VM Control

[idea4IT]

Hi guys,

 

this workflow lets you control your Parallels Desktop and VirtualBox virtual machines.

I've tested it with Parallels Desktop 9 for Mac and VirtualBox 4, but older versions might work as well.

 

 

Github: https://github.com/fniephaus/alfred-vmcontrol

Download-Link: https://github.com/fniephaus/alfred-vmcontrol/releases/latest

Edited July 25, 2015 by fniephaus

[gr4z]

Doesn't work for me - it lists the VMs but you cannot interact with them. I am using PD9. 

[idea4IT]

Hey gr4z,

could you provide some more information that could help me identify and solve the problem?

Can you post the debug output? What's the name of your VM?

 

Let me know if you need any help.

 

Thanks

[idea4IT]

I've just fixed some minor bugs and updated the workflow.

Could you please check again?

[gr4z]

Sorry still doesn't work. It lists all my VMs and their status but when you highlight one and press enter, nothing happens. 

 

*EDIT* sorry ignore me my bad. Tried it again and it does work OK. Although if you use the quick selection i.e. cmd-2 to select VM 2 in the list, nothing happens. You have to highlight the VM and press TAB for it to list the various options available.

 

Hope that makes sense. 

Edited March 18, 2014 by gr4z

[Cicilia]

i think it is a usability problem.

 

when type "vm" and select some entry and hit "enter" nothing happen.

but when type "vm" and the full name from the vm then appears a list of actions (start, stop,...), select start and it works.

[idea4IT]

Thanks for the feedback! I've already found the problem and I'll fix it this weekend.

[idea4IT]

I've just updated the workflow.

Could you guys give the new version another try?

If you have more ideas how to improve this workflow, please feel free to mention it here!

[Cicilia]

good work.

[gr4z]

When you suspend a VM it closes the Parallels application and then restarts it. Any chance you can prevent this? Thanks

[idea4IT]

Thanks for the feedback, gr4z!

 

I've updated the workflow accordingly.

Let me know if you have any other suggestions!

[gr4z]

Mmmm, Parallels still starts up again when suspending a VM

[idea4IT]

gr4z, can you explain this a bit more?

If the VM is running, Parallels is running. When do you close it?

Maybe provide a screencast?

I have changed the AppleScript in the last version, so it only activates Parallels when the command was either "start" or "resume"...

 

Cheers,

Fabio

 

*EDIT*: I've just updated the workflow, could you try again please?

Edited March 26, 2014 by fniephaus

[gr4z]

Thanks for trying. This is a great workflow.

 

I have tried it again and it still does it. Let me try and explain:

 

1) Parallels is NOT running

2) Use the workflow to resume a suspended VM

3) Parallels starts and the VM resumes

4) Use the workflow to suspend the VM

5) The VM is suspended and is removed from the Dock

6) The Parallels application reappears in the dock

 

Can you make it if there are no other VMs running when you suspend or shutdown a VM the Parallels application is permanetly closed?

 

Thanks

Edited March 26, 2014 by gr4z

[idea4IT]

Now I got it!

Parallels doesn't close automatically if no machines are running anymore, but VirtualBox does.

So, this was just normal behavior.

 

Anyway, I've found a way to achieve this and updated the workflow once more! 

Edited March 26, 2014 by fniephaus

[gr4z]

Cool thanks works well now only thing is the VM always starts up in Windowed mode. I set all my VMs to start in Coherence mode, using this workflow seems to make the VM ignore this. Weird.

 

Great workflow though!

[idea4IT]

Hi gr4z,

I believe the shutdown behavior and the startup view are things you can configure here:

 

 

I might remove the 'close Parallels if no other machine is running' feature, because this can also be done by configuring the VMs.

 

Hope this helps!

 

Cheers,

Fabio

[gr4z]

Thanks. I already have my startup view set to coherence. Seems to ignore it

[idea4IT]

Okay, I will have another look at this in the next couple of days.

Thanks for the feedback!

[cagnew]

It appears that this workflow has stopped working with the last Parallels 10.2.1 release.

[idea4IT]

It appears that this workflow has stopped working with the last Parallels 10.2.1 release.

 

Thanks for reporting this.

I'll have a look into this as soon as I can!

[ted]

I was using https://github.com/dvessel/prlvm previously for years, but v10 appears to make it buggy. So when trying to quickly investigating how to fix came across this post. Have you got this workflow working with v10? Would be great if you did!

 

Ted

[cagnew]

Thanks for reporting this.

I'll have a look into this as soon as I can!

Hi-

Have you had a chance to take a look at the issue?

 

Thanks,

Chris

[idea4IT]

Hi-

Have you had a chance to take a look at the issue?

 

Thanks,

Chris

 

Hi Chris,

 

Please upgrade to the new v1.4 and let me know if the issue persists:

https://github.com/fniephaus/alfred-vmcontrol/releases/tag/v1.4

 

I will push another update soon...

[cagnew]

Hi Chris,

 

Please upgrade to the new v1.4 and let me know if the issue persists:

https://github.com/fniephaus/alfred-vmcontrol/releases/tag/v1.4

 

I will push another update soon...

It works!  Thank you so much!