title: Printer Management
aliases:
- Printer Management
description: index page for printers
context_id: printers
tags:
- in-progress
- management
- web-management
- web-ui
Printer Management¶
Setting up Printers With Fog Printer Management
Note
Known Issues - Setting of the default printer will only work if the
fog tray icon is running.
Overview¶
-
The printers section of FOG allows you to create printer definitions
that you can later associate with hosts. -
The FOG service looks at these associations and during service it
will attempt to install any printers listed. This service has three
settings which define how the printers are managed -
In order for the printer to be added to the host computer, the
printer drivers must be stored in a public area, or included on the
host computer. -
- This public area can be
-
- a Novell Network share where public has read-only access,
- a Windows share that is public read-only to everyone,
- or a Samba share (possibly residing on the FOG server) that
is public read-only to everyone. - This share must be accessible via a UNC path as the service
may attempt to install the printers before drive mapping
occurs. - In this share the printer driver .inf file must exist.
-
- FOG supports installing:
-
- IP based (Jet-Direct) printers,
- public access NDS printers,
- Local printers,
- windows share based printers,
- (and we think, but could use a confirmation as it hasn't
been tested) AD based printers.
Note
- If you wish to see what printers are included with Windows, open
c:\windows\inf\ntprint.inf
in a text editor. - You can also find what driver is being used by a printer in the
advanced printer properties printManagement.msc
is also a helpful built-in windows tool that
can show you all your installed printers, printer drivers, and
printer ports
Printer Management Modes¶
-
Printer management for a host can be set to
-
No Printer Management
This is the default setting for new hosts, it makes it so
the FOG service does nothing to the hosts printers. This
setting turns off all FOG Printer Management. Although there
are multiple levels already between host and global
settings, this is just another to ensure safety. -
Only Assigned Printers
Does as the name implies, and will only add/remove printers
to the host machine if they are assigned in fog, it will not
remove any existing printers that may be installed outside
of the fog client. This setting will only allow FOG Assigned
printers to be added to the host. Any printer that is not
assigned will be removed including non-FOG managed printers.
i.e. If some users have usb printers you want this option so
fog doesn't remove any printers that aren't controlled by
fog -
Fog Managed Printers
Will take full control of the hosts printing system and only
allow for the printers that are specified by the FOG
management console to exist on the host. This setting only
adds and removes printers that are managed by FOG. If the
printer exists in printer management but is not assigned to
a host, it will remove the printer if it exists on the
unassigned host. It will add printers to the host that are
assigned. i.e. if you don't want users connecting their own
usb printers and only having access to the printers
-
Adding New Printers¶
- To create a new printer definition click on the Printer icon on the
system menu bar. - Then on the left hand menu, click on Add New Printer.
- You can copy from an existing printer and adjust settings if this
printer is similar to another existing one - You must choose a printer type and fill in the fields for that
printer type (see below for details on each printer type) - After all the required information is entered, click on the Add
Printer button.
TCP/IP Printer¶
This is a printer connected to and directly accessible from the network.
Or a printer connected directly to the computer. It will be connected to
through a windows printer port that will be created that points to the
ip or hostname of the printer. You can also create and include a printer
config file to deploy custom printer preferences/properties/settings for
these printers.
-
Printer Model
This must match a name listed in the INF file
-
Printer Alias
This can be anything you wish and it is what the end user will see
when they use the printer. -
Printer Description
This is a Description of the printer connection that is only
visible in the FOG Gui. It has no effect on the client side
connection. -
Printer Port
This is the name of the printer port. The ones made when you
manullay add a printer in windows are usually something like
LPT1:
, orIP_1.1.1.2
. You can give a friendlier name if you
wish. You can also (theoretically) specify something likeUSB0:
to connect to a USB printer. (needs testing) Each printer port
name should be unique -
Printer INF File
This is the path to the INF file for the printer driver. It can
either be a unc path to a public share or a file accessible to the
client host locally -
Printer IP (optional)
This is ip address of an IP based printers only, this can take the
form of1.2.3.4:9100
or1.2.4.5
orprinter-dns-hostname
or
printerName.domain.com
. If the port doesn't exist already, it
will create a printer TCP/IP port with the name given in the port
field to point to this address -
Printer Config File (Optional)
This is the local or remote path to a .dat file that will be
imported to set the printers configurations (i.e. tray count,
add-on modules, model specific settings, etc.).
Tip
You can create the printer config file by manually by configuring an
exising printer via the printer properties gui and then running this
command on the same computer
RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /Ss /n"Printer Name" /a "C:\Path\To\Save\ConfigFile.dat m f g p
You then just need to make sure the file is accessible to the client in
a share or locally on the computer and put that path in this field just
like the inf file.
iPrint Printer¶
A printer shared through a iPrint server
-
Printer Name/Alias
The path to the shared printer name/alias i.e.
\printerserverprinterName -
Printer Description (Optional)
This is a Description of the printer connection that is only
visible in the FOG Gui. It has no effect on the client side
connection. -
Printer Port
The name of the printer port
Network Printer¶
A printer shared through a windows computer or print server
-
Printer Name/Alias
The UNC share path to connect to the printer i.e.
\printServerprinterName -
Printer Description (Optional)
This is a Description of the printer connection that is only
visible in the FOG Gui. It has no effect on the client side
connection.
CUPS Printer¶
A printer shared through a linux CUPS setup
-
Printer Name/Alias
The UNC share path to connect to the printer i.e.
\printServerprinterName -
Printer Description (Optional)
This is a Description of the printer connection that is only
visible in the FOG Gui. It has no effect on the client side
connection. -
Printer INF File
This is the path to the INF file for the printer driver. It can
either be a unc path to a public share or a file accessible to the
client host locally -
Printer IP
This is ip address of the printer i.e
1.2.4.5
Linking Printers to Hosts¶
- Linking printers to hosts can be done from either the hosts section
or the groups section. - In the hosts section find the host you would like to add a printer
to, click on the edit button associated with that host. - In the host menu, click on the Printers button.
- First select how you would like the host to be managed (see Printer
Management Modes) - Then in the section below, select the printer(s) you would like to
install from the drop down list and click on the Add button
(refresh the page to see the added printers). - You can use the
default
radio button and the Update button to
have fog control the default printer for the host after the printers
are added - You can remove printers by checking the boxes next to the assigned
printers and hitting the Remove button (refresh the page to see
the printers gone).
Creating a Samba Based Printer Store on Fog¶
If you do not have a public sever where you can store your printer
drivers for the FOG Printer Manager, then it is very easy to set one up
on the FOG server using Samba, so all your Windows Clients will be able
to connect. see also
https://wiki.fogproject.org/wiki/index.php?title=Creating_a_Samba_Based_Printer_Store_on_FOG