Ignoring or deleting printers

AVAILABLE TO CUSTOMERS ON:

Good question! Let us clarify:

• Deleting a printer - removes the printer entirely from the “Printers” list in PaperCut NG/MF. The printer might reappear if it is tracked by PaperCut on a print server running the PaperCut Secondary Server or a workstation running the Direct Print Monitor.

• Ignoring a printer - configures PaperCut not to track the printer in the first place. The printer might stay in the “Printers” list in PaperCut until deleted.

By default, PaperCut is designed to automatically monitor all printers on the system/server. Deleting the printer via the admin web interface will not stop monitoring - the printer will just reappear next time a job arrives (as the system will detect is as missing and re-add it).

Yes! Have a look at our article Batch Deleting Printers.

To completely ignore a printer, the Print Provider component needs to be instructed not to track activity. This procedure is explained in the user manual section Adding and Removing/Deleting/Ignoring Printers, available online here:

Ignoring / deleting a printer in PaperCut

Note: History logs are still maintained allowing access to historical data. Always confirm your action before proceeding with the delete!

Common reasons for ignoring a printer include:

• You need to test printing with PaperCut disabled for troubleshooting purposes.
• The printer is a virtual printer such as a FAX or PDF converter.
• You are not concerned with tracking usage on the printer.
• The printer is only used by trusted people and it’s usage can be disregarded from reports.
• The printer is used for a special purpose such as label or batch printing and tracking is not appropriate or causes problems.
• Management has made a determination that print recording should not occur on a particular device (e.g. printing of sensitive material/documents).

In the print-provider.conf, located in [app-path]/providers/print/[platform], find the ignorevirtualprinters=On option, uncomment it if necessary and set to Off.