else. I expect that when I pay for continual updates/upgrades to software that I'm paying for a dedicated team to produce quality software for me to be using. I also don't expect, as a paying customer, for them to remove functionality like they did a year ago. Their response to that being, well, you don't have to upgrade, you can keep the old version. Yeah, I can, unless I don't want to have support for newer stuff. That's probably about the time support for this will be added.. is when they have a new paid upgrade. The last email exchange about that stuff tainted my perception of the company big time. I feel like I'm being scammed at this point.
     
  19. NoahO

    NoahO Bit poster

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    I agree that this is completely unacceptable. Free Virtualbox should never beat a paid product like Parallels in this way, especially when we are paying for a subscription license. Parallels has had a *long* time to test 18.04, as it has had a public beta process.

    Also the customer service approach is really poor, I logged a ticket about this only to be told it's not supported. At the very least, if it's not ready (and should be by now!) you could offer your customers some compensation, eg, a 6 month license voucher at least.

    I test software for a living and I use parallels PRO and the vagrant integration to do this, and it's ridiculous that I can't use the software like I paid for!
     
    Enrico_Alletto likes this.
  20. KenD7

    KenD7 Bit poster

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    I just registered here to say, after using Parallels for like 8 years, I will cancel my subscription for good (5 licenses). Why should I pay you guys if you are unable / unwilling to support a major OS player, for which you had several months to develope new support. Why is free software like VirtualBox able to support 18.04 and not you?

    Guys, my advice: The only language they understand is money. Forum moderators and E-Mail support really don't care. Raise your voice with your wallets.
     

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