How to deploy local queues that will send jobs to the server

Normally, local print queues have ports that send print jobs directly to the printer, or the port is configured to send data to the local PDAgent service. This means that the job waits at the local PC until the user releases the job at the printer. This has a few disadvantages:

• If the user’s laptop goes to sleep before they release at the printer, they will not be able to print.
• If the user’s PDAgent has lost its connection to the PDServer at the moment of release, the printer panel will show them an error.

Having local queues send jobs to the server effectively makes the server a print server. This structure has some advantages over normal Windows Server SMB printing:

• The server can be a client OS (e.g. Windows 10/11). A server operating system is not required.
• Client machines don’t need to be joined to a domain. Their jobs can be authenticated using their local Windows account, or they can be required to log in to their local PDAgent.
• Some clients have trouble deploying printer connections with a Windows Server and Group Policy deployment. This is sometimes caused by the ‘print nightmare’ vulnerability mitigation changes.

Edit the Queue Deployment ports to use the server address

• Open Resource Manager.
• Navigate to Print Management > Print Queue Management > Queue Deployments.
• Double click the Queue Deployment on the right. If it doesn’t exist create one manually, or copy from an existing print queue.
• Click the Platform configs tab.
• If a platform config already exists for the machines to which you want to deploy the queue, double click it in the list, otherwise click Add and choose the platform.
• Choose the Driver.
• On the Win queue settings tab, optionally specify any standard queue settings (e.g. sharing).
• Click the Ports tab.
• If there is an existing port, delete it. Then, click Add.
• Change the value in the Address textbox to the IP of the server:

• Notes:
  • Ensure the Port name begins with “PD_”. This means the queue will never be ‘paused’ by PDAgent even if it is ‘matched to device’ since the data will be captured by the PDAgent.
  • Protocol must be LPR.
  • Set LPR queue to print queue name should be ticked.
  • The PDAgent must be installed on the server and the PDAgent’s LPD service must be running (PDAgent > Print services tab > Enable LPD must be ticked and the port must be the same as the port specified for the queue.)
• Click OK and OK.
• Check the deployment settings and click OK.
• and OK.

If you would like the deployment to happen immediately, refresh the individual PDAgents or right click the PDServer and choose Send Command > Refresh all connected PDServers.