Microsoft KB Archive/275556

= HOW TO: Create a Shared Printer on Windows Clustering =

PSS ID Number: 275556

Article Last Modified on 10/30/2003

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The information in this article applies to:


 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Datacenter Server

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This article was previously published under Q275556





IN THIS TASK

 * SUMMARY
 * ** Create a Cluster Group (Virtual Server) to Host the Printer(s)
 * Install the Printer Drivers on All Nodes
 * Create the Shared Printer(s)
 * REFERENCES



SUMMARY
You can use Windows Clustering to provide high availability to network printers. This article describes the required steps to create a shared printer on Windows Clustering. The installation of a clustered printer is one of the more complex tasks that cluster administrators may perform. The creation of a clustered printer consists of three basic steps.

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Create Cluster Group (Virtual Server) to Host Printer

 * 1) If there is no existing group to host the printers, open Cluster Administrator. Right-click New, and then click Group.
 * 2) Configure the group properties as appropriate for your cluster.
 * 3) Add an IP Address resource, a Network Name resource, a Physical Disk resource, and a Print Spooler resource to the group. Configure the resources correctly for the intended use.

If a group exists to host the printers, ensure that a Print Spooler resource is correctly configured in the resource group. You should have no more than one spooler resource per resource group. The Print Spooler resource should depend on the Network Name Resource and the Disk Resource of the group. Create a folder on the shared disk to store spooled print jobs; this folder is usually named \SPOOL. In the properties of the Print Spooler, specify the full path to the spool folder.

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Install Printer Drivers on All Nodes
Install the printer drivers once on each node for each make and model printer to be shared. For example, if you share 100 printers of the same make and model, you only install that printer drivers once on each node.
 * 1) On the first node, click Start, point to Settings, and then click Printers.
 * 2) Double-click Add Printer to start the Add Printer Wizard, and then click Next at the Welcome screen.
 * 3) When prompted, click local printer to indicate that the printer is attached to the local node. Click to clear the Automatically detect and install my Plug and Play printer check box, and then click Next.
 * 4) Choose a port for the printer. At this point, you can select any port (even a non-existent one) because you will delete this printer at later point. Click Next.
 * 5) Click the make and model of the printer that you want to cluster. Click Have Disk to use a vendor-supplied driver, and then click Next.
 * 6) Enter any printer name (you will soon delete this printer), and then click Next.
 * 7) If non-Windows 2000 clients will access the printer, choose to share the printer. With this option, you can install non-Windows 2000 client drivers for the printer. Again, the share name is not important as you will soon delete the printer. Click Next.
 * 8) Leave the location and comment boxes blank, and then click Next.
 * 9) Because the printer is (most likely) not physically connected to the indicated port, do not print a test page. Click Next.
 * 10) Click Finish. The node installs the printer drivers to the node.
 * 11) If non-Windows 2000 clients will be printing to a shared printer of this make and model, right-click the icon for the newly created printer. Click Properties, and then on the Sharing tab, click Additional Drivers to install the additional drivers for the non-Windows 2000 client operating systems.
 * 12) At this point, drivers for the make and model of the specified printers are installed on the node, along with necessary drivers for non-Windows 2000 client computers. Close the printer properties.
 * 13) From the printers folder, delete the newly created printer.
 * 14) Repeat steps 1 through 13 on each additional node in the cluster.

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Create the Shared Printer(s)

 * 1) From a remote computer or from a node in the cluster, click Start, click Run, type \\servername, where   is the Network Name of the virtual server that contains the Print Spooler resource.
 * 2) Verify in the title bar of the window that opens that you are using a remote connection. If you are performing this step from one of the nodes in the cluster, and you do not connect to the virtual server as described, the following steps will not work.
 * 3) Double-click the Printers folder.
 * 4) Double-click Add Printer to start the Add Printer Wizard. This time, create the actual shared printer. Click Next.
 * 5) You should only have the Remote print server   option available on this screen. If you have other options, you have performed the preceding steps incorrectly. In that case, click Cancel and start over, otherwise, click Next.
 * 6) If you have previously created a port for this printer, click it in the list. Otherwise, create a new port for the printer by using the Standard TCP/IP port. Click Next.
 * 7) If you create a new port, the New Port Wizard starts. Type the IP address of the printer and a port name, and then click Next to create the printer port. Complete the New Port Wizard and return to the Add Printer Wizard.
 * 8) Click the make and model of the printer, and then click Next.
 * 9) When you are prompted, choose to keep the existing driver. By choosing to use updated drivers you undo all of the work that you did previously to install the drivers on all of the nodes. Click Next.
 * 10) Type the printer name (using the real name), and then click Next.
 * 11) Choose to share the printer (using the real share name), and then click Next.
 * 12) Type a location and comment for this printer as you would like them to appear in Windows 2000 Active Directory, and then click Next.
 * 13) Choose to print a test page if you want to, and then click Next.
 * 14) Click Finish to create the shared clustered printer in the virtual server.

Note: In Windows 2000, you only create the shared printer once on the virtual server. It does not matter which node owns the virtual server when you create the printer.
 * 1) To create additional printers of the same make and model, repeat steps 1 through 14 for the additional printers.

At this point, the clustered printer should be available for client use. Test printing to the printer from a client computer. Move the group that contains the printer to the other node or nodes in the cluster and repeat the testing. Test printing from client computers of all operating systems for which drivers have been installed.

It is possible to publish printers on a Windows 2000 cluster virtual server to Active Directory; however, the printers will not be listed under the virtual server, because the virtual server does not create a computer object in Active Directory. The printer does appear in the domain, and the Organizational Unit (OU), if the nodes are in an OU.

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