Capturing a Mac Spool File

Sometimes when troubleshooting issues PaperCut Support may ask you to pause a print queue to make a copy of the Windows spool files used for printing. This can help us diagnose issues related to print analysis and other problems. There are a couple methods for doing so which we’ve described below.

Automated Script

This method involves running a command/shell script on the system hosting your print queues (i.e. the print server) to gather up required files.

1. Enable snapshot level debug logging as discussed here.
2. Temporarily stop the printer, or turn off the printer so that jobs hold in the queue.
3. Print a job, or set of jobs that demonstrates the problem behavior. This printing may be performed from a workstation. NB If OS X prompts you with a choice of “Cancel”, “Add to Printer” or “Resume” select “Add to Printer”
4. Download and unzip onto the system hosting the print queues (normally the server running PaperCut), the script from here: gather-files-for-papercut.zip
5. Copy the file to your home directory.
6. Ensure execute permissions are set on the file. (Command-click on the file, select Get info, and set under Ownership & Permissions)
7. Double click on the gather-files-for-papercut.command file. Enter your system password if requested (admin access is required).
8. Include those files as an attachment with your PaperCut Support Request and make sure you include the following details:
   • the number of pages
   • the paper size
   • other attributes such as grayscale, copies, etc.

Manual Method

We recommend using one of the methods described above. However it’s also possible to gather the spool files manually by following the steps below.

1. Temporarily stop the printer, or turn off the printer so that jobs hold in the queue. Print a test job that demonstrates the problem behavior.
2. Open the Terminal under Applications/Utilities.
3. Type the following in the terminal, substituting <username> for your short login name (which denotes the location of your home directory):

   • mkdir ~/gatherspoolfiles
     sudo -i
     [enter your password]
     cp $(ls -t /var/spool/cups/d* | head -n 2) ~<username>/gatherspoolfiles
     exit 
     

4. You should now find at least one file in your ~/gatherspoolfiles directory with a name like: d00077–001.
5. Include those files as an attachment with your PaperCut Support Request and make sure you include the following details:
   • the number of pages
   • the paper size
   • other attributes such as grayscale, copies, etc.

Related Articles

• Page count, color, and other attribute detection problems
• Capturing a Windows Spool File
• Capturing a Linux Spool File
• Capturing a Novell Spool file

Need a hand?

Let us know! We love chatting about what’s going on under the hood, and we’re happy to help out when needed. Contact your PaperCut Authorized Solutions Center or head over to Support Portal for further assistance.

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Categories: How-to Articles, Print Jobs, Logs

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keywords: mac print to file, apple, macOS