Available in PaperCut NG and PaperCut MF.

Install the Direct Print Monitor on a Mac computer

IMPORTANT

This is the original, manual method of deploying Direct PrintingDirect Printing allows you to print directly from a desktop to a printer, without the need for a print server. (serverless printing).

Now there's a much simpler and faster method, called Print Deploy. For more information and setup details, head over to the Print Deploy Help Center.

The process to install the Direct Print MonitorThe Direct Print Monitor is the Direct Printing component that tracks jobs between desktops and an MFD. on a Mac computer is the same no matter which operating system your Application ServerAn Application Server is the primary server program responsible for providing the PaperCut user interface, storing data, and providing services to users. PaperCut uses the Application Server to manage user and account information, manage printers, calculate print costs, provide a web browser interface to administrators and end users, and much more. is on.

If your organization does not have a dedicated print serverA print server is a system responsible for hosting print queues and sharing printer resources to desktops. Users submit print jobs to a print server rather then directly to the printer itself. A print server can be a dedicated server but on many networks this server also performs other tasks, such as file serving at one or more site, you should consider setting up Direct Printing. Direct Printing allows you to track and report on local printing that is sent directly from a computer to a printer, without a print server.

Step 1: Ensure the primary server is set up correctly

Before installing the Direct Print Monitor, you should ensure that the primary server (Application Server) is set up and running correctly.

Verify that:

  • PaperCut NG/MF release 16.0 or above is installed.

  • Users can log in to user pages from their computers.

  • Administrators can access the system.

  • The Application Server is accessible from each computer requiring Direct Printing, that is, you can ping the Application Server.

Step 2: Ensure firewall software is set to allow access to the port used by the Application Server

A computer with the Direct Print Monitor installed needs to communicate (initiate a TCP connection) on the port used by the Application Server (by default this is port 9191). Ensure that any firewall software on the primary Application Server is not set to block any incoming local network traffic on this port.

Step 3: Install Direct printing

Install the Print ProviderA Print Provider is a monitoring service installed on a secondary print server to allow PaperCut to control and track printers. This monitoring component intercepts the local printing and reports the use back to the primary Application Server. software onto each computer.

  1. Download the latest Mac DMG disk image from:

    http://www.papercut.com/products/mf/direct-print/?platform=mac

  2. Distribute the installer to the target computers using your preferred method, for example, via a share drive or a portable memory device.

  3. On each computer, open the downloaded .dmg file.

  4. Double-click PaperCut NG/MF secondary serverA PaperCut secondary server is a system that directly hosts a printer, that is, a print server with a Print Provider installed. A secondary server can be a server style system hosting many printers, a desktop style system hosting printer(s) also shared to other network users, or a desktop style system with the printer used only for local users (not shared). Installation.pkg and follow the prompts to install the Print Provider.

Step 4: Configure the Direct Print Installer on each computer

The Print Provider on the computer needs to know where the Application Server is installed and that it should be running in Direct Printing mode. The installer attempts to open the appropriate configuration file automatically after the install completes. However, your IT environment configuration might prevent this from happening. If it does not automatically open, open the following file in a text editor:

[app-path]\providers\print\mac\print-provider.conf

  1. Locate the line starting with ApplicationServer= and change localhost to the name or IP address of the Application Server.

  2. Locate the line with #DirectPrintingMode=false and change it to:

    DirectPrintingMode=true

    NOTE

    Make sure you remove # at the beginning of the line.

  3. Save the file and exit the text editor.

  4. Double-click the command script /Applications/PaperCut NG/MF/Control Printer Monitoring.command, and enable monitoring on the appropriate printers.

NOTE

  • If required, you can also modify the other default configuration details. For more information see Add and remove/delete/ignore printers

  • If you need to change the configuration after deploying Direct Printing, you need to manually update the print-provider.conf file on each computer.

Step 5: Test

The Direct Print Monitor should now be configured.

  1. Log in to the Application Server as "admin" and verify that the printer queues are linked to the printer:

    1. Click the Printers tab.

      The Printer List page is displayed.

    2. Select a printer.

      The Printer Details page is displayed showing the Summary tab contents.

    3. Click the Queues tab.

    4. Verify that the printer queues are linked to the printer.

  2. Perform a multi-page test print on each printer and verify that print jobs are tracked correctly.