@anthonyglamis said:
2/4/2016 5:23 PM LocalPrinter --> IP = IP_192.168.1.250
Sorry for any repeated information that others said. I saw some posts after I started writing this and didn’t feel like taking out pieces.
The first problem I see is right here.
The printer ip shouldn’t have IP_ in front of it. It should just be the ip address plain and simple
Also the Printer INF File path should be the path to the share that the client uses to access the file. All these fields are passed to the service and run on the computer, so they need to be how the host computer gets to them, not how fog gets to them. i.e. /opt/fog won’t work. \\192.168.1.243\printerdrivers\printer.inf might do the trick
Try testing with an inf file on a local computer with a local path in fog. i.e.
- Put the inf in C:\printer.inf on the client computer
- set the inf file path in fog to C:\printer.inf
That would just see if the service is working for you.
With network shares, I find that it only works with the fog service if it’s already mounted. I.E. A network share mapped through active directory gpo. This is something I hope to improve in the future.
An alternative method is a snapin with a script. Checkout the template script I posted here
https://forums.fogproject.org/topic/6540/adding-custom-printer-configuration
Another way of testing the printer install is to test the actual command that the fog service uses to add a printer. It uses a special function for adding a port, but if you don’t already have the port created you can create it with this command in the command line.
Cscript %WINDIR%\System32\Printing_Admin_Scripts\en-US\Prnport.vbs -a -r portname -h ipAddress -o raw -n 9100
Then test adding the printer with this command in an administrator command prompt. Which is the way that fog adds it. This will help you confirm your settings further. I took out the /q parameter that goes after /if (install printer from file) so that any error messages won’t be supressed when you test
RUNDLL32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /if /b "Printer Name" /f "INF File Path" /r "PortName" /m "Model name from inf file"
If that command adds the printer, then your printer settings are all correct as they are, if it fails, then you should get an error message with more explanation.
Some other caveats I’ve found are that you sometimes need more than just the inf next to the inf. I.e. the .cab, .cat. dlls and stuff that it links to sometimes need to be in the same directory. So if you download a driver package and then unzip it, just use the full extracted folder in your share. You can do some testing and see which is actually neccesarry, cause sometimes just the inf is needed, other times (like with the hp universal print driver) you need the whole folder to get it to install proper.
Personally I currently make a printer script with the template I posted in the above referenced forum post and then add that information to fog. I deploy the script as a snapin to install the printer when the fog service fails to add the printer the FOG printer management successfully removes and keeps the printers that are allowed after it’s installed with that script.
It is surely possible to get the FOG printer management to work as it is in most situations. But I find it easier to have a failsafe for when it has trouble accessing a network share or when it doesn’t like the inf file or something like that.
Also one other little caveat. I noticed that the inf in this one is oem… That’s usually the “published” or “installed” inf file once the printer driver is added to windows and gets appended to or its own happy inf file created in C:\Windows\INF
Sometimes that one works fine, but sometimes that one will contain other printer information and confuse a computer that it wasn’t made on. I usually stick with the inf that the driver comes with that you download off the manufactuer’s website. But that’s just my two cents.
