Another week in support had almost been and gone, here is this week’s dose of handy information that may not be obvious.

I have renamed my users in the directory (e.g. in Active Directory). How do I also rename my accounts in PaperCut?

People get married and cause admins extra work: http://www.papercut.com/kb/Main/RenameUserAccounts Or just stop people getting married.

Need to mass deploy the secondary print server to local monitor local printers.

Check this link out: http://www.papercut.com/products/ng/manual/ch-secondary-print-windows-silent-install.html

Need to mass uninstall the secondary print server?

You can run the unins000.exe file located in [app-path]\, normally C:\Program Files\PaperCut MF\
This also takes the /verysilent switch. More info here: http://www.papercut.com/kb/Main/AutomatingRemoval

Want to add another decimal place in PaperCut ?

• From the administration interface, navigate to Options -> General -> Display Options.
• Check Change number of decimal places
• Enter a new number in the decimal places box
• Press Apply.

Using PaperCut advanced scripting to move print jobs between print servers?

Read this: http://www.papercut.com/products/ng/manual/ch-find-me-printing-and-load-balancing-configuration.html#jr-advanced-config-inter-server

Want to use internal groups in PaperCut?

Then read this: http://www.papercut.com/kb/Main/InternalGroups

Just what all you worry warts have been waiting for an xx.1 release! We know some of you like to wait for the first minor release before making the jump to a major version and let everyone else do the release testing for you. Well you don’t have to wait any longer PaperCut 11.1 is now available for download – As with any minor update you can find a bunch of new features, enhancements, improved printer support and as always a host of embedded changes…

Some of the more interesting additions to v11.1 are:

• Xerox (Secure Access): Improved compatibility with a wider variety of Xerox devices.
• Print job watermarking now supports a wider variety of PCL6 printers and drivers.
• Various improvements to the end-user web interface to improve accessibility
• Lexmark now has added support for additional card readers including Elatec readers (contact us for prices)

As always full release notes are available below.

We can offer a 40-day trial of PaperCut just get in touch to discuss your requirements or reseller opportunities. Any existing releasers please update via the reseller pages (soon to be re-born into a full-fledged portal).

PaperCut Version 11.1 Released – 16 February 2011 – PaperCut MF 11.1 (Build 13151) Release Notes

Enhancements:

• Print job watermarking now supports a wider variety of PCL6 printers and drivers.
• Various improvements to the end-user web interface to improve accessibility (e.g. for user with screen readers).
• Added a new printer script recipe which asks the user if a job should be held in a hold/release queue or not. This allows the user to select secure release for only sensitive documents and use direct printing for other documents.
• Display information about the licensed devices and payment gateways in the About page.
• Updated the “User printing – summary” report to show a breakdown of color and grayscale pages. Added office and department fields to the Excel/CSV report.
• Added a new filter to all the print logs reports to only show Web Print jobs.
• Added a new username filter the user list and user configuration reports.
• Added a new server-command and web services API to renaming shared accounts.
• Emailed system notifications sent via SMTP can now be encrypted if the mail server supports TLS.
• Automatically enable printer error detection if printer scripting is enabled. This ensures that the scripts using error check call will work as expected without needing to enable printer error notifications.
• Novell OES Linux: The installer now checks the iPrint version and will warn if the version is known to cause problems.
• Various documentation improvements including SSL certificate installation.
• Various translation updates for Italian, Portuguese and Spanish.

Fixes:

• Removed the “mixed content” warning message that may appear when administrators connect to the admin web interface via HTTPS using Microsoft Internet Explorer.
• Fixed a problem that may cause find-me print jobs on Windows to fail if the Print Provider service was restarted while the jobs were awaiting release.
• Fixed problem with dashboard “pages printed” graph that would show data offset by one day in some time zones.
• Fixed the column headers in the printer attributes Excel/CSV report.
• Fixed issue that may have prevented detection of printer toner levels when PaperCut was installed on a non-English edition of Windows.
• Fixed issue in client popup authentication under specific configurations where the logged in username was not correctly displayed.
• Fixed an error that could occur when using a “Quick Find” search if a screen had been left idle for more than 5 minutes.
• Fixed a problem that can stop watermarks from appearing if using the %user_id%, %user_full_name% or %user_email% watermark replacements when the user’s email address was blank.
• Fixed a problem with watermarks with custom position 0mm from top. They were previously printed at the bottom of the page.
• Fixed problems displaying Chinese characters in the Dashboard “What’s Next” widget.
• Fixed an error that may occur if an invalid regular expression was entered in the print document name filter. Improved validation to disallow invalid filters.
• Fixed issues that may prevent admin interface navigation while using an older Firefox 2 browser.
• Fixed issue with web services API and server-command that would allow creation of duplicate shared accounts. Additionally, new shared account security settings are now inherited from the template account.
• Fixed a problem in reports where a date range filter may not have applied if combined with a shared account filter containing two or more accounts.
• Do not allow the batch internal user import to run if the “Internal User” feature is not enabled. This stops users from accidentally running the wrong import type.
• Fix a problem with admin rights where a user would be denied access from the “Devices” tab if they were restricted to only access a subset of printers.
• Windows: Removed rare “file locked” message that may appear when conducting install-over-the-top upgrades.
• Mac OS: Fixed a problem with the OS X widget that could make the configuration settings not display correctly.
• Linux: Improved installer to save about 80MB of server disk space.

Printer compatibility improvements:

Copier / Device Integration:

An early Christmas present from the PaperCut Team. Version 10.7 gives us a shiny new embedded solution for Kyocera HyPAS devices (and in our opinion it is one of the most feature rich embedded options).

You also get an easier method to restricting access to colour printing, a host of new reports and watermarking/job attribution for PCL5 printer drivers, in addition to the existing PostScript support.

Full release notes below.

If you are an existing customer looking to upgrade your current install of PaperCut MF, then please contact us.

Resellers please use the dedicated reseller portal provided.

Full Release Notes: PaperCut MF 10.7 (Build 12373)

New features:

Enhancements:

• Novell OES: Print jobs manually canceled from iPrint queues are now automatically refunded.
• Novell OES: Improvements to cluster install notes.
• Scheduled reports can now be copied. This simplifies setting up multiple similar reports.
• Printer toner information may now be manually updated (in addition to the automatic perdiodic updates)
• Test notifications can now be sent to specific email addresses as well as by entering a username.
• The Windows release station zero-install method (“pc-release-local-cache.exe“) now automatically updates more config files each time it is launched (config.properties and client-machine-aliases.properties), simplifying deployment of multiple release stations from a central location.
• Improved retrieval of device serial numbers via SNMP by looking in some non-standard SNMP locations.
• Improved support for IPv6 when using the Windows Print Services for Unix (LPR and IPP).
• All printing based reports now have an ad hoc filter for printer groups.
• Improved logging to diagnose secondary server connection issues caused by security settings.
• Added a new API for developers and system integrators to allow querying information about the logged in user at devices. This can be used by 3rd parties to implement single sign-on using PaperCut’s authentication.
• Added a full Hebrew translation, thanks to our team in Israel.

Fixes:

• Fixed a problem editing scheduled reports with multiple email recipients which caused the recipients to be saved incorrectly.
• Fixed problem when editing scheduled reports in Excel/CSV format where date range parameters were incorrectly displayed.
• Fixed small memory leak in the Windows print provider service.
• Sensitive fields are no longer logged to the App Log when they are changed in the Config Editor (e.g. SMTP passwords).
• Windows: fixed printing order when a large number of print jobs are released at once (more than about 40 jobs).
• Improved reliability of watermarking on the HP 4100 with PostScript drivers.
• Release Station: Fixed anonymous print release for release stations running in “release any” mode.
• Release Station: Improved support for card authentication when using card header and trailer that are the same character.
• Fixed a problem setting admin rights for user group restrictions that could occur when running on a PostgreSQL database configured with certain locale/language settings.
• Fixed the Shared account print/copy/scan/fax – breakdown report to include jobs allocated to sub-accounts.
• Linux/Mac: Improved reliability of print job redirection (e.g. find-me printing) on very busy print queues.

Printer compatibility improvements:

Copier / Device Integration:

Typically a site planning on implementing print and copy monitoring (or perhaps adding copy monitoring to an existing print management system) will contact us and discuss the requirements.

It’s our job as the master distributor for PaperCut MF in the UK to provide a neutral point of view and outline various factors to consider when planning print/copy management as it can be a little daunting knowing where to start. A key aspect is how users authenticate at the copier/MFD. 

With PaperCut there are various authentication options including:

• Username and password – Users can use their domain/network username and password to log into the MFD
• Identity number – Users can log in with their identity number. ID numbers are convenient when usernames are very long or too cumbersome to enter. For example, rather than entering a username like ‘john.smith001’, it may be more convenient to enter an employee ID of ‘1234’.
• Identity number with PIN – When users log in with their ID number, they must also provide a PIN number which provides an additional layer of security.
• Swipe card – The user may log in by swiping a card (magnetic stripe, Mifare, barcode, HID etc).
• Swipe card with PIN – When users log in by swiping a card, they must also provide a PIN number. This provides an additional layer of security in case a user loses a card, this will stop anyone else logging in with the card and getting “free” copies.
• Automatically log in as user – A specific user is always logged in to the device (useful for print room staff)

Using a contactless card reader attached to the MFD (supported models only) is the quickest authentication method. Users simply walk up to the MFD and wave the card near the reader. The reader pushes out the number it reads from the card and sends this information to the PaperCut server where it performs a look-up to see what user has that card number associated to it. Once the lookup process has taken place (it’s instant, don’t worry!) the copier logs the user on and allows them to take photocopies or release any prints waiting, assuming there is enough credit.

PaperCut Embedded - Login Screen

What if you don’t know the numbers on your cards or don’t want to maintain card numbers and import them into PaperCut?

No worries! PaperCut allows self-registration. This time-saving feature puts all the responsibility on your users and away from the overworked IT Team.

Users with cards attempting to swipe the card for the first time will be prompted on the screen of the MFD that the card they have scanned is unknown to PaperCut. They will then be asked to associate that card with their user account. Users will simply input their network username and password and then as if by magic the card number scanned is assigned to that particular PaperCut user. The next time users wish to login they swipe the card as normal and are logged in and allowed access to the MFD.

Other options include importing card numbers into PaperCut from a CSV file, importing card numbers from LDAP or even keeping the card data on an external database. Alternatively, if you have nothing better to do with your time and are somewhat of a masochist, you can manually input each card number in PaperCut one by one…

So card based authentication is the preferred method. It’s quick and easy to use and inexpensive to setup. We are glad to say that the majority of sites that install PaperCut MF in the UK use cards for authentication.

selectec are happy to offer a 40-day trial of PaperCut MF but we suggest you get in touch to discuss your requirements first.

The clever PaperCut developers have been busy putting their Kyocera Mita embedded application through the last stages of testing – At this rate they will run out of embedded environments to work with! We have had a lot of interest in the Kyocera solution so follow the jump at the bottom of the page for more information. This solution is based on the HyPAS platform.

Kyocera’s HyPAS (Hybrid Platform for Advanced Solutions), a powerful and scalable software solution platform, optimizes the performance of Kyocera’s award-winning MFPs through custom, integrated software applications that are designed to meet and exceed users specific document imaging needs. HyPAS will transform your Kyocera MFP into a resource designed to evolve as your business evolves – resulting in enhanced information sharing, resource optimization and an improved pre-existing, as well as future document workflows.

PaperCut MF provides integration with Kyocera Mita MFDs, enabling the tracking, charging or billing of “off the glass” copying, faxing and scanning. The goal of PaperCut Software’s embedded MFD solution is to leverage the capabilities of Kyocera Mita devices to provide walk-up copier users with the same set of rich application features provided in the print control area. These include:

• End user authentication including integration with single sign-on environments such as Active Directory, Open Directory, eDirectory, LDAP and others
• Optional proximity/swipe card authentication (via USB readers)
• Group-based access control to the device and colour copying
• Monitoring and control of photocopying, scanning and faxing (quotas, charging, allocation and logging)
• Allocation of copying, scanning and faxing to accounts/departments/cost-centres/projects
• Releasing jobs from a hold/release queue (secure printing)

Kyocera Mita MFD Integration details.

The Kyocera Mita solution joins the long list of copier brands PaperCut will work with. The PaperCut Software development team have developed solutions for several major copier brands, including:

• Ricoh, via Ricoh Embedded Software Architecture (ESA)
• Sharp, via Sharp Open Systems Architecture (OSA)
• Xerox, via Xerox Network Accounting
• Lexmark, via Lexmark Embedded Solutions Framework (LeSF)
• HP, via Chai SOE DSE
• Toshiba
• Konica Minolta, via OpenAPI
• Kyocera Mita, via Kyocera Hybrid Platform for Advanced Solutions (HyPAS)
• Gestetner
• Lanier
• Nashuatec
• Other devices are currently under development.

For updates and pricing information just get in touch.

Looking to monitor Prints and Photocopies? Confused where to start?

No worries as the UK master distributor for PaperCut MF we like to think we know what we are talking about and are more than happy to offer help and advice to anyone looking to implement a print and copy control system as it can be a little daunting knowing where to start.

With over 30,000 client sites worldwide and a growing reputation as the product of choice for education and corporate verticals, PaperCut continues to meet the demand through the provision of smart, flexible, low cost print and copy management software.

Featuring the latest web based administration and end user tools, including driverless web printing and enhanced scripting e.g. job routing and “Find Me” (pull) printing by login, account or card ID based authentication methods , business makers, IT administrators and users alike all agree that PaperCut meets their needs at an affordable price.

Feature Highlights

• Simple web based administration
• Cross-platform support – Synchronized releases on Windows, Linux, Novell and Mac on both server and workstation
• Track printing on any device
• Track off-the-glass copy, fax and scan via embedded application on the MFP
• Integration into major directory services – Active Directory, Open Directory, eDirectory, LDAP, Samba, PAM
• Login or ID Card – authenticate users via proximity card at the MFP
• Find-me printing, secure printing and conditional job routing
• Web Print – a 100% driverless printing solution for wireless netbook and laptop users
• Policy Scripting – Write scripts to enforce functions like duplex. Dozens of pre-built scripts supplied
• Over 50 in-built one-click reports
• Payment Gateways – connection with dozens of leading payment services such as PayPal.
• Pre-Paid Top-Up Cards – a free method for schools and colleges to create value cards.
• Scalability to 350,000 users – via server clustering
• Interface available in 20 languages (including full Unicode support for Chinese and Japanese)
• Open source code and documented public API
• A friendly and approachable support / development team

Any questions? get in touch.

PaperCut MF – Copy and print control
PaperCut MF extends the print, capture, billing and charge capabilities of PaperCut, enabling organizations of any size to manage all copying and printing produced across their entire multifunctional copier and printer fleets using a single low cost software application.

To capture “off the glass” walk-up copying, PaperCut MF supports:

•direct TCP/IP network connection with selected 3rd party hardware terminals, enabling user authentication and access via common card formats including: magnetic stripe (“swipe”) cards, proximity cards, barcode cards and smart cards.
•embedded applications that run directly on a multifunctional device, enabling single sign-on using existing domain infrastructure (on selected devices).
Customers also have the option to implement a complete integrated copy and print solution and manage it from within a single mature application.

Print quota, accounting, logging and management is now here for Novell Open Enterprise Server (OES) Linux!

PaperCut on Novell OES Linux (iPrint)

PaperCut has long been a cross-platform solution supporting Windows, Mac and Linux/CUPS. Novell iPrint was the one big missing hole in our cross-platform objectives. After a few late nights, a lot of coffee, and some help from Devon and Dean on the iPrint team, we now have PaperCut running on OES Linux.

Latest Update: PaperCut on OES Linux both 32-bit and 64-bit (x64) systems available! Download PaperCut version 9+ or higher for an officially supported production ready release. Work on cluster support is currently under way. Please contact PaperCut support if you with to deploy on a cluster.

IMPORTANT: PaperCut is now about of beta. Most of the information on this page relates to the beta program and is out of date. I’ve kept the information here as some sites/pages still link to this page.

Please read the manual and the FAQ below before installing. 

Is this release beta quality software?

PaperCut has been around for almost 9 years now. The Novell OES Linux release shares around 97% of the same source code as the Windows, Mac and Linux/CUPS versions so the vast majority of the application is production quality code. The iPrint specific code however is new and needs testing and feedback from users on real networks.

Where do I get the version of iPrint compatible with PaperCut (the one with the new hooks)?

The current release of iPrint supplied with OES Linux 2 does not have the APIs we require. On our request the iPrint team has added the APIs and these will be included in the SP1 release. OES 2 SP1 is currently in public beta and can be downloaded at the Novell Beta Program site.

Can I install this on a production system?

Yes and No. You should be aware that this is a beta period. A sensible approach on larger networks might be to set up a separate print server independent of the production server. This can be used for testing with the full confidence that you can flick back to the production server if required.

Smaller sites may choose to install on a production server. The backup plan should something go wrong is to either unbind PaperCut from the queues by removing the “papercut” accounting option from the Print Manager, or just to uninstall.

Tell me about the beta testing program

The Novell community is very active and enthusiastic. We have not done any explicit advertising or even announced our development efforts, but even still the word has spread through the grape vine. We’ve had over 50 organizations contact us expressing eagerness to help us test. The objective of the testing program is to tap into this enthusiasm and gather feedback. Over the next few weeks we’d love to hear your feedback, ideas and opinions about the release. We’re also going to give back in the form of discounts the final version and some free licenses will also be issued to selected sites.

We’re looking for feedback on areas such as:

•Bugs or problems
•Are we doing things the “Novell way”?
•Ideas and potential new features
•How we can promote and make other Novell users aware of the application.
Organizations participating in the testing program who submit feedback will receive:

•A free license allowing you to run the software for two months (if required).
•A 50% discount on final purchase.
Does it support Netware?

No. We’ve decided to focus our development effort on OES Linux to ensure that it’s future proof. We also have a lot of experience with Linux development and this approach allowed us to leverage a lot of existing code.

We are a business and I’d like to run PaperCut ChargeBack (not NG)?

No problems. Please contact us. PaperCut ChargeBack will also be released soon for Novell OES Linux. We are fully committed to the iPrint platform and will offer all features as we do for all other platforms.

What is the required OS version?

Officially Novell OES 2 SP1 – yet to be released. OES2 SP1 is currently in Public Beta and is expected to be final soon.

How to I track changes/updates made during the testing program?

Chris and Tom will be maintaining a list of changes and discussion topics in the developer blog.

I am a long-time Novell user and have a suggestion?

You’re just the person we’re looking for! Please email your ideas through to the development team via the support email.

Are there any known issues with the current release?

During our internal testing we found two problem areas.

1.The API has a bug and is not returning the IP address of the machine that submitted the print job. The iPrint team are looking into this. In the meantime we’ve implemented a quick hack where we look up the MAC address in the system’s ARP table. This may however not work on all networks so some sites may have issues when users can log on multiple systems at the same time.
2.Automatic refunding of cancelled/errored jobs is currently being looked at.
How do I install?

The first place to start is the install instructions for Novell. Please have a quick read before installing.

Is the Novell version a second class citizen when measured against the Windows version?

The Novell OES Linux version is fully featured and will always be on equal footing with other operating systems. It is not a port. The Mac, Linux and Windows versions share around 97% of the same source code and all versions are developed in parallel. The code base is modern (major re-write in 2005) and from the inception of the first line of code, supporting all platforms equally has been a design objective. Novell users can expect the same level of functionality and support and releases will track all other platforms.

Is PaperCut NG open source?

PaperCut NG is a commercial application with commercial support. It’s not open source in relation to it being licensed under the GPL or equivalent. We do however provide our customers with access to the source code and our development process is very open. Check out our release history and blog to get a feel for this.

What does/will it cost?

This has been a hotly debated topic. Novell is not as popular as other platforms such as those starting with “W” and the cost to deliver a solution with the same feature set is equal, so one could argue that a Novell version should cost more. We have however stuck to our guns and lived up to our promise to support all platforms equally. Just like in terms of features, the price will be the same as that offered to Windows, Mac and Linux users. We hope the Novell community are encouraged by this policy and support it by supporting us.

Does it have an uninstaller?

Yes. The script titled “uninstall” will fully uninstall the application.

What was it like developing the iPrint version of PaperCut?

Personally (and hoping that the Mac and Windows guys never read this page) I think iPrint on OES Linux is the best platform for print queue hosting. Windows has some great stuff in Windows-only networks but on a modern cross-platform network it’s quite a fight. Mac Server is quite a long way off all the platforms. CUPS is great and very configurable but unfortunately the options exposed on Mac OS X Server are very limited and this hampers administrators. iPrint is a heavy solution but IMHO is the benchmark in the enterprise space.

How long did the iPrint integration for PaperCut take to develop?

We first started looking at integrating with Novell iPrint queues on OES Linux (the first release) back in mid-2007. At this stage we were in discussions with the iPrint team about the best methods to support 3rd party print accounting applications, and the kind of functionality that would be required to make it possible. Unfortunately the layoffs at Novell it late 2007 delayed the project, and things didn’t really get started again until mid-2008.

Once we got our hands on the required APIs the development was quite an easy task. PaperCut is developed with a modular service oriented architecture, so the portion of code that needed to be ported for adding iPrint support was a small portion of the overall code base.

How does PaperCut interface with the printers?

PaperCut hooks into the iPrint Print Manager via the new APIs provided by the iPrint Dev Team. This hook is configured at a queue level.

Does PaperCut support eDirectory?

Yes. PaperCut NG has full support for LDAP over SSL and understands standard eDirectory schema. We’ve also added OES Specific auto detection code so in most cases PaperCut will automatically determine your LDAP configurations.

What about NDPS?

PaperCut is a new application on the Novell platforms. Hence we’ve decided to only target current technology and will not be targeting NDPS. iPrint is our focus.

Select Technology is pleased to be selling PaperCut NG, PaperCut ChargeBack and the new PaperCut MF in the UK

PaperCut is the leading solution to monitor, quota and report network printing and internet use. PaperCut is renowned for its combination of powerful features and ease-of-use.

PaperCut’s unique print quota, print accounting and print control features have been designed to provide organizations with comprehensive reporting and control of their printing.

PaperCut’s print management software is tracking millions of users worldwide in over 60 countries and 20,000 organizations.

• Print Quota
• Printer Cost Recovery and Reporting
• Internet Quotas and Usage Tracking
• Free 40-day unrestricted trial