Advanced Printer Management Plugin and Fog Service Module

[JJ Fullmer]

So this isn’t so much as a request for someone else to do this as it is a request for more ideas.
After adding the code for importing printer configurations to the service I had some ideas for improving the fog printer management in the service and the gui.
However, I don’t think that everyone would quite care that much about these ideas enough to add them into the core, but making a module for the fog service and a plugin for the gui would probably do the trick. I intend to start working on this in a few weeks to a month from now after a couple other projects are done first. But I figured why not get some feedback on the idea while it is in the brainstorming phase.

So here is some of the stuff I would be looking to add to an Advanced Printer Management plugin/client module

• Adding printer ports with existing prnport.vbs windows command
  (Cscript %WINDIR%\System32\Printing_Admin_Scripts\en-US\Prnport.vbs)

  • Option to add SNMP private key for printers locked down with snmp keys
  • Option to enable SNMP on port with default public key
  • Option to use LPR or RAW port on standard local/TCP IP Printers
  • Option to add a usb printer shared on the network through a computer, NAS, or other network device.

• Installing the inf file to the OS with PNPUTIL -i -a file.inf

• Adding printers with Prnmngr.vbs if RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /if fails for any reason
  (Cscript %WINDIR%\System32\Printing_Admin_Scripts\en-US\Prnmngr.vbs)

• Allowing the use of network shares for inf driver files and config files

  • Either a checkbox in the add/edit printer menu or auto detect of unc path start \\ would bring up an option for domain\username and auto encrypting password (like the AD password box)
  • This user/pass would be used with a net use %share% /USER:username password command at the start of adding the printer and a subsequent net use %share% /delete at the end.
  • Also an option to ask (and perhaps detect) if a windows enterprise version is present with the nfs client installed, and if so saying to just put the printer files in a folder in the fog /images nfs share and mounting it in windows with nfs without the need for a password.
    • Maybe add the option to autoinstall a third party nfs tool to use the fog nfs share option on any version of windows
  • Maybe create a universal printer driver folder structure that can be downloaded to the fog nfs share or other network share
    • Maybe even add to that with the option to select from existing printer drivers in a drop down menu when adding a printer
    • This idea might require help, and would have the caveat of being difficult to update without some sort of automation of downloading new drivers for every model as they become available. Could just make it publicly accessible and let the community handle that as it happens or something.

Thoughts?

[JJ Fullmer]

• Ability to add local printers on nul: port with no ip address (.i.e. Send to OneNote, PDF Printers, etc)
• Ability to add usb printers or at least set them as allowed so FOG doesn’t delete them if they aren’t in the printer list and FOG is set to remove all extra printers

[Wayne Workman]

I’d personally want to see this wait until fog-too.

[JJ Fullmer]

@Wayne-Workman But that involves waiting for functionality I could use now…

[Wayne Workman]

@Arrowhead-IT Code it yourself lol. Nobody is stopping you, go crazy. I only want to see it wait because I really want to see 1.3.0 released soon.

I feel like fog trunk is REALLY close to release. There are just a handful of odds and ins that are in the way, but I feel those will be taken care of fairly soon.

[JJ Fullmer]

@Wayne-Workman Well yeah, I don’t want to hold up 1.3, hence the plugin/module idea.