Our company is moving from direct printing for all users to print servers for all users. This is because we are going to be using a product called paper cut to monitor and charge users for print jobs. Any job sent to the printer without going through the print server where paper cut is installed would not be charged for that print. The print servers are domain computers running Windows Server 2008 R2. We have our Windows scripts setup and all is working great, but our MAC scripts are falling short.
We would like to be able to have our MAC scripts to be ran the same way as our Windows script, which is we are using an intranet site that hosts the scripts and the users can select their office and what printers they want to install. We are not sure how to (or if we can) deploy drivers to the MAC computers, and how to have users run a script to go get the mapping for their printers.
When working in a PC and MAC mixed invironment, there is an increasing need to print from a Windows connected Printer from a MAC. This article gives the basic steps of setting up the PC, sharing the printer on the network and then connecting to the printer from the MAC. This article will introduce you the best printer for Mac. If you have such need, just take a look to learn more. Tips on How to Choose the Best Printer for Mac. Printer manufacturers these days are making sure that their products are able to accommodate one of the most popular brands in the market.
I would like to know if there is a command (like in windows) to make the printers persistent so they do not delete when the users take their MACs home. Here is what I have came up with, but I am NOT at all knowledgeable in scripting: # Users will need to download and install the current drivers for all printers needed to be installed.
These drivers will be installed to /Library/Printers/PPDs/Contents/Resources. # # The ' ' in the paths of the printer and drivers are to specify a blank space. If the printer path and driver is installed with no spaces but used in place, these would not be needed. I guess I forgot one important detail, 99% of the MACs are BYOD so we never touch their systems or know what their login credentials are (if you meant local login not papercut). I have seen users with the OS as old as 10.3 (not sure what the name of that was) Papercut and the print server are setup to allow anyone to connect to the print shares, as long as they are authenticated with their Papercut user id and pin.
The printers are set to only take jobs from the spooler which is at 10.100.5.2 in this example. We are a small college using PaperCut MF (works on copiers as well as printers). For 'fixed' machines (computer labs, etc.) we set up the printers manually on a single machine, then use DeployStudio to image the rest of the computer in that lab or labs. Those machines print through the Windows 2003 secondary server. Everything works well.
For student-owned computers we have a local site containing the PCClient driver as well as the driver for our Canon imagePRESS C1 and a Ricoh Aficio 2400 copier/plotter. I set up an old MacBook Pro as a Mac secondary server for PaperCut (no charge for secondary servers) and we share the printers via Bonjour. Our printers are on a separate network, which eliminates any possibility of connecting directly and bypassing the PaperCut system. Note - When doing Bonjour printing it's necessary to change the short name on the user's account to match the account name as known by PaperCut. Go to System Preferences/Users & Groups, right click on the user account and select Advanced Options, change the 'Account name'. Reboot and PCClient will work perfectly.
Verfine, your solution sounds the best, but the only issue is that we have 13 sites that need papercut deployed on windows server machines. Adding 13 Apple ML Servers would cost quite a bit of money I am sure. What OS do you have running on your MacBook Pro. Also, to not have to add $20,000 worth of MAC hardware, we would have to look into routing all of our MAC traffic through one MAC server which means sending print jobs through the WAN to be spooled and then back out of the spooler to the printer. JDMorecraft wrote: Verfine, your solution sounds the best, but the only issue is that we have 13 sites that need papercut deployed on windows server machines. Adding 13 Apple ML Servers would cost quite a bit of money I am sure. What OS do you have running on your MacBook Pro.
Also, to not have to add $20,000 worth of MAC hardware, we would have to look into routing all of our MAC traffic through one MAC server which means sending print jobs through the WAN to be spooled and then back out of the spooler to the printer. I think he means that he has 1 MacBook Pro running Mountain Lion Server edition. JDMorecraft wrote: Verfine, your solution sounds the best, but the only issue is that we have 13 sites that need papercut deployed on windows server machines.
Adding 13 Apple ML Servers would cost quite a bit of money I am sure. What OS do you have running on your MacBook Pro. Also, to not have to add $20,000 worth of MAC hardware, we would have to look into routing all of our MAC traffic through one MAC server which means sending print jobs through the WAN to be spooled and then back out of the spooler to the printer. Are you running 13 copies of PaperCut in your Windows environment? Sorry for the delay in response. We have one campus with three buildings, and therefore one MB Pro (or a Mac mini) serves well as a secondary server.
In your case it might work best to have a Mac secondary server in each office, and I appreciate that will cost a pretty penny. The MB Pro secondary server here is running OS 10.8, though it doesn't appear to be necessary to be running the current OS in order to be a Bonjour print server. By way of explanation, we use a MacBook pro that will no longer charge a battery and has no optical drive. It's pretty well useless for any other purpose, so it was a no-brainer to choose to set it up as a secondary print server. Performance isn't the issue here; it's simply a matter of a box of moderate capacity that has sufficiently modern hardware to run either Lion or Mt.
Since we're a non-profit, we probably would have scrounged ebay for a used Mac mini if the laptop hadn't been handy. You will have to set up the appropriate print queues on each secondary server, but PaperCut does not limit the number of printers, nor the number of secondary servers - at least you aren't being hit up for additional license fees.
I agree that running print jobs through the WAN to a single Mac secondary server is impractical. For what it's worth, we also offer iOS printing (iPhones, iPods, iPads) - we use a second Mac secondary server, in our case it's running on 10.8 Server, though any 10.7 or 10.8 Mac will do. Faculty/Staff/Students download the PaperCut app (from the primary PaperCut server, it's part of the standard distribution), then are able to print. We use two servers since iOS seems not to work with duplexing printers, otherwise we could probably use just the one Bonjour server. On the iOS-sharing server the printers are set up, ignoring any duplex capability they may have.
It's not used much (at least not yet) but more students are showing up with iOS devices, and those who print with them are quite happy with the process. I think I have found a simplistic way of installing the printers. I have written HTML to install the print drivers with a Document that give step by step instructions. Then the same HTML instructs and points to the PC Client install file, then points to a really simple script that checks for the driver and PC Client installation before installing the mapped printers.
The issue now is that a.command file from HTML comes up as plain text, and does not run as a shell script. Is there any way to run the.command file as a script and not just print out the text of the script. I will also create a forum entry about this question, as the main question has been solved for the most part.
Top 5 Printers for Mac Revised Apple has produced several lines of Mac printers, but it doesn’t support them anymore. Apple’s owner must, therefore, rely on third-party products. In addition, as Mac users are frequently related to art production, or in the publishing profession, good quality printers are a must.
Here below is a review of the five best printers for Mac presently available. This Hewlett-Packard inkjet printer is expensive but has many features that make it one of the great wireless printers for Mac. Features: Besides basic printing, the can work as a scan, standalone copier, email sender, and fax machine. It can print from and scan to a USB drive, and it can be connected to smartphones, laptops, computers and tablets.
Navigation is done through a 4-3-inch color touch screen, with the additional feature of a command input option. Paper is handled with 500-sheet and 50-sheet trays, and a duplexer for two-sided printing. Printing speed is also great, reaching up to 9.5 pages-per-minute with good output quality.
Overall, the X576dw is a wise choice for the business and individual user, who is prepared to spend some money on a quality printer. This is a wireless, inkjet printer, which has multifunction capabilities.
Features: It can do one-sided and two-sided printing, faxing, scanning and photocopying. Feeding is through a 100-sheet tray, and the printing speed is 4.9 pages-per-minute. The can be connected through Wi-Fi to multiple devices, such as computers, laptops and smartphones. Price wise, it is very affordable, making it ideal for the small office or home environment.
In summary, it is one of the printers for Mac that is versatile, economical, and affordable; which are characteristics much in demand in the small and medium business world. This is a monochrome, laser, low-cost printer that is small enough to be easily placed on a desk. The connects via a USB cable to a computer or laptop.
Features: Regarding paper handling, it has a 250-sheet tray and a one-sheet manual feed tray. It also comes with a built-in duplexer for two-sided printing. It is a light printer, weighing only 15 pounds, and measuring 7.2 (height) x 14 (width) x 14.2 (length) inches. Thus, it can easily be moved by one person. Its printing quality is good for text, but not good enough for pages that contain detailed pictures. However, photos of not a very demanding quality can be printed with ease. It has a printing speed of 27 pages per minute, which is enough for the average office requirements.
In brief, Brother HL-L2300D is a good printer for personal use, be it at the office or at home. In addition, by being offered at an affordable price of less than US$100, it is a smart choice for a personal everyday printer.
This is a color, multifunction printer with many capabilities for the small and medium office. It is a multifunction printer, providing printing, faxing and photocopying services. In addition, it comes with a Premium free service for scanning to searchable PDF or editable Microsoft Office formats.
Features: Its outstanding characteristic is connectivity. Input and output can be done from and to trays, USB devices, Wi-Fi and the cloud. Adding to this, it is equipped with the Dell Document Hub, which allows access to many cloud storage sites, including Box, Dropbox, Evernote, Google Drive, OneDrive, Salesforce and SharePoint Online 2013. Navigation is excellent, through a 4.3 inch color touch-screen that is also customizable. In addition, it has an alphanumeric keypad, which includes buttons for Home, Login and Logout, Information, Job Status, Wi-Fi, Copy and Fax.
Feeding is through a 250-tray, and a 50-sheet feeder, with an optional 550-sheet tray. That makes a total maximum of 850 sheets. It also has a one-sheet manual feed tray. Its auto-duplexer feature permits two-sided printing. Its size is 19.7 (height) x 16.9 (width) x 19.8 (depth) inches, and it weighs 70 pounds.
Therefore, it requires at least two people to move it, and cannot be placed on a desk. This Dell machine prints 16 two-sided pages per minute, or 25 one-sided pages per minute. Prints are of good quality, both text and photos.
Colors are rich. Summarizing, the H625cdw is an excellent printer for the small to medium business office, capable of producing documents of marketing quality, making the H625cdw a leader amongst all the Mac compatible printers. This Hewlett Packard printer is of great quality and efficient for heavy duty work. Although it is an inkjet printer, it has many of the advantages of a laser one. Features: It has a good speed of 50 pages-per-minute, and a paper handling system that puts it in parallel with laser printers. It has a 500-sheet drawer, a 50-sheet multipurpose tray, a duplexer for double-sided printing, and the option of adding an extra 500-sheet drawer or a floor stand with two 500-sheet drawers. The output tray can hold up to 300-sheets.
As with laser printers, paper comes out face down. A great characteristic of this printer is its connectivity, due to its many options on how to add a printer to a Mac and other devices. It has Ethernet and Wi-Fi connectors, which allow connection to the cloud, and iOS and Android-based devices.
It can also connect via NFC protocols, and via USB to a computer. It can work with USB memory devices. It is big in size, measuring 16.5 (height) x 20.9 (width) x 16 (depth) inches, and weighing 37 pounds. The output quality is good, both in text documents and photos. Overall, the is a great choice for a small to medium size office, where it needs to be used extensively and through different devices.