Printer monitoring

[timbo343]

Hey

I dunno if this topic has been posted before but.. im looking for some free or cheap printer monitoring software that will tell me who printed to which printer at what time and how many pages the document was.

Does anyone use them or know of any??

Tim

[Geoff]

Linux box running Cups + Samba?

[CyberNerd]

Have the windows print server use a syslog client to send its logs to a syslog server, then search the syslog files.

http://www.phpwizardry.com/php-syslog-ng.php

I have a python script that does weekly reports somewhere.

Its a bit of a bodge, probably cups/samba is the best solution

[webman]

Event viewer on the print server?

[timbo343]

ye i thought about the event viewer but doesnt really give an accurate report

[webman]

Interface isn't that good, but you can create basic filters. Everything is there - Date, Time, Username, Printer, document and page count.

[Geoff]

Remember you can redirect event logs to a syslog server.

[projector1]

we use pcounter, this does all what you mentioned and added functionality such as deleting duplicate jobs sent. It also allows you to control printing by allocating credits by day, week month etc. What i find that is useful is the ability to charge more credits on the colour printers thus saving on toner costs. it comes with a selection of predefined rules aswell. Very handy!

[CyberNerd]

thats what I mean't - redirect the eventvwr to syslog server then search.

The phpsyslogng puts it all into a database then has a php frontend to do searches.

[Geoff]

If you wish to switch to something like pccounter, check your printers are compatible. That's been a stumbling block here for a few schools.

 

Alternatively look at the pykota addon system for CUPS. If CUPS understands your printer (highly likely) then you can use quotas/page counting/etc via pykota.

 

http://www.pykota.com

[Norphy]

As long as you're using network printers which support raw printing on Port 9100 or LPR, PCounter should work fine. It does with all of ours and we have a Minolta, several Jetdirect and several netgear printer servers.

[Geoff]

Off the top of my head, it didn't understand our epson c1900. But I think it only supports ESC/P2.

 

Works with CUPS though:

 

http://www.linuxprinting.org/show_printer.cgi?recnum=Epson-AcuLaser_C1900

[pete]

We use Print Manager Plus - not fantastic but does the job well enough that I haven't eyed up a replacement.

[Geoff]

How much does Print Manager Plus/PC Counter cost?

[_Bat_]

Webman... you might wanna remove the name off that image... probably just me being over cautious though.

[Jake]

Yeah, we use Print Manager Plus too, it has its oddities, but overall its been more than adequate

[webman]

Thanks _Bat_, quite right... done.

 

We have print credits and cost-per-printer built-in with RM CC3.

[secman]

We use a package called PaperCut Quota from an Australian Company. http://papercut.biz Not free but can control printing by allocating an amount of cash for each user and provildes reports on who has printed what when. We have just upgraded to the "NG" version that has a full web based front end so that it can be managed from your desktop. It can also control internet access if you add the extra module.

 

Alan

[secman]

..... I have just been checking the papercut site and they have a FREE printer logger that produces html or excel files. Web Page Name Might be just what you need.....

 

Alan

[wesleyw]

@Jake - Have you managed to get the client side reporting for users working? I've had no end of trouble trying to get it to connection to the MSDE database? I am impressed with the software though overall it's very good and the server side reporting is excellent!

 

 

Wes

[timbo343]

the print logger is great

Just what i was looking for thanks