Bulk-create printer objects on print servers using Windows PowerShell

When installing a new print-server with several hundreds or thousands of printer objects there arent`t too much fun doing this manually.

Here are 3 steps to automate this process:

1) Install all the necessary printer drivers on the printserver

2) Create a csv-file with a listing of all printer objects and their properties

3) Bulk-import the printer objects using a script

For the 3rd step I`ve created a basic Windows PowerShell script, available on PoshCode.org from this link.

The script contains one function for creating a TCP/IP printer port and one function for creating a printer object. These functions are used in a foreach-loop cycling through the csv-file containing all the printer objects. The script are pretty basic, and should be further expanded with error handling and further details for printer properties.

The script are created and tested on a Windows Server 2008 server against a remote Windows Server 2003 server.
Running the script from Windows Server 2003 returns an access denied error, possibly due to the impersonation-model in Windows Server 2003. However, it should work from Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2 against remote print-servers (2000/2003/2008/2008 R2).

Especially the ability to set NTFS permissions on the printer objects would be a useful addition in the script.

Please feel free to leave suggestions for improvements in the comments section below.

Update 09.11.2009:
I`ve got some feedback regarding the ability to set NTFS permissions on the printer objects in the script.
A utility called SubInACL from Microsoft could be used for this.

Example usage:
subinacl.exe /printer “\\print-server\printer” /revoke=”Power Users”
subinacl.exe /printer “\\print-server\printer” /grant=”DOMAIN\Domain Users”

The tool can be downloaded from here.

November 7, 2009 - Posted by Jan Egil Ring | Print management, Scripting, Windows PowerShell

26 Comments »

Hi,
I have this error on try to create print on windows 2008 R2:
Exception calling “Put” with “0″ argument(s): “Generic failure ”
At C:\Users\administrator.HLUZ\Desktop\createprinter.ps1:53 char:12
+ $print.Put <<<< ()
+ CategoryInfo : NotSpecified: (:) [], MethodInvocationException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : DotNetMethodException

Any help?

thanks

Comment by Leao braz | November 23, 2009 | Reply
Hi! You`re sure the csv-file contains the necessary headers?Printserver,Driver,Portname,Sharename,Location,Comment,Printername.

The same thing happens if you manually try to run the CreatePrinter function?

Comment by Jan Egil Ring | November 23, 2009 | Reply
Hi,
The printer port creating work fine, but I have this error on the printer creator. My CSV=
Printserver,Driver,Portname,IPAddress,Sharename,Location,Comment,Printername
HL-SPRINTER02,Microsoft XPS Document Writer,10.0.19.1,10.0.19.1,HL-P001,teste,teste,HL-P001

I have tried configure the printers settings direct on the CreatePrinter funcition, but show me this error:

PS C:\Users\administrator.HLUZ\Desktop> .\createprinter3.ps1
Unexpected token ‘.19′ in expression or statement.
At C:\Users\administrator.HLUZ\Desktop\createprinter3.ps1:31 char:26
+ $print.PortName = 10.0.19 <<<< .1
+ CategoryInfo : ParserError: (.19:String) [], ParseException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : UnexpectedToken

Thanks for your helping,
LB

Comment by Leao Braz | November 24, 2009 | Reply
Hi,
After many attempts, the problem is on Microsoft XPS Document Writer… Bad luck on test driver…

Thanks

Comment by Leao Braz | November 26, 2009 | Reply
Hi,

The script work fine but I’m on a Windows 2k8 cluster and when I launch the script it create the printer on the node and not the cluster instance.

Could you tell me what can I do ?

Thanks

Comment by Selenae | January 5, 2010 | Reply
WMI does not support the cluster virtual machine name, only node names.

Pick us the Windows Resource Kit and use prnadmin.dll and associated
scripts and support when scripting printers on the cluster.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d…DisplayLang=en

If you have an existing print server, try the print migrator tool if you
wish to move printers from one or more machines to the cluster.

http://www.microsoft.com/WindowsServ…grator3.1.mspx

Source: http://forums.techarena.in/server-cluster/75119.htm

Comment by Jan Egil Ring | January 5, 2010 | Reply
Hi,

I have the same issue as Leao Braz on a 2008 Server R2 x64. the printer port creation work fine, but I have this error on the printer creator:
Exception calling “Put” with “0″ argument(s): “Generic failure ”
At C:\temp\createprinter.ps1:53 char:12
+ $print.Put <<<< ()
+ CategoryInfo : NotSpecified: (:) [], MethodInvocationException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : DotNetMethodException

Then i have tried with several drivers and the issue is always the same. I have tried on windows 2003 and it works like a charm…

Any idea ?

Help would be appreciated
Thanks

Comment by stelephan | March 30, 2010 | Reply
Can you confirm if this script works with Windows Server 2008? I’m also getting the same error as stelephan.

thanks

Comment by Luke | August 25, 2010 | Reply
hi –

i am having the same issue when trying to create a printer. the below works just fine on XPSP2

$server = “.”
$print = ([WMICLASS]“\\$server\ROOT\cimv2:Win32_Printer”).createInstance()

$print.drivername = “HP Universal Printing PCL 6″
$print.PortName = “10.1.20.31_PR1″
$print.Shared = “true”
$print.Sharename = “ScriptedPrinter2″
$print.Location = “USA/Redmond/Building 37/Room 115″
$print.Comment = “HP Universal Printing PCL 6″
$print.DeviceID = “ScriptedPrinter2″
$print.Put()

when i run the same on Win2003 server it fails with the err ” Exception calling Put with 0 arguments: Access Denied” i am totally frustrated now, as i have been trying to research for over 4 days on this. i am using Powerscript 2.0 ver.

i have tried with various combinations of drivers and port addresses that are added and not used on the server.

Pls someone help !! what am i missing???

thanks a lot

Comment by Raj | September 9, 2010 | Reply
Raj: Have you tried running the script against Windows Server 2003 from a remote server/client?

E.g.:
$server = “your-win2003-server”
$print = ([WMICLASS]“\\$server\ROOT\cimv2:Win32_Printer”).createInstance(

Comment by Jan Egil Ring | September 9, 2010 | Reply
I can’t seem to get this script to work. If I run in from a 2008 R2 box I get the following

Cannot convert value “\\MYSERVERNAME\ROOT\cimv2:Win32_TCPIPPrinterPort” to type “System.Management.ManagementClass”. Error: “The RPC server is unavailable. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x800706BA)”

If I change the following from

$print = ([WMICLASS]“\\server$\ROOT\cimv2:Win32_Printer”).createInstance()

to

$print = ([WMICLASS]“\\.\ROOT\cimv2:Win32_Printer”).createInstance()

it will give a different error. That error is:

Exception calling “Put” with “0″ argument(s): “Invalid parameter ”
At C:\it\testImport.ps1:46 char:10
+ $port.Put <<<< ()
+ CategoryInfo : NotSpecified: (:) [], MethodInvocationException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : DotNetMethodException

Any ideas?

Comment by worldzfree | February 11, 2011 | Reply
I get this message when trying to run the Script from my Win7 Workstation to a 2008 R2 Server but it works fine when PrintServer is a 2003 Server.
Exception calling “Put” with “0″ argument(s): “Generic failure ”
At C:\Bulk Printer Import.ps1:36 char:11
+ $print.Put <<<< ()
+ CategoryInfo : NotSpecified: (:) [], MethodInvocationException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : DotNetMethodException
Furthermore there are EventID's 10009 in the System log. Something in Win2008R2 seems to be blocking DCOM Calls. I called MS but they have not been able to tell me how to resolve this.
Idea?

Comment by Carl Lee | February 11, 2011 | Reply
- Issue resolved IPAddress column was missing from Input file
  
  Comment by Carl Lee | February 12, 2011 | Reply
  - Glad you resolved it.
    I`ll see if I`ll add some CSV-file validation to the function so errors like this are easier to discover.
    
    Comment by Jan Egil Ring | February 12, 2011
$server = $args[0]
$print = ([WMICLASS]“\\$server\ROOT\cimv2:Win32_Printer”).createInstance()
$print.drivername = $args[1]
$print.PortName = $args[2]
$print.Shared = $true
$print.Sharename = $args[3]
$print.Location = $args[4]
$print.Comment = $args[5]
$print.DeviceID = $args[6]
$print.Put()

Works for me.

Comment by Mac | March 8, 2011 | Reply
The code from the original post works perfect. I am using it now to add 700 printers to a node in my cluster. I can’t add to the virtual instance, but thats easily worked around, export the printers from the node with printMgmt console and import to the Virtual Instance.

Thanks.

Comment by Mac | March 8, 2011 | Reply
Seem to have some trouble with it and getting several errors..

Can anyone help me out? Thanks
Cannot convert value “\\\ROOT:Win32_TCPIPPrinterPort” to type “System.Management.ManagementClass”. Error: “Invalid parameter”
At C:\Users\hex\Desktop\Create-Printers.ps1.ps1:41 char:20
+ $port = ([WMICLASS] <<<< "\\$server\ROOT\cimv2:Win32_Printer").createInstance()
+ CategoryInfo: Not Specified: (:) [], RuntimeException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : RuntimeException

Comment by Micahel | May 4, 2011 | Reply
Hi guys,

The script works fine under Windows 2k8 R2. Just one issue, the csv file must have the following headers:
Printserver,Driver,IPAddress,Portname,Sharename,Location,Comment,Printername

A previous post mentioned the header, nut the IPAddress was missing.

Comment by PGP | June 1, 2011 | Reply
Thank you! This script worked beautifully during a server migration from 2003 x86 to 2008 x64 with about 315 queues. I added another function that calls SetACL.exe (www.sf.net/projects/SetACL) to set perms on each queue since subinacl.exe was being a pain (couldn’t set “manage documents” and “print” permissions at the same time).

Comment by Peter | July 31, 2011 | Reply
I have used this script in the past on a Windows 2008 R2 and it has worked…however all printers were configured with their IP address…We have a new site and i was trying to configure the print server before the printers were moved to the site when i run the script it creates one print queue/port and gets stuck….I am a power shell noob….i know the script is waiting for a response from the printer but it’s not there…can anyone offer any advice

Comment by Larry | August 10, 2011 | Reply
Hi, script worked ok, but how to set “Print spooled documents first” too? When you created printer by wizard it’s set by default, but by script is unchecked.

Comment by kosmito | September 22, 2011 | Reply
- Take a look at this document:
  http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa394363(v=vs.85).aspx
  
  There’s a value for “Start jobs that are finished spooling first.”:
  PRINTER_ATTRIBUTE_DO_COMPLETE_FIRST
  
  Comment by Andreas | October 5, 2011 | Reply
  - Now, I haven’t tested it myself yet, but it try:
    $print.DoCompleteFirst = $true
    
    Comment by Andreas | October 5, 2011
Hi guys

I am, having troubles. Help please
function CreatePrinter {
$server = $args[0]
$print = ([WMICLASS]“\\$server\ROOT\cimv2:Win32_Printer”).createInstance()
$print.drivername = “Lexmark Universal PS3″
$print.PortName = “172.30.29.58″
$print.Shared = $true
$print.Sharename = “BNEBCP_HP4250_2″
$print.Location = BCP/Interactive
$print.Comment = “Lexmark Universal PS3″
$print.DeviceID = “BNEBCP_HP4250_2″
$print.Put()
}

Comment by Marc | September 26, 2011 | Reply
- You don’t say what you need help with.. But perhaps adding quotes around “BCP/Interactive” will do the trick. Also the function is still expecting the server name to be passed to it as an argument, even though you’ve “hard coded” the rest of the information.
  
  Comment by Andreas | October 5, 2011 | Reply
works for me: server 2008 r2

function CreatePrinter {
$server = $args[0]
$print = ([WMICLASS]“\\.\ROOT\cimv2:Win32_Printer”).createInstance()
$print.drivername = $args[1]
$print.PortName = $args[2]
$print.Shared = $true
$print.Published = $true
$print.Sharename = $args[3]
$print.Location = $args[4]
$print.Comment = $args[5]
$print.DeviceID = $args[6]
$print.Put()
}

function CreatePrinterPort {
$server = $args[0]
$port = ([WMICLASS]“\\.\ROOT\cimv2:Win32_TCPIPPrinterPort”).createInstance()
$port.Name= $args[1]
$port.SNMPEnabled=$false
$port.Protocol=1
$port.HostAddress= $args[2]
$port.Put()
}

$printers = Import-Csv “printers.csv”

foreach ($printer in $printers) {
CreatePrinterPort $printer.Printserver $printer.Portname $printer.IPAddress
CreatePrinter $printer.Printserver $printer.Driver $printer.Portname $printer.Sharename $printer.Location $printer.Comment $printer.Printername
}

csv tabs:

Printserver,Driver,Portname,IPAddress,Sharename,Location,Comment,Printername

Comment by steve88 | October 2, 2011 | Reply

About

Jan Egil Ring works as a Senior Consultant on the Infrastructure Team at Crayon, Norway.

He mainly works with Microsoft server-products, and has a strong passion for Windows PowerShell. In addition to being a consultant, he is a Microsoft Certified Trainer.

He has obtained several certifications such as MCITP: Enterprise Administrator and MCITP: Enterprise Messaging Administrator. For more details see his MCP Virtual Business Card.

In January 2011, he was awarded the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Award for his contributions in the Windows PowerShell technical community.

His engagements as a speaker includes TechDays in Norway, as well as a Microsoft Office 365 bootcamp for Microsoft partners in Norway.

He is a co-founder of the Norwegian Microsoft Technology User Group (MTUG), which is an assosication of local MTUG user groups in Norway.

His intentions with this blog is to share experiences based on various projects and troubleshooting, as well as sharing different resource links to technologies he works with.