How to auto-deploy a print queue to IP ranges

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How to auto-deploy a print queue to IP ranges

How to auto-deploy a print queue to IP ranges

If PCs on a particular network, floor or site should all get the same printer, you can install the queue automatically based on each PC’s IP address. PDAgent must be installed on the PCs.

How deployment zones work

A deployment zone describes a group of PCs running PDAgent. Each zone can match PCs in three ways, one tab each in the New deployment zone window:

  • Hosts: by PDAgent or by computer name (hostname).
  • IP range: by the PC’s IP address.
  • User logins: by the users, or Departments, logged in on the PC.

A PC matches a zone only if it matches all of the tabs. Leave a tab on its first option (All hosts, All IP addresses or All users) to ignore it.

A Queue Deployment set to Selected deployment zones is installed on a PC when any of its ticked zones covers that PC. Zones are shared, so one zone can be ticked on several Queue Deployments. The Deployment zones tab lists every zone with its Name, Include or exclude, Match hosts, Match IPs and Match users settings, and when it was created and last modified. Use Edit and Delete to change or remove a zone.

The same zones control self-install: if Self install is set to Allowed for selected deployment zones, users on PCs covered by a ticked zone can install the queue themselves from the Install print queue option in the PDAgent Client.

Set up the deployment zone

  1. Open Resource Manager.

  2. In the tree on the left, expand Print Management > Print Queue Management and click Queue Deployments.

  3. On the right, double-click the Queue Deployment. If it does not exist yet, create it first: see How to manually create a Queue Deployment or How to copy an existing Windows print queue to a new Queue Deployment.

  4. In the Deployment scope section, set Auto deploy to Selected deployment zones.

  5. Click the Deployment zones tab, then click Add. The New deployment zone window opens.

  6. In Deployment zone name, enter a descriptive name for the zone.

  7. Set Include or exclude:

    • Only include those matching search parameters: the zone covers only the PCs that match.
    • Include all except those matching search parameters: the zone covers every PC except the ones that match.

  8. Click the IP range tab and set Match IP addresses to Those in the range(s) specified below.

  9. In the Comma seperated IP ranges box, enter one or more ranges, separated by commas. Any of these forms can be used:

    Form Example Covers
    Start and end address 192.168.0.1-192.168.0.100 192.168.0.1 to 192.168.0.100
    Short start and end 192.168.1.1-7 192.168.1.1 to 192.168.1.7
    CIDR 10.0.0.0/24 10.0.0.0 to 10.0.0.255
    Address and subnet mask 192.168.0.0/255.255.255.0 192.168.0.0 to 192.168.0.255
    Single address 10.1.3.25 that address only

    For example, with 192.168.0.1-192.168.0.100, 10.0.0.0/24:

    • a PC with IP address 192.168.0.10 gets the queue, but one with 192.168.0.110 does not;
    • a PC with IP address 10.0.0.10 gets the queue, but one with 10.0.1.10 does not.

    A PC with more than one network adapter matches if any of its IP addresses is in a range.

  10. Leave the Hosts and User logins tabs on All hosts and All users, unless you also want to narrow the zone by computer name or user.

  11. Click OK to save the zone.

  12. Back on the Deployment zones tab, make sure the new zone is ticked, then click OK to save the Queue Deployment.

When the queue is installed

Each PDAgent checks for Queue Deployments whenever it refreshes its settings, so PCs that match the zone get the queue automatically. To apply the change straight away:

  • to refresh one PC, click PD Agents in Resource Manager, right-click the PDAgent and choose Refresh, or
  • to refresh every PC, click PD Servers, right-click the PDServer and choose Send command > Refresh all connected PDAgents.

If Auto remove queues if not in zones or the Deployment is deleted is ticked on the Queue Deployment, the queue is also removed from PCs that stop matching the zone. Queues that users installed themselves with Self install are never removed automatically.

 

Document revision date: 2026/10/23
Software version: 2.5.15.3

How to auto-deploy a print queue to IP ranges