Queue Deployment Configuration

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Queue Deployment Configuration

Queue Deployment Configuration

This article describes every setting on a Queue Deployment in Resource Manager. For step-by-step instructions, see the how-to articles listed at the end.

Queue Deployments are under Print Management > Print Queue Management > Queue Deployments. Deployment zones can also be managed under Deployment zones in the same branch.

Requirements

  • PDAgent must be installed on the computers that receive the queues. The PDAgent carries out the installation and updates, so users do not need administrator rights.
  • Queues are deployed to Windows computers: Windows x64, Windows x86 and Windows ARM64.
  • A manufacturer’s driver must be package aware. Most modern drivers are. A driverless queue (Microsoft IPP Class Driver) needs no driver at all.
  • A queue copied from a computer must use a Standard TCP/IP or an IPP port.

What Queue Deployments do

  • Copy a print queue, including all its printer settings and user printing preferences, and install it on other computers.
  • Install queues automatically on chosen PDAgents, or by user, Department, IP range or computer name.
  • Let users install queues themselves from the PDAgent Client.
  • Keep installed queues up to date: a driver change, or a new default such as double-sided printing, reaches every computer automatically.
  • Remove queues automatically when a computer no longer qualifies, or when the deployment is deleted.

Creating a Queue Deployment

There are two ways to create one:

Deployment types

When you click Add, the New queue deployment window asks how print jobs are captured and where they wait for release. The choice is fixed once the deployment is created; to change it, delete the deployment and add a new one. A deployment copied from a queue takes its type from that queue.

Option Shown on the deployment as How it works
Capture by local PDAgent – jobs wait on the PD Server Capture on local PDAgent (IPP) The queue sends jobs over IPP to the PDAgent on the user’s PC, which uploads held jobs to the matched device’s PDServer.
Capture by local PDAgent – jobs wait on the user’s PC Capture on local PDAgent (IPP) As above, but held jobs stay on the user’s PC, which must be online when the job is released.
Forwards to PD queue – jobs wait on the server PDAgent Sends to chosen PD queue (IPP) The queue sends jobs over secure IPP to a PD queue on a server. Users see the sending status in their Windows queue.
Manual configuration Manual port configuration You configure the driver and port yourself.

The first three support Windows Protected Print mode with a driverless configuration. Manual configuration supports it only with a driverless configuration and an IPP port.

Name and scope

Deployment name

The name of the deployment as it is listed in Resource Manager.

Installed queue name

The name of the print queue on each computer. Use deployment name uses the deployment name; the resulting name is shown alongside. For a Forwards to PD queue deployment you can choose Use destination queue name to give the queue the same name as the PD queue.

If a computer already has a queue with this name that is not linked to another deployment, the deployment does not install a second one. A Standard TCP/IP deployment links the existing queue and updates it to match; an IPP deployment takes it over and sets it up as its own. See How to link a print queue to a Queue Deployment.

Avoid two deployments with the same installed queue name. The only reason to have them is when different groups of computers need different settings (for example a different colour default) under the same printer name, and then their zones must not overlap.

Receiving PD queue

Forwards to PD queue deployments only: the PD queue on a server that the jobs are sent to. See How to create a PD queue.

Deployment scope

Auto deploy controls which computers get the queue installed automatically, without the user doing anything:

Option Effect
Do not auto deploy The queue is not installed automatically.
Deploy to all PDAgents The queue is installed on every computer running PDAgent.
Selected deployment zones The queue is installed on computers that match any of the zones ticked on the Deployment zones tab.

Self install controls who can install the queue themselves with Install print queue in the PDAgent Client. See How to self-install a print queue from a Queue Deployment.

Option Effect
Not allowed The queue is not offered for self-install.
Allowed for all PDAgents The queue is offered on every computer running PDAgent.
Allowed for selected deployment zones The queue is offered only on computers that match a zone ticked on the Deployment zones tab.

When Auto deploy is set to Deploy to all PDAgents, Self install is greyed out, because every computer gets the queue anyway. Users can still update an installed queue from Install print queue by ticking Show deployed queues.

The Deployment zones tab appears when either setting uses selected deployment zones.

Updating and deleting queues

Auto update queues

When ticked, queues linked to this deployment are updated to match it whenever it changes.

  • Example 1: the queue is installed on John’s and Jane’s computers. Jane changes the default to single-sided in her printing preferences. To give John the same default, update the deployment from Jane’s queue (see How to update a Queue Deployment from an existing Windows queue). The next time John’s PDAgent refreshes, his queue is updated.
  • Example 2: a new driver version is released. Jane’s queue is changed to the new driver and the deployment is updated from it. The next time John’s PDAgent refreshes, his driver is changed.

How driver data and printing preferences are overwritten is controlled per platform; see Overwrite driver data and Overwrite printing prefs. Queues set to Do not link to deployment are never updated.

Auto remove queues if not in zones or the Deployment is deleted

When ticked, queues are removed from computers when the deployment is deleted. Queues that were installed because the computer matched a zone are also removed when it no longer matches. For example, if a zone matches certain users, the queue is removed when the user logs off and added again when they log back on.

This applies only to queues the deployment installed automatically. Queues that users installed themselves, and queues that were linked because they were copied or had the same name, are never removed automatically.

PD settings tab

Every print queue has settings that control how Print Director handles its jobs. New queues installed by the deployment start with the settings on this tab. After a queue is installed, its own settings can be changed under Installed Queues if it needs to differ.

Forwards to PD queue deployments have no PD settings tab: their settings always come from the receiving PD queue.

Setting Effect
Match to Device The device the queues are matched to. Their jobs follow that device’s settings. Queues that are not matched are ignored by the PDAgent.
Matched to Fiery IP address When ticked, jobs are sent to the device’s Fiery controller instead of the printer’s own address.
Secure release Use matched device setting (the default) holds jobs for release when the matched device uses secure release. Release jobs immediately prints them straight away, for example for dispatch notes that must print as soon as they are sent.
Alter to b&w Tick Change all jobs to black and white to print every job in black and white.
Alter to duplex Tick Change all jobs to duplex to print every job double-sided.
Jobs wait at Where held jobs wait for release: PDAgent (default), on the PDAgent that captured them, or PDServer: and the server name. See How to store held print jobs on the PDServer.

Platform configs tab

A Queue Deployment has one configuration per Windows platform: Windows x64, Windows x86 and Windows ARM64. A computer only gets the queue if the deployment has a configuration for its platform.

For the capture and forward deployment types, driverless configurations for all three platforms are created automatically. For Manual configuration, add one for each platform you need.

The list shows each configuration’s Platform, Driver name, Last driver data update, Copied driver data, Copied printing preferences, Set as default and Ports. Use Add, Edit and Delete to manage them; Add lists only platforms that have no configuration yet.

Platform configuration window

Driver

The driver the queues use. Tick Driverless (Microsoft IPP Class Driver) for a driverless queue, or untick it and choose a stored driver. Click … to search the stored drivers.

Changing the driver changes it on every linked queue, but the driver’s own settings and printing preferences go back to their defaults. To change the driver and keep settings, use Copy settings now from queue on a queue that already uses the new driver: this updates the driver and copies its settings in one step.

Last copy settings

When this configuration last copied settings from a queue, and which queue.

Copy settings now from queue

Opens a list of the queues installed on computers of the same platform. Choose one, and Resource Manager connects to its PDAgent and copies the driver, printer settings and printing preferences into the deployment. If Auto update queues is ticked, linked queues are then updated. See How to update a Queue Deployment from an existing Windows queue.

If you change the driver or the Driverless tick after copying, the copied settings are discarded.

Overwrite driver data and Overwrite printing prefs

These appear once driver data or printing preferences have been copied; until then the window shows Driver data not copied or Printing preferences not copied. They only apply when Auto update queues is ticked. Both offer the same options:

Option Effect
Last copy is newer than last queue update Each queue records when it was last updated. When the deployment copies new settings, every queue updated before that copy is overwritten once, and its update time is recorded.
Every refresh The settings are written to every queue each time its PDAgent refreshes, whether or not the deployment has changed. Use this to undo changes users make against IT policy.
Do not update The settings are never overwritten, so users can change them freely.

Driver data and printing preferences are driver-specific and cannot be compared, which is why these policies are based on time. Windows queue settings and ports can be compared, so they are always updated when they differ.

Win queue settings tab

Standard Windows print queue settings. When Auto update queues is ticked, linked queues are updated whenever these differ from the deployment.

Setting Effect
Set print queue as default printer Makes the queue the default printer for every user on the computer. Windows’ Let Windows manage my default printer option would otherwise override it, so Print Director switches it off for the user.
Printer is shared Shares the queue, with the Share name you enter. Not available when a manufacturer’s driver is used with an IPP port.
Location and Comment Standard Windows information shown with the printer.
Port configuration tab

What this tab shows depends on the deployment type.

Capture by local PDAgent: jobs go to the PDAgent on the user’s own computer, so there is no address to set. Tick Encrypt print traffic with TLS (IPPS) to encrypt the traffic.

Forwards to PD queue: jobs go to the receiving PD queue’s PDAgent. Set Use host address to how the computers reach it: Receiving server host name, Receiving server IP address, or Custom address (type below) to enter a host name or address (optionally with a port) yourself. Tick Encrypt print traffic with TLS (IPPS) to encrypt the traffic.

Manual configuration: choose the Port type. A driverless queue always uses IPP: while Driverless (Microsoft IPP Class Driver) is ticked, the Port type is set to IPP and cannot be changed. A deployment saved as driverless on Standard TCP/IP ports in an earlier version asks for an IPP URI when its configuration is opened. Until it is saved with one, the PDAgent does not install it, and queues already installed from it are left as they are and not updated.

  • IPP: enter the IPP URI of the destination, for example ipps://printer-host:631/ipp/print. Start it with ipps:// to encrypt the traffic.
  • Standard TCP/IP ports (RAW/LPR): a list of ports, managed with Add, Edit and Delete. Each port opens the Standard TCP/IP Port window, described below.

With more than one Standard TCP/IP port, Windows printer pooling is switched on for the queue. This is only useful for a queue deployed to a print server and shared. With a single port, one large job from a user on a slow connection holds up every job behind it. That makes sense when a queue prints to one printer, but not in a “follow me” setup where one queue serves many printers. With several ports, a new job takes the next free port and does not wait. Queues on users’ own computers need only one port.

When a manufacturer’s driver is used with an IPP port, the queue is installed on Windows as an Internet Port queue. It is not compatible with Windows Protected Print mode, and if the receiving queue requires IPP sign-in, Windows stores one set of credentials per port for the whole computer.

Standard TCP/IP Port window

Setting Effect
Port name Defaults to the queue name with a PD_ prefix (no second prefix if the name already starts with PD_). Print Director never pauses a queue whose port name starts with PD_, because its jobs are received by a PDAgent. Keep the prefix when the Address points to a server, so the queue is not paused.
Address Defaults to 127.0.0.1: jobs go to the PDAgent on the user’s own computer and wait there for release. That computer must then be online when the user releases the job; a laptop that goes to sleep on the way to the printer cannot release it. To make jobs wait on a server instead, enter the server’s address. See How to deploy local queues that will send jobs to the server.
Protocol Keep LPR, so the PDAgent’s LPD service receives the jobs. With RAW, the PDAgent can only control the queue by keeping it paused.
Port 515 by default. Must match the LPD port of the receiving PDAgent.
Set LPR queue to print queue name Keep ticked. The receiving PDAgent uses the LPR queue name to tell which queue a job belongs to, and this keeps it equal to the print queue name.
LPR Byte Counting Enabled (double spool) When ticked, Windows waits for the whole job before sending it. Keep unticked so the PDAgent starts receiving straight away.
SNMP Status Enabled When ticked, Windows checks the address by SNMP and shows the queue as offline if it gets no answer. Because the address is normally the computer itself or a server, keep it unticked.

Deployment zones tab

When Auto deploy or Self install uses selected deployment zones, tick the zones on this tab. A computer that matches any ticked zone gets the queue (Auto deploy) or can install it (Self install).

For example, a deployment with two zones ticked, Building B (an IP range) and Executives (users in the Executives Department), reaches every computer in Building B’s range, and the computer of any executive wherever they are.

The tab lists every zone with its Name, Include or exclude, Match hosts, Match IPs, Match users, and when it was created and last modified. Zones can be added, edited and deleted here, but a zone can be ticked on several deployments, so a change to a zone affects every deployment that uses it.

Deployment zone window

A zone describes a group of computers using up to three kinds of search: Hosts, IP range and User logins, one tab each. A computer must match all the searches set in a zone. For example, a zone with an IP range and some selected users matches only when the computer is in the range and one of those users is logged on. Leave a tab on its first option to ignore it.

Deployment zone name

A descriptive name, unique among zones.

Include or exclude
Option Effect
Only include those matching search parameters The zone covers the computers that match (the default).
Include all except those matching search parameters The zone covers every computer except those that match.

For example, on a network where queues were already installed by hand, an administrator creating a deployment may not want it to touch those computers. They set Include all except those matching search parameters, set Match hosts to Specific PDAgents and tick all the existing PDAgents. Only PDAgents installed from then on get the deployment.

Hosts tab
Match hosts A computer matches when
All hosts Always: the computer name is not used.
Specific PDAgents Its PDAgent is ticked in the list. Right-click the list to tick several at once.
Hostname starts with Its name starts with any of the comma-separated values.
Hostname ends with Its name ends with any of the comma-separated values.
Hostname contains Its name contains any of the comma-separated values.
Regular expression (advanced) Its name matches the regular expression. Enter one expression, not a list.

Name matching ignores upper and lower case. See How to auto-deploy a print queue to specific machines using hostname matching.

IP range tab

Computers are matched by the IP address of any of their network adapters.

All IP addresses ignores the address. Those in the range(s) specified below matches computers with an address in any of the comma-separated ranges:

Format Example
Single address 192.168.0.100
Start and end address 169.254.0.0-169.254.0.255
Short start and end 192.168.1.1-7
CIDR, IPv4 10.0.0.0/24
CIDR, IPv6 fe80::/10
Address and subnet mask 192.168.0.0/255.255.255.0

See How to auto-deploy a print queue to IP ranges.

User logins tab

Computers are matched by the users logged on to them through the PDAgent Client, however they log on: automatically with their Windows account, or with a PIN or username and password.

Match user logins A computer matches when
All users Always: the user is not used.
Users selected below Any ticked user is logged on. Right-click the list to tick several at once.
Certain Departments A member of any ticked Department is logged on. Your site may use a different name for Departments.

A queue installed because one user matched is installed for the whole computer, so other users of that computer see it too. See How to auto-deploy a print queue to specific users or Departments.

 

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

Queue Deployment Configuration