Deploying Printers Windows Server 2008

Starting with Windows Server 2003 R2 edition, and the release of the Print Management console, Windows administrators are now able to easily deploy printers to multiple computers and users using domain policies. Printers can be deployed to computers and/or users and when a printer is removed from a deployed printer domain policy, it is also removed from the computer or user profile during the next startup or logon cycle. Of course, this means that this setting also requires the Windows XP and Windows Vista systems to wait for the network to start before running this policy because the printer is deployed using Group Policy settings as well as a startup or logon script. Also it must be noted that simply removing the policy does not remove the printer.

Deploying a printer using domain policies can be performed by using the GPMC on a Windows Server 2008 R2 system that also has the Print Services Tools installed. Deploying printers with group policies can also be performed using the Print Management console, which is one of the Print Services Tools, and using this tool actually provides more functionality during printer deployment. Because of the added functionality, the recommended deployment method for Group Policy deployed printers is to use the Print Management console. To deploy a printer to a computer using Group Policy, perform the following steps:

1. Log on to a designated Windows Server 2008 R2 administrative server.
2. If necessary, install the Group Policy Management Console and Print Services Tools features on the system.
3. After the tools are installed, click Start, click All Programs, click Administrative Tools, and select Print Management.
4. In the tree pane, expand the Print Servers node to reveal domain print servers. If no servers are listed, right-click the Print Servers node and select Add/Remove Servers. Browse to find a print server or type the server name, click Add to List, and then click OK to return to the Print Management console.
5. After a print server is added, expand the server and select the Printers node in the tree pane. If no printers are listed in the Printers pane, a printer must be installed. Please refer to the Print Management console Help file if assistance with printer installation is required.
6. In the Printers pane, right-click a desired printer, and select Deploy with Group Policy.
7. When the Deploy with Group Policy window opens, click the Browse button to locate the group policy that will contain the deployed printer settings.
8. When the Browse for a Group Policy Object window opens, select the All tab and select the desired group policy. To create a new GPO for this task, select the Create a New Group Policy Object icon near the upper right of the window.
9. The new group policy will be created with the default name of New Group Policy Object; right-click the policy and rename it to DeployPrinterGPO. Select the renamed policy, and click OK to return to the Deploy with Group Policy window.
10. Back in the Deploy with Group Policy window, check the "The Computers That This GPO Applies to (per Machine)" check box, and click the Add button to load the printer into the policy.
11. Click OK to apply the changes. A window opens to display the results of the printer deployment. Click OK if the operation succeeded; otherwise, click the Details button to review the log for possible errors.
12. Click OK again to close the Deploy with Group Policy window and return to the Print Management console.
13. In the tree pane, select the Deployed Printers node and verify in the Printers pane that the printer is now listed.
14. Close the Print Management console.
15. Open the Group Policy Management Console and locate the new GPO and link it to the domain, site, or organizational unit that contains the desired computers this policy will apply to.

NOTE: Only Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, and Windows Server 2008 R2 are capable of adding printers through policies using built-in functionality. Older operating systems must use startup scripts for computers or logon scripts for users and must run the pushprinterconnections.exe utility from a Windows Server 2008 system.

To support deployed printer domain policies for systems other than Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, and Windows Server 2008 R2, perform these additional steps:

1. On a Windows Server 2008 NOT R2 system, open Windows Explorer and browse to the c:\Windows\System32 folder.
2. Locate the pushprinterconnections.exe file and copy it to the Clipboard.
3. Browse to the domain Netlogon share in the Windows Explorer window. For this example, it will be \\companyabc.com\Netlogon. Paste the pushprinterconnections.exe file into this share and close the Windows Explorer window.
4. Open the Group Policy Management Console.
5. Expand the domain and expand the Group Policy Objects container.
6. Select the DeployPrintersGPO policy and open it for editing.
7. Expand the Computer Configuration node, expand the Policies node, and expand the Windows Settings node.
8. Select the Scripts (Startup/Shutdown) node, and in the Settings pane double-click the Startup setting.
9. In the Startup Properties window, click the Add button. In the Add a Script window that opens, click the Browse button to search for the file.
10. In the Browse window, browse to the \\companyabc.com\netlogon share, select the pushprinterconnections.exe file, and click Open.
11. Back in the Browse window, leave the script parameters blank, verify the path and executable name are correct, and click OK.
12. Click OK again to close the Startup Script Properties window, and close the Group Policy Management Editor also.
13. Back in the Group Policy Management Console, link the DeployPrinterGPO to a test OU that contains a computer on which the printer can be installed.
14. Reboot the computer to which the DeployPrinterGPO applies.
15. After reboot, log on and verify that the printer was successfully installed. If the printer was not installed, the system might require an additional reboot or Synchronous Foreground Group Policy Processing might need to be enabled.
16. After the GPO testing is complete, log back on to the Windows Server 2008 R2 system, open the GPMC, and link the DeployPrinterGPO to the necessary OUs.

Deploying printers using GPOs to users follows mostly the same process; except when deploying the printer, the check box to deploy in the user section should be checked and instead of a computer startup script a user logon script should be defined. Deploying printers using GPOs for computers or users simplifies the installation and removal of printers but does not set the default printer if multiple printers are installed on the computer or in the user profile. Setting the default printer should be performed by the end user, or the new Printer settings available in the User Configuration Preferences node can be used to install and set the default printer.