Orion Toolbar

Overview

Introducing Orion Toolbar, a lightweight, native macOS utility designed to simplify the management of Parallels Desktop virtual machines.

Built using Swift and SwiftUI, Orion Toolbar provides convenient access to virtual machine controls, server connectivity, and development tools directly from the macOS menu bar.

Designed for developers and system administrators, Orion Toolbar eliminates the need to repeatedly open Parallels Desktop or use Terminal commands for everyday virtual machine operations.

Key Features

Virtual Machine Management

• Start, stop, and restart Parallels virtual machines.
• Force-stop unresponsive virtual machines.
• Monitor virtual machine running states.
• Manage virtual machines without opening the Parallels Desktop interface.
• Support for headless virtual machine operation.

macOS Menu Bar Integration

• Native SwiftUI menu bar application.
• Compact interface with quick access to essential controls.
• Custom dark blue and gold application icon.
• Lightweight design with minimal system overhead.
• Quick access to application settings.

Server Connectivity

• Launch SSH connections directly from the toolbar.
• Configure server hostnames, usernames, and SSH ports.
• Support for SSH key-based authentication.
• Quickly access Linux development environments.
• Monitor server connectivity and availability.

Developer Tools

• Convenient access to configured development services.
• Integration with Parallels Desktop.
• Quick access to Mailpit for email testing.
• Simplified management of local development infrastructure.

Configuration

• Persistent application preferences.
• Configurable virtual machine and server connection settings.
• Dedicated settings interface.
• Automatic restoration of saved configuration.

Performance and Reliability

Orion Toolbar has been developed with performance and stability in mind.

• Optimised application startup.
• Improved SwiftUI rendering and responsiveness.
• Efficient virtual machine status polling.
• Reduced unnecessary background processing.
• Improved caching and network handling.
• Reliable Settings window activation and foreground behaviour.

Security and Distribution

The initial release includes:

• Apple Developer ID application signing.
• Hardened Runtime protection.
• Apple notarisation.
• Stapled disk image distribution.
• Gatekeeper-compatible installation.
• Native Apple Silicon support.

Installation

1. Download the Orion Toolbar DMG.
2. Open the downloaded disk image.
3. Drag Orion Toolbar into the Applications folder.
4. Launch Orion Toolbar.
5. Configure your Parallels virtual machine and SSH connection settings.

Requirements:

• macOS
• Parallels Desktop for virtual machine management
• SSH access for remote Linux server functionality