Have tested these instructions successfully under Ubuntu 16.04LTS and 14.04LTS.

  • Create Ubuntu server instance under Parallels (obviously).
  • Start VM, goto Actions – Install Parallels Tools… to mount the ISO image.
    • Note: if this fails, or updating tools for an existing guest you can do the following:
    • Goto Devices > CD/DVD 1 > Connect Image....
    • Select the following ISO image: /Applications/Parallels Desktop/Contents/Resources/Tools/prl-tools-lin.iso.
    • This will mount the tools CD image.
  • From the terminal, run the following commands: 
     $ sudo su
 $ apt-get install gcc make
 $ mkdir -p /media/cdrom
 $ mount /dev/cdrom /media/cdrom
 $ cd /media/cdrom
 $ ./install
  • Follow prompts to install tools.
  • Reboot
  • Host shares should now be mounted in Ubuntu guest under /media/psf via the installed prltoolsd service, set to start on system boot-up.
  • All done

Reference