Adding a FERMI-WPRT Print Queue for Windows Users Not in the FERMI-Domain

For users that do not have the computer as a member of the FERMI domain, or guests that bring in their own windows system, there is a way for them to connect to our printers using our central print server as an IPP gateway. For you to use this facility, you must be on-site or use the VPN (have a 131.225.x.x address), have local admin rights on your computer, and have Internet Explorer version 5 or better.

To locate a list of available printers, point your IE web browser to:

http://fermi-wprt.fnal.gov/printers/

You should see something like the following:

You can browse thru the list of printers by selecting the ‘Next 10 printers” link at the bottom of the page.

Once you find the desired printer, simply select that printer from the list. You will then be presented with something like the following:

You should see the ‘Connect’ selection under ‘Printer Actions’. (if you are not using IE, or you attempt to use this interface from a non-supported OS, the connect selection will not exist). Select the ‘connect’ link to add the printer. Depending upon how you have IE configured, you might see something like the following:

Because the interface uses active-x controls, you might need to allow the web site to run the add-on. Alternatly, you might also see:

Which is also another way to indicate the web site wants to run the active-x control to install the printer. Once you allow the add-on to run, you will see somethimg like the following:

This is confirmation to allow the print queue to be added to your system. Reply Yes, and the process will begin.

During the install, you will see something like the following:

When the process is complete, the web page should look something like the following:

If you look at your ‘Printers and Faxes’ list from the control panel, you will see something like the following:

Notice the printer(s) you have selected are going to http://fermi-wprt.fnal.gov instead of just the server name. This indicates your connection to our print server is via the web interface.

At this point, you can use your normal Windows applications and point them to any of the printers in your list.

Known issues:

I tried using IPP, but I cannot connect to the printer. Why?

The IPP interface is provided by Microsoft as a free add-on, but the product does not come with standard support. Because of the way some vendors code their drivers, Microsoft cannot guarantee that the IPP software they provide will work with all printers. We have run across a small subset of printers that do not work, and we continue to work with the vendors to get updated drivers that will work under the IPP protocol.