Deploying Printers - Windows 10/11

[MatthewL]

Since all the print nightmare stuff deploying printers via GPO without the reg change (which then leaves a vulnerability) doesn't work for me.

 

Does anyone have a solution, and not to install it manually, I want to go back to an automated solution to 1 save engineering time and 2 for a seemless experience for users.

 

We are a PaperCut MF user so I've had a look at print deploy this afternoon and think this could work, does anyone else use it?

 

We literally add users to an AD group, a GPO then applies if they are a member and on a specific IP range it will map said printer, nothing too fancy.

 

Thoughts and feedback on print deploy or other working methods.

[bald_pig]

Since all the print nightmare stuff deploying printers via GPO without the reg change (which then leaves a vulnerability) doesn't work for me.

 

Does anyone have a solution, and not to install it manually, I want to go back to an automated solution to 1 save engineering time and 2 for a seemless experience for users.

 

We are a PaperCut MF user so I've had a look at print deploy this afternoon and think this could work, does anyone else use it?

 

We literally add users to an AD group, a GPO then applies if they are a member and on a specific IP range it will map said printer, nothing too fancy.

 

Thoughts and feedback on print deploy or other working methods.

 

Deploy the driver separately, roll it into your images etc. then use the GPO for queue assignment.

[tangotech]

Yep, this is what we do!

 

Driver is installed in the Task Sequence and the GPO just maps the Printer Queue. Simple & Easy.

[MatthewL]

I looked at that option, it gets stripped on sysprep. I even looked at pnpuil and injecting it but very mixed results on that one, some it would work, others it wouldn't. I will see if we can do anything with OS Deploy.

 

I started looking at Print Deploy but I am unable to download the capture tool to do a test run, this might work better for us but the whole thing is pulling what hair I have left out.

[bald_pig]

I looked at that option, it gets stripped on sysprep. I even looked at pnpuil and injecting it but very mixed results on that one, some it would work, others it wouldn't. I will see if we can do anything with OS Deploy.

 

I started looking at Print Deploy but I am unable to download the capture tool to do a test run, this might work better for us but the whole thing is pulling what hair I have left out.

 

Yeah, you'd need to use DISM to add it to the WIM.

[TwistedHelixis]

Deploy the driver separately, roll it into your images etc. then use the GPO for queue assignment.

What would you do for all current clients, if you need to get a new copier on the network?

[bald_pig]

What would you do for all current clients, if you need to get a new copier on the network?

 

In that situation I'd probably be using powershell:

 

Managing Printers and Drivers with PowerShell in Windows 10 / Server 2016 | Windows OS Hub (ignore URL, it is for 10/11)

 

I imagine there's probably a script somewhere that's ready-made to use

[MatthewL]

Will look at DISM option to put into the WIM.

 

Current devices - the powershell for me has been hit and miss hence looking at options.

[TwistedHelixis]

the powershell for me has been hit and miss hence looking at options.

Would you mind sharing your script?

[MatthewL]

it was using pnputil and referencing the driver file, there are a few examples out there.

[Julian]

What printers are you using, and do they have a "version 4" driver avalable?

(see https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/print/v4-printer-driver)

[MatthewL]

Version 4 driver is no use, I need the features of the type 3.

 

Sharp devices.

[k-strider]

So im just posting this as it may be useful to others... we are about to change our copiers from Canon to Ricoh and i was worried about getting the driver on all computers / staff laptops - in the future it will be rolled into images but in the mean time i asked Chat GPT to help me with a powershell startup script... - it won't help to update an existing driver to a new version (unless the name chages) as it looks to see if its installed and if not it installs it. but in our case it will get the driver onto the computers so that GPO can then add the print ques

 

 

$driverName = "RICOH PCL6 UniversalDriver V4.38"
$driverPath = "\\myschool.lan\dfs\Programs\admin\PrinterDrivers\RichoPCL6Universal"

# Function to check if the printer driver is installed
function Test-PrinterDriverInstalled {
   param (
       [string]$driverName
   )
   $drivers = Get-PrinterDriver
   foreach ($driver in $drivers) {
       if ($driver.Name -eq $driverName) {
           return $true
       }
   }
   return $false
}

# Function to install the printer driver using pnputil
function Install-PrinterDriver {
   param (
       [string]$driverPath
   )
   # Use pnputil to add the driver
   pnputil /add-driver "$driverPath\*.inf" /install
}

# Main script
if (Test-PrinterDriverInstalled -driverName $driverName) {
   Write-Output "The printer driver '$driverName' is already installed."
} else {
   Write-Output "The printer driver '$driverName' is not installed. Installing..."
   Install-PrinterDriver -driverPath $driverPath
   Add-PrinterDriver -Name $driverName
   Write-Output "The printer driver '$driverName' has been installed."
}

[Frodo_Baggins]

Used Intune and went for Print Deploy with cloned printers to retain the driver features, may have changed but at the time billing was a bit of a pain as if you use prompt for account selection