Solution
Parallels RAS 19 and later ships Application Packages, a delivery method built on MSIX app attach, extended to VDI in RAS 19.1 and to Azure Virtual Desktop in RAS 19.2. EtherApps Forge captures a legacy Win32 application from a live install, even when the original installer is long gone, and produces a signed MSIX that RAS's own Application Packages feature attaches directly. No separate Parallels-specific packaging step, no proprietary format to learn.
7 days. No credit card. Capture a real application on day one.
No new format
Parallels RAS already delivers MSIX and MSIX app attach natively
No installer
rescue legacy apps when the installation media is lost or the vendor portal is gated
Low cost, self-serve
a 7-day Forge trial on one real app instead of a partner-led packaging project
The problem
Plain version: the app that's always been delivered through Parallels RAS still runs from an old-style installer nobody wants to touch, and repackaging it into MSIX feels like a project on its own. IT version: a Parallels RAS estate carries legacy Win32 applications that predate RAS's Application Packages feature, with installer media that's frequently missing and no in-house MSIX packaging capacity to close the gap. Both versions need the same answer: capture what's actually installed, convert it to the MSIX format RAS already delivers natively, and do it without a packaging project per app.
Many apps running through Parallels RAS were published as a traditional installed application long before RAS 19 introduced Application Packages. Nobody has gone back to repackage them into MSIX, so they sit outside the modern delivery path RAS now supports.
Installer media, licence keys, and vendor download portals age out faster than the applications themselves. Rebuilding an MSIX package from scratch is hard to justify when the starting point is a running application and nothing else.
Publishing through RAS's Application Packages feature assumes an MSIX package already exists. Building that package by hand, with the right manifest, signing, and dependency handling, is exactly the skill gap most IT and packaging teams don't have spare capacity for.
An application that still runs, however it's currently delivered, becomes the reason a wider RAS or Windows 11 rollout stalls, because nobody wants to be the one who breaks it trying to modernise it.
What changes
Forge captures the application's files, registry, services, and dependencies from a live install or controlled VM, giving you a documented footprint instead of guesswork about what a repackage would require.
The capture becomes a signed MSIX package, the same format Parallels RAS's Application Packages feature and MSIX app attach already expect, with no separate Parallels-specific tool to adopt.
Because Parallels RAS extended Application Packages to VDI in 19.1 and to Azure Virtual Desktop in 19.2, the same MSIX output works whether the estate is on-premises VDI, AVD, or a mix of both.
A 7-day EtherApps Forge trial on one real application tests the approach before committing to a wider MSIX packaging programme, instead of starting with a quote-only packaging engagement.
Start here
See this working on your own tenant.
Where Forge fits on a Parallels RAS estate
Forge captures the installed application footprint from a live machine or controlled VM, whatever format it currently runs in. That capture becomes a signed MSIX, which Parallels RAS's Application Packages feature attaches through its own native MSIX app attach support, across VDI and AVD-hosted RAS deployments, no separate Parallels-specific packaging tool required.
Walkthrough
A short walkthrough of legacy app capture from a working machine, package output, and a Windows 11 compatibility verdict - the same signed MSIX output that Parallels RAS, Citrix, and Omnissa App Volumes all deliver natively.
How we deliver it
EtherApps Forge leads. Forge captures the legacy Win32 application directly from a live install or controlled VM and produces a signed MSIX from that capture. Parallels RAS's own Application Packages feature, built on MSIX app attach and extended to VDI and Azure Virtual Desktop, delivers that MSIX the way it delivers any other application package today. EtherInsights joins where the same programme also needs broader Windows 365 or Azure Virtual Desktop migration planning alongside the RAS application modernisation work.
EtherApps Forge captures installed Windows applications from running systems, analyses the real application footprint, supports AI-guided packaging decisions, and produces deployment-ready outputs for modern environments.
EtherInsights is the operating view for Microsoft 365, Azure, and Windows 365: day-to-day cost management, licence control, and full Windows 365 Cloud PC lifecycle management, plus tenant, user, security, device, and Intune reporting.
Where this fits
FAQ
Plain answers for IT leads and Parallels RAS administrators planning an Application Packages rollout.
Forge doesn't need a direct integration. It captures the legacy application and produces a signed MSIX, which you then add to Parallels RAS the same way you'd add any other MSIX application package, through RAS's own Application Packages console. The two systems meet at the standard MSIX format, not a proprietary connector.
Yes. Forge captures the application's files, registry, and dependencies from a live install where it's currently running, rather than needing the original installer. That capture becomes a signed MSIX ready for Application Packages.
Yes. Parallels RAS extended Application Packages to VDI in RAS 19.1 and to Azure Virtual Desktop in RAS 19.2. The MSIX output from a Forge capture is the same regardless of which environment RAS is delivering it into.
The MSIX Packaging Tool assumes you can still run the original installer to capture a clean before-and-after state. Forge's capture-first approach works from a live, already-installed application, which is the more common situation for an app that's been running through RAS for years without its original installer.
That's usually a container-behaviour issue, not a broken app: a fixed file path, a machine-level registry assumption, or a dependency the app expected to find locally. Forge stages the Package Support Framework to apply file and registry redirection fix-ups so the app behaves as it did before, without a code change.
EtherApps Forge is a low-cost, self-serve licence with a 7-day trial, so you can validate the capture-to-MSIX route on one real application before deciding whether to run it across the wider RAS estate, rather than starting with a quote-only, partner-led packaging project.
Reviewed 27 August 2026.
Start here
Book a Parallels RAS app review and we'll walk through a real package on your estate, whatever format it's currently delivered in, and show what a Forge capture and signed MSIX output would look like for it.
