Automating secondary server deployment on Windows

The 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 process can also be automated via command line switches issued to the installer program. This is useful when you need to 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. on a number of desktop systems hosting local attached printers.

To automate the installation:

1. Copy the windows installer program, pcmf-setup.exe, into a directory accessible to the target systems (i.e. A network share or mapped drive).

2. Copy the print-provider.conf file from main server. This file is located at [app-path]/providers/print/win. Place the file in the same directory as the install program (as performed in step 1.)

3. Edit the print-provider.conf file and define the correct server name or IP address of the main 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. in the line starting with ApplicationServer= .

4. Use a batch file or equivalent to start the install program as follows:

   pcmf-setup.exe /TYPE=secondary_print /SILENT

   Note: The installer requires administrator level - needed to install a system service.