How to set up the print server for mobile device printing

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How to set up the print server for mobile device printing

How to set up the print server for mobile device printing

Print Director can receive print jobs from iPhones, iPads, Macs, Android phones and Chromebooks. They print over IPPS (secure IPP) to a PD queue on the print server’s PDAgent, using the printing built into the device, so no Print Director software is installed on the device. The job is then held and released at the printer like any other job.

The PDAgent can advertise the queue on the network (mDNS), so it appears in the device’s list of printers by itself:

  • iPhones, iPads and Macs find advertised queues with AirPrint, which is built in.
  • Android phones need the Mopria Print Service app, installed from the Play Store, because Android’s own print service cannot sign in to a queue. See How to print from an Android device.
  • Chromebooks cannot sign in to a queue either. Instead, Google Workspace sends the user’s account name with each job, and the printer is usually deployed from the Google Admin console. See How to print from Chrome OS devices over IPPS.

The devices must be on the same network as the print server to find an advertised queue.

Check the PDAgent’s IPP service

  1. In Resource Manager, click PD Agents and double-click the print server’s PDAgent.
  2. On the Print services tab, in the IPP & LPD services section, check that Enable IPP is ticked.
  3. Note the SSL port (9633 by default). This is the IPPS port the devices use; you need it when you add the printer by hand or deploy it from the Google Admin console.
  4. If you made a change, click OK + Refresh.

The PDAgent adds a Windows Firewall exception for itself, so nothing needs to be opened in Windows Firewall. If the server or the network has another firewall, allow the PDAgent’s IPP ports (the SSL port and Non SSL port) and mDNS (UDP port 5353), which the devices use to find advertised queues.

Set up the PD queue

Mobile devices print to a PD queue: a queue that exists only in Print Director, on the PDAgent, with no Windows printer behind it. If you do not have one yet, see How to create a PD queue.

  1. In Resource Manager, open Print Management > Print Queue Management > PD Queues and double-click the queue.
  2. Check that Match to Device is set to the printer the jobs are released at. The IPP and advertising settings are only available once the queue is matched to a device.
  3. Choose the IPP Authentication:
    • Require username and password for iPhones, iPads, Macs and Android phones. The user signs in with their Print Director login name and password the first time they print.
    • Require PIN only (ignore password) if users sign in with their printer PIN instead. They type the PIN as the user name, and anything as the password: it is ignored, but phones do not accept an empty password.
    • Use supplied username only for a queue used by Chromebooks. The queue then trusts the user name sent with the job, without a password.
  4. Optional, for a queue that requires a sign in: tick Force relogin after and enter a number of seconds to make users sign in again after that time.
  5. Under Broadcasting, tick Advertise on mDNS so devices find the queue by themselves.
  6. Click OK + Refresh.

Do not advertise a queue set to Use supplied username: any phone on the network could then print to it under any name. If Chromebooks and phones both print, use one advertised queue that requires a sign in for the phones, and a separate queue, deployed from the Google Admin console, for the Chromebooks.

 

Document revision date: 2026/11/11
Software version: 2.5.15.3

How to set up the print server for mobile device printing