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Quick install: Apple Mac

Important:

This guide assumes that you are installing on Mac OS X (either server or workstation) hosting and sharing printers. This guide refers to this system as the 'server'. This represents the role of the system rather than the 'edition' of the operating system. PaperCut MF equally supports both the server and workstation versions of Mac OS. If you're upgrading from a previous PaperCut MF version, refer to the directions outlined in Upgrade from a previous version.

The following section assumes knowledge of general Mac OS X server management. Although the installation process is graphical, it would be an advantage to have knowledge of the command-line, creating users, editing configuration files and an understanding file permissions.

Step 1: System requirements

Before proceeding with the installation the SysAdmin should take a few moments to verify system requirements. Is the operating system version supported and are patches up-to-date? (see PaperCut MF System Requirements).

Step 2: Print queue setup

Most small to medium Mac networks configure their workstations to print directly to the physical printers. This method of printing is not supported by PaperCut MF and instead administrators must set up global server hosted print queues. Some administrators are familiar with server queues, while others might need to invest some time into understanding Mac printing in more detail. The topic of Mac printing is complex and is deserves its own chapter! Read the first section of Mac printing in detail and ensure your organization's printers are set up as required.

Administrators should ensure that the server based print queues are set up and working as expected before attempting to install PaperCut MF.

Step 3: Download and install PaperCut MF

PaperCut MF is supplied as a standard disk image containing the installer. Log on as an admin level account. Download and double-click Mac installer. Double-click the installer package named PaperCut MF Standard Installation.pkg. Follow the directions on the screen. The installation process takes between two and five minutes depending on the speed of the system. A system restart is not required but administrators are advised to perform installation on live production systems during periods of low activity - for example, not during backup operations or other administration activities.

The default install location is /Applications/PaperCut MF

Step 4: Run the Configuration Wizard

After you install PaperCut MF, a web browser is displayed with the PaperCut MF Configuration Wizard Welcome screen.

Note:

If the Configuration Wizard Welcome screen is not displayed, you can access it by going to the following URL:

  • http://localhost:9191/admin
  1. Administrative password

    1. Complete the following fields:
      • Password—enter the master password for the main in-built admin account. This password is independent of the operating system or domain passwords. The password must be at least six characters.

        Tip:

        Keep this password secure. If you forget your password, you can reset it. For more information, see Resetting the Admin Password.

      • Verify password—re-enter the password.
      • Location—select the system's physical location and language.
    2. Click Next.

  2. Organization type

    The Organization type screen is displayed.

    This selection determines which system defaults are used. For example, in a Professional (Client Billing) organization, where it is useful to charge-back printing to customers, an advanced client popup is provided with additional features useful for dealing with large numbers of client (shared) accounts. You can change these default settings chosen for an organization type after installation.

    1. Select your organization type.
    2. Click Next.

  3. Default cost for printing

    The Default costs for printing screen is displayed.

    Important:

    For an education implementation, where users are charged for their printing, leave these values as zero during the implementation stage, otherwise, students will not be able to print as they cannot yet add credit to their account.

    If required, you can change this setting after installation.

    1. Complete the following fields:
      • Color (cost per page)—enter the default cost per page for color printing on all printers.
      • Grayscale (cost per page)—enter the default cost per page for grayscale printing on all printers.
    2. Click Next.

  4. Initial user credit (Education organization type only)

    If you selected Education as the organization type, the Initial user credit screen is displayed.

    If you selected Small/Medium Enterprise (SME) or Corporate) or Professional (Client Billing) as the organization type, go to step 5.

    1. Complete the following fields:

      • Initial user credit—enter the amount of credit each/quota each user will receive when the system is first enabled. You can change these settings after setup.
      • Deny access when users run out of credit/quota—select this check box to prevent users from printing when they run out of credit/quota.

        Tip:

        If you are evaluating PaperCut MF it might be appropriate not to disable printing when a users funds run out. This way you can be assured that user printing is not disrupted during the evaluation.

    2. Click Next.

  5. User/group synchonization

    The User/group synchronization screen is displayed.

    PaperCut MF extracts user information out of the system or domain.

    Tip:

    During evaluation, most sites import all users from the system/domain into PaperCut MF.

    1. In User source, select the source of user account data:

    2. Select one of the following options:

      • Import all users—import all domain user accounts.
      • Import users from selected groups—import a subset of users from a given group. This is useful when only a subset of users will use the printers.
    3. Use the Test Settings to test and confirm your settings before continuing.
    4. Click Next.

    Important:

    PaperCut MF automatically tries to detect the available directory services, saving you hours of potential configuration time.

  6. User Client options (Professional (Client Billing) organization type only)

    If you selected Professional (Client Billing), as the organization type, the User client options screen is displayed.

    If you selected Education or Small/Medium Enterprise (SME) or Corporate, go to step 7.

    The User client allows users to allocate print jobs to client (shared) accounts. The process works by:

    • Pausing all jobs that enter the print queues.

    • Displaying a popup on the user's workstation asking them to allocate the print job to an account. This is done by selecting the account from a list.

    • After the user has responded to the popup, the job is released to the printer.

    For more information about the account selection process and shared accounts, see Shared accounts.

    The account selection popup option is enabled at the user level. Once the option is enabled, the user must run the client software. If the client software is not running, the popup cannot display, and the job remains paused in the print queueA print queue displays information about documents that are waiting to be printed, such as the printing status, document owner, and number of pages to print. You can use the print queue to view, pause, resume, restart, and cancel print jobs.. This option is considered high impact. You are presented with two strategies that allow you to choose the implementation approach that best suits your needs.

    1. Select the account implementation strategy:

      • Minimal impact (Initial single user testing)—the account popup is enabled only for a single user for testing purposes. You need to nominate the testing account; this can be an existing system/domain account used for testing purposes or your own user account. The username should be in the format used to log in to the domain/system (usually the short form).

        The minimal impact strategy allows you to test the popup with the nominated test system/domain user account, after which you can enable thepopup for other users as appropriate.

      • Immediate implementation (Enable for all users)—enables the account selection popup for all users. Once the client has been deployed, the system is operational. If this option is selected, install the client software on user desktops immediately to prevent disruption of user printing services.

        If in doubt, select the minimal impact strategy. This ensures the impact is isolated to only the nominated test account.

    2. Click Next.

  7. Confirm setup options

    The Confirm setup options screen is displayed.

    1. Check the settings you have entered. If you want to change anything, you can return to any of the configuration screens to alter the options.
    2. Click Confirm.

    3. The Initial user import screen is displayed.

    4. Click Close.

  8. Setup complete

    After completing the configuration wizard you are presented with a user synchronization status screen, showing the progress and results of the setup.

    1. Click Login to access the Admin web interface and begin familiarizing yourself with the options and features available.

Step 5: Check the printer configuration

When you install PaperCut MF, your networked printers are automatically added to the system. After that, you must manually add new printers. You can, however, change the configuration to automatically add new printers when they are added to the network. For more information, see Add and remove/delete/ignore printers.

The monitored printers are listed on the Printer List page. If the printers are not displayed, try printing a document. The first job triggers registration.

Step 6: Sharing the User Client software

The PaperCut MF client software is located in the directory /Applications/PaperCut MF/client. You can share this directory over the network so workstations can access/install the client application. If you're running Mac OS X Server, use Server Admin to add a read-only file share called PCClient. Sharing with Protocols AFP for Mac clients, and SMB for Windows clients is recommended.

Users can have the client software start automatically using the OS X "Open at Login" feature. Manually start the PaperCut MF client software, command-click the dock icon, select options and the Open at Login" from the small pop up menu.

Step 7: Deployment for a Professional (Client Billing) installation

Note:

This step is a requirement for a Professional (Client Billing) installation.

Now that the system is tested and working, it is time to deploy the client software and enable the account popup for their use. It is important to deploy the client software before enabling the popup, otherwise users' printing is stopped/paused.

Deploy the client software

The User ClientThe User Client tool is an add-on that resides on a user's desktop. It allows users to view their current account balance via a popup window, provides users with the opportunity to confirm what they are about to print, allows users to select shared accounts via a popup, if administrators have granted access to this feature, and displays system messages, such as the "low credit" warning message or print policy popups. can be run directly from a network share (which is automatically configured on Windows). There is also the option to install the software locally on each workstation, however, this is not usually recommended because it makes the process of updating the client software more complicated.

For more information about client deployment options, see User Client. Follow those instructions to deploy the client software, and then enable the popup as described below.

Enable the advanced client popup

Once the client software is deployed on user workstations, you can set the Account Selection. In a Professional (Client Billing) configuration, users who print jobs for clients are often given the Advanced account selection popup, however, other Account Selection options might be better suited for some users based on their job function. You can enable the popup on one user at a time or update for all users in bulk. Use the User Details page to enable the popup for a single user. To enable the popup for all users in bulk:

  1. Click the Users tab.

    The User List page is displayed.

  2. In the Actions menu, click Bulk user actions.

    The Bulk User Operations page is displayed.

  3. In Perform operations on users, select the target group. To enable for all users select the [All Users] group.

  4. In the Change setting area, select the Change account selection setting check box.

  5. Select Show the advanced account selection popupThe advanced account selection popup is a mode for the desktop client that caters for professional businesses with a large number of accounts. It provides powerful features that allow users to quickly assign printing to accounts selected from a large list of clients or projects, such as keyword search, recently selected accounts, and preferred accounts. You can also apply cost adjustments to a print job at time of print. option from the list.

  6. If you do not want to allow users to charge printing to their personal account, clear the Allow user to charge to their personal account check box.

  7. Click OK.

  8. A confirmation window is displayed.

  9. Click OK.

  10. Once completed, the account popup is enabled for the selected users.

When the popup is enabled for all users, perform some testing from users' desktops. To test, log in to the user workstation, perform a print, and check that the account popup is displayed and the job is logged as expected.

Step 8: Testing

Following a fresh installation, it is highly recommended to test core features of the system. For further details, see Testing the installation.

What next?

Take some time to explore the features of PaperCut MF before continuing reading at Implementation by example or Tour. Business users might be interested in trying the popup client software as covered in Client software. If desired, the client software should also be deployed to other workstations. This procedure is detailed in User Client.