Terminal Server Easy Print

pawansharma — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 12:04:00 GMT

Terminal Server Easy print

Terminal service easy printing is a new feature introduced in windows 2008 server.It enables users to print from a Terminal Services session to the local or network printers configured on the client computer without the need to install drivers on the Terminal Server.

User will see the full printer properties of the local printer in the session and have access to all printer functionality. The Easy Print universal driver acts as a proxy and redirects all UI

To use the Terminal Services Easy Print feature in Terminal Services on Windows Server 2008, clients must be running Remote Desktop Connection (RDC) 6.1 client and have the .NET Framework 3.0 Service Pack 1 installed. Both included with Windows Server 2008 and will be available for download for Windows Vista.

New features in Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services:

++Terminal Services Easy Print.

++Client-redirected printers are now scoped per session.

++Printers now have the Session SID set in the list of ACLs that prevents printers from appearing in another session, even for the same user.

++Ability to view and manage session printers. By default, users, including administrators, can only see the printers that they have redirected in their session.

++Users can change access to the printers by editing the permissions in the printer properties to be made accessible to other users.

The Terminal Services Easy Print feature works seamlessly in mixed platform environments:

· x86 clients > x64 Windows Server 2008 Terminal Servers

· x64 clients > x86 Windows Server 2008 Terminal Servers

Things we need to check if TS easy printing is not working:

++clients are running Remote Desktop Connection (RDC) 6.1 client and have the .NET Framework 3.0 Service Pack 1.

a) XP SP3 includes RDC 6.1 client. But we need to install .NET Framework

Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 (which includes .NET Framework 3.0 SP1) can be downloaded from the Microsoft Download Center

http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=109422

b) On a Windows Server 2008-based server (that is acting as the client), you must add .NET Framework 3.0 SP1 by using either Server Manager or by adding the feature from the command line.

To add .NET Framework 3.0 SP1 by using the Server Manager user interface

1. Start Server Manager. To open Server Manager, click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Server Manager.

2. In the left pane of Server Manager, right-click Features, and then click Add Features.

3. On the Select Features page, expand .NET Framework 3.0.

4. Select the .NET Framework 3.0 Features and the XPS Viewer check boxes, and then click Next.

5. Click Install.

To add .NET Framework 3.0 SP1 by using the command line

1. Start the command prompt with elevated privileges. To do this, click Start, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator.

2. At the command prompt, type the following, and then press ENTER:

pkgmgr.exe /iu:NetFx3

The installation occurs silently, and may take several minutes.

c) Windows Vista® with SP1 includes both of the required components. By default, Windows Vista with SP1 supports the Terminal Services Easy Print driver with no additional configuration

++ Check if tsprint.dll in the following location:

%systemroot%\System32\Spool\Drivers\w32x86\3\tsprint.dll (Terminal Services Easy Print is implemented in tsprint.dll)

++Check the Terminal Services Easy Print and compare with the working machine.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Environments\ <architecture>\Drivers\Version-3\Terminal Services Easy Print

Terminal Service Printing Group Policies

Group Policies for Terminal Services printing are located in the following container:

Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Terminal Services\Terminal Server

Table: Terminal Services Print Group Policies

Group Policy	Function Explanation
Do not set default client printer to be default printer in a session	This policy setting allows you to specify whether the client default printer is automatically set as the default printer in a Terminal Services session.
Do not allow client printer redirection	This policy setting allows you to specify whether to prevent the mapping of client printers in Terminal Services sessions. Enabling this policy will disable printer redirection.
Specify terminal server fallback printer driver behavior	This policy setting allows you to specify the Terminal Server fallback printer driver behavior. You must enable this policy to use the fallback driver.
Use Terminal Services Easy Print driver first	This policy setting allows you to specify whether the Terminal Services Easy Print printer driver is used first to install all client printers. Enabling this policy will cause all redirected printers to use the Easy Print driver.
Redirect only the default client printer	This policy setting allows you to specify whether the default client printer is the only printer redirected in Terminal Services sessions. Enabling this policy causes the server to only redirect the client default printer, not all

PERFGURU : TS 2008 Easy Printing

Terminal Server Easy Print