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Citrix Receiver for Mac – Session Printer Mapping Issues – Printers don’t show or won’t get mapped

Citrix Receiver for Mac - Session Printer Mapping Issues - Printers don't show or won't get mapped

Update: Have a look at Carl's article as well: Print Driver for Non-Windows Clients

As per Citrix CTX140208 and CTX139020:

When non-Windows Receivers connect to a Windows 2012 Server with Universal Print Driver (UPD) options configured for client printers, the Post-script (PS) and PCL drivers might not be available, therefore the printers will not get auto-created. As a workaround, to use the Citrix UPD for non-window Receivers, like Mac and Linux, install appropriate drivers on the server manually:

  • PS driver = HP Color LaserJet 2800 Series PS
  • PCL4 driver = HP LaserJet Series II
  • PCL5c driver = HP Color LaserJet 4500 PCL 5

With my Windows Server 2012 R2 I ran into some issues. While trying to add the aforementioned Printer Drivers manually I realized that something was wrong:

hp_cllj_2800_ps

As you can see from the screenshot the button Windows Update is unavailable. This left me with investigating why that is the case. After a little bit of research I ended up with two possible solutions:

  1. Configure the corresponding registry settings for Windows Update
  2. Install a local printer and chose the appropiate model/driver as listed above

Configure Windows Update via Registry:

  1. Run registry editor. Click Start then type regedit and press Enter
  2. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\DriverSearching
  3. Change value of REG_DWORD DontSearchWindowsUpdate to 0
  4. Change value of REG_DWORD DontPromptForWindowsUpdate to 0
  5. Run a Command Prompt. Click Start then type cmd and press Enter
  6. Execute gpupdate /force

Furthermore I found this in the comments here:

HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\DriverSearching - REG_DWORD - searchorderConfig = 0
This removes that Windows Update button from the Add Printer Wizard. You can either set this key to "2", or just delete the key to restore the Windows Update button.
This is the "Disable automatic updates of drivers from Windows Updates" feature above.

Install printer locally:

Whereas adding just the required drivers left me with no Windows Update button to click, I found this article pointing me in the right direction:

I had the same issue, but found it only occurred when I was trying to add a network printer. When I try to add a local printer the button shows up. So..... I installed a local printer, allowed Windows Update to download the new drivers and then deleted the local printer. Next I add the network printer again, but this time, because the list of drivers has been refreshed, I didn't need the Windows Update button because my printer is now in the list.

Upon reading CTX140208 once more it became obvious and clear that I didn't read the article with the required attention to detail, as it clearly states:

  1. From the Windows Server 2012, choose Add a printer from Devices and Printers.
  2. Continue through the wizard as if you are adding a local printer though it is not attached.
  3. Click Add a local printer > select LPT1: (Printer Port) > click Windows Update.

Silly me!


2015-11-09 Update:

As Alexander Gassner pointed out here I could have checked my Device Installation Settings as well, as they tend to prohibit the Windows Update functionality too:

  • either go for Control Panel | Change Device Installation Settings
  • or search for Change Device Installation Settings

dev_inst_01

  • Select both No, let me choose what to do + Always install the best driver software from Windows Update
  • and hit Save Changes

dev_inst_02


I launched Print Management console, drilled down to the Printers node, right-clicked it and chose Add Printer:

add_printer_01

Then selected Add a new printer using an existing port with LPT1:

add_printer_02

Then selected Install a new driver:

add_printer_03

The Windows Update button was finally there, I hit it, and waited for the updated drivers to get downloaded:

add_printer_04 add_printer_05

Afterwards I was able to select the required drivers and install the required printers:

add_printer_06

As Citrix pointed out in CTX139020, "if there are two versions of this driver displayed, choose the Microsoft version".

In the end it looked like this:

add_printer_07

Further reading:

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  1. Pingback: Citrix and Printing Woes #vDM30in30 | Virtualised Fruit

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