Parallels Workstation allows up to three parallel ports to be connected to a virtual machine.
Device status:
Note: If you start the operating system with the parallel port disabled, you cannot change this option when the virtual machine is running.
Emulation:
Parallels Workstation suggests three methods of emulating parallel port in Windows primary OS and two methods in Linux one:
If you select this option, the drop-down LPT - Port list displays real LPT ports available on your computer. Select one of them to connect to the virtual port.
Notes. 1. In Linux primary OS to be able to connect virtual machine parallel port to a real parallel port, you should have system privileges to access the real device. Otherwise the real parallel port will not appear in the list of available devices despite it is installed on your computer.
2. Running a virtual machine with its parallel port connected to a real LPT port blocks the access to this real LPT port. If a physical printer cable is attached to this LPT port, other virtual machines and the primary OS will not be able to print via this printer. For more information on this issue see Problem with Printing.
If you select Use printer and have a physical printer connected to your computer, Printers list displays all the printers available within your Windows primary OS. Select one of them to connect to the parallel port.
When using this way of printing, Parallels Workstation composes a printer job and transfers it to the primary OS which guides further process.
If you select this option, you can attach to parallel port an existing file or create a new one. Click the Browse button and locate the file.