Question: I wish to run PaperCut in a large University environment but only wish to track printing or and implement print quotas on a subset of users within the university? How should I handle this in PaperCut?

By default PaperCut imports users from the whole domain. In a University environment it is common to use PaperCut at the lab level. The particular faculty lab may only be responsible for a subset of users. PaperCut can be configured to import the required subset of users using one of the following methods:

Option 1 - Static import from a domain group

PaperCut can import users from a selected domain group only. This can be configured either during the initial setup via the setup wizard option Import users from group:, or at any other time via the PaperCut Admin Console under Options->General Options. After making the change on an already setup system, run a full TuneUp to re-sync the users.

This option assumes a suitable network group is available. Most large networks will already have users grouped into domain groups depending on their department or role. If a suitable group does not exist, network administrators can quickly construct a new group using the Active Directory management tools. For example, forming a new group based on the user's metadata stored in the directory. Active Directory's filter and query options may help with this task.

Note for Administrators: Users should be direct members of this group and not indirect members via a nested group relationship.

Option 2 - Dynamic import

PaperCut can import users automatically the first time they print, or if net charging is enabled, the first time they use the internet. The user will be added to PaperCut automatically with an initial starting credit as defined under the Groups section. Please see the PaperCut User Guide for more information on how to set up initial credit rules.

The automatic account creation feature can be used to dynamically create the user list based on who uses the printers/internet. This method would be suitable where the list of users who should be listed in PaperCut are unknown or can't be easily defined in a network group. We recommend the following procedure:

1. Setup PaperCut to initially import either no users (i.e. an empty network group) or a small set of users whom you know should be in the list. This procedure is defined in Option 1 above.
2. Setup PaperCut's initial credit rules so the DefaultGroup (all users) has a small starting credit - for example say equivalent to 10 pages.
3. Inform users that they have a small start balance.
4. When a user prints for the first time they will be automatically added to the PaperCut user list.
5. Users will now have an account on the system and may use features such as TopUp Cards and will receive any scheduled quotas if setup.

Future Options:

The PaperCut development team is working on additional user import options that integrate with Active Directory. If you have any ideas on how you would like to see PaperCut work in this area, please send an email to our development team.

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Categories: Users