Sharing Printers on the Network with Print Server and Group Policy

In small companies, each printer is usually installed separately on every computer: one with the manufacturer’s driver, one with the Windows driver, and one shared from a colleague’s PC. When a printer is replaced or its IP changes, someone has to visit every computer. A Print Server centralizes this. Printers are installed once on the server, and users connect to them there.

What Are the Benefits of a Print Server?

• Drivers are installed and updated only once, on the server.
• IP changes or printer replacements happen without touching user computers.
• Print queues for all printers are visible and managed in one place.
• Permissions let you control who can use which printer, for example limiting the color printer to the design team.

Step 1: Prepare the Printers

1. Give each printer a static IP or a DHCP reservation so its address never changes.
2. Choose a consistent naming scheme that shows the printer’s location and purpose, such as PRN-Finance-2F.
3. Get the appropriate server driver (usually x64) from the manufacturer’s website. If the manufacturer offers a Universal driver, management is usually simpler.

Step 2: Set Up the Print Server

1. On a domain-joined Windows Server, install the Print and Document Services role.
2. Open the Print Management console (printmanagement.msc) and add the printer with a Standard TCP/IP port and its IP address.
3. Install the driver and share the printer with a short share name that contains no spaces.
4. Set defaults such as duplex or black-and-white printing on the server so they apply to all users.
5. On the Security tab, specify which groups are allowed to print.

Do not install the print role on a domain controller. The Print Spooler service has a history of serious vulnerabilities, and the common recommendation is to disable it on domain controllers and on any server that does not need it.

Step 3: Deploy Printers with Group Policy

The flexible, widely used approach is Group Policy Preferences:

1. Create a GPO and link it to the users’ OU.
2. Under User Configuration > Preferences > Control Panel Settings > Printers, add a new Shared Printer with a path such as \\PRINT01\PRN-Finance-2F.
3. Set the Action to Update and, if needed, make it the default printer.
4. Use Item-level Targeting so the printer is installed only for members of a specific group, for example finance staff.

This way, users see their department’s printers on whatever computer they log on to. The Print Management console also has a Deploy with Group Policy option that works for simpler scenarios.

A Security Note About Drivers

After the well-known Print Spooler vulnerabilities, Microsoft changed Windows’ default behavior through security updates and restricted printer driver installation by standard users. If users see an administrator prompt when connecting to a printer, do not disable this restriction. Instead, pre-install the driver on computers with management tools so users can connect without admin rights. The exact behavior depends on the Windows version and installed updates.

Checklist

• All printers have a static IP or a DHCP reservation.
• The Print Server runs on a server other than a domain controller.
• Printer names are consistent and descriptive.
• Printers are deployed with GPO based on user groups.
• Print Spooler is disabled on domain controllers.
• The printer configuration is backed up with the Printer Migration tool.

ITPlus724 engineers can set up a Print Server for your company and implement automatic printer deployment with Group Policy for every department.