Finding the Print Deploy logs for Troubleshooting

If you’re experiencing issues with Print Deploy , collecting the logs is an important step in troubleshooting. Logs for Print Deploy are in debug mode by default, except for the Print Provider on client machines. This article explains how where to find logs for the Print Deploy Server, Cloner, and Client.

Before you collect logs

Make sure to gather the following information:

• Date and time when the problem happened

• Username

• Name of the printer or print job with the issue

• Ideally a screenshot of any error message or quick video of the problem

   

Print Deploy Server Logs

These logs are included by default when you download the Diagnostic File from your PaperCut server.

To download this diagnostic file:

1. Log into the web interface of your PaperCut server as an admin.
2. Open the Options tab and click Advanced
3. Check Enable debug mode.
4. Select Download Diagnostic File option.

The logs can also be accessed directly where PaperCut is installed: [application-directory]/providers/print-deploy/[OS]/data/logs/pc-print-deploy.log. (For example on a 64-bit Windows server running PaperCut MF, this file path would be C:\Program Files\PaperCut MF|NG\providers\print-deploy\win\data\logs\pc-print-deploy.log).

Print Deploy Cloner Logs

You might need this information if you are experiencing driver issues with the cloner tool. These will be found on the reference computer as a zip file, with a name that will contain the reference computer hostname, OS, CPU architecture, ex: referencepc-win-amd64–1570145350.zip.

Windows

• [host]-[os]-[arch]-[epoch].zip stored in the same directory you ran the cloner tool from.

MacOS

• [host]-[os]-[arch]-[epoch].zip stored in /tmp for MacOS.

Print Deploy Client Logs

You might need these logs when troubleshooting a problem with the Print Deploy Client on the user’s workstation, such as when a printer fails to install or a user is having trouble logging in.

Windows

• C:\Program Files\PaperCut Print Deploy Client\data\logs\pc-print-deploy-client.log
• C:\Program Files\PaperCut Print Deploy Client\direct-print-monitor\providers\print\win\print-provider.log*
• C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\PaperCutPrintDeployClient\data\logs\usercontextservice.log
• C:\Program Files\PaperCut Print Deploy Client\data\logs\postinstall-yyyymmddhhss.log

MacOS

• /Applications/PaperCut Print Deploy Client/data/logs/pc-print-deploy-client.log
• /Applications/PaperCut Print Deploy Client/direct-print-monitor/providers/print/mac/print-provider.log*
• ~/Library/ApplicationSupport/PaperCutPrintDeployClient/data/logs/usercontextservice.log

ChromeOS

1. Go to chrome://extensions in the Chrome browser
2. Click the Details button of the Mobility Print app
3. In the Inspect Views section, click background page. If you can’t find this section, you may be in a managed environment where this is disabled. If you’re the admin, go to the Google Chrome Enterprise admin page and navigate to Device Management > Chrome > Settings and set the value of Developer Tools to Always allow use of built-in developer tools.
4. The Developer Tools window should open. Click on the Console tab.
5. Right click on the logs panel and select Save as…
6. Choose the directory where you want to save the logs to as a file.

*Print Provider Debug Logs

The Print Provider is a crucial PaperCut component that pauses and analyzes print jobs. It’s synonymous with the Direct Print Monitor. This service is installed on Windows and macOS workstations in tandem with the Print Deploy Client.

These logs aren’t in debug mode by default, but for certain types of issues we may ask you to enable debug mode. To do so, follow these steps:

1. On the end-users workstation running the Print Deploy Client, navigate to this directory:
   • Windows: C:\Program Files\PaperCut Print Deploy Client\direct-print-monitor\providers\print\win\
   • Mac: /Applications/PaperCut Print Deploy Client/direct-print-monitor/providers/print/mac/
2. Open the print-provider.conf file in a text editor running with admin rights.
3. Find the line that says:
   #debug=on
4. Remove the # symbol so it looks like this:
   debug=on
5. Save the file.