Shared account synchronization

The shared accountA shared account is an account that is shared by multiple users. For example, in business, shared accounts can be used to track printing costs by business unit, project, or client. Organizations like legal firms, engineering firms, or accounting offices often have long lists of accounts, projects, clients, or matters. In a school or university, shared accounts can be used to track printing by departments, classes, or subjects. synchronization feature allows the administrator to define an external source for shared accounts. This is useful for situations where shared accounts are managed by an external system, and allows PaperCut NG to mirror the accounts without any additional administration.

To enable shared account synchronization:

1. Select Accounts > Shared Account Sync.

   The Shared Account Sync page is displayed.

2. In Source, select the type of file containing the accounts you want to sync:

   • Text file—Synchronize shared accounts against a text file. For more information about the format of this text file, see Batch account import file format.

   • File System Directory Scan—Synchronize shared accounts against a directory structure. Many organizations have a 'Customers' folder or similar in their file system that contains one folder per customer. For example, given Customers/Client 1 and Customers/Client 2, synchronizing against the Customers directory imports Client 1 and Client 2 as shared accounts.

   Tip:

   The location of the text file or directory (the sync source) is relative to the system where PaperCut NG is installed, not the system being used to access the Admin web interface. The sync source should either be physically on that system, or accessible via a mapped / mounted drive. Additionally, the source should have permissions to be readable by the Local System account on Windows, or the papercut account on Mac or Linux.

3. Complete the following fields:

   • File location / Directory location—The location of the file or directory to sync against. The location is relative to the server.

   • Perform—How often the account sync should take place. The available options are Hourly and Overnight. If new accounts are added regularly throughout the day, Hourly is probably the best choice. The Overnight sync occurs nightly at approximately 12:55am.

   • Treat subdirectories as sub-accounts—(available only when the Source is File System Directory Scan). Select this check box to treat sub-directories as sub-accounts. For example, a directory structure of Customers/Client 1/Project 1 produces a top level account called Client 1 and a sub-account of Client 1 called Project 1.

   • Delete accounts that do not exist in the selected source— delete accounts that exist in PaperCut NG but not in the sync source. Use this option to clean out 'old' accounts. This option is not 'remembered' for the automatic synchronization, so accounts can be deleted only by selecting this check box; then clicking Synchronize Now. Deleting is a destructive operation. Don't forget to perform a test first and a backup is also advised!

4. Click Test.

   The window displayed indicates how shared accounts were processed, and how many shared accounts will be imported, updated, or deleted when you click Synchronize Now.

5. If you are happy with the results of the test, click Synchronize Now. This triggers a shared account synchronization, and synchronization continues at the chosen interval.