If you are using Microsoft’s EndPoint Configuration Manager (MECM), formerly known as System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM), follow the procedure below to deploy the PaperCut Hive or Pocket client applications to your end users.
Deployment is done in two parts: first, the edge node, and then the print client, since it has dependencies on the edge node. The edge node must be installed before the print client.
Summary of deploying the edge node client
The edge node is responsible for handling print jobs throughout their life cycle. It takes care of analyzing, replicating, and sending jobs to the printer, alongside a wide range of other tasks.
- Installing the edge node requires elevated privileges to create the services and the PaperCut Printer print queue.
- The services are installed under:
C:\Program Files\PaperCut Hive. - The installer creates the PaperCut Hive or Pocket edge node Windows Service and the PaperCut Printer on the user’s device.
Summary of deploying the print client
The same installer is used to install the print client, so you only need to download it once. The print client captures jobs sent to the PaperCut Printer and submits them to an edge node.
- The installer runs as the logged-on user.
- The print client is installed in the user context and resides in the
%localappdata%\Programs\PaperCut Hivefolder.
Deploying the edge node and print client
1. Download the PaperCut-Hive.exe package
Go to the PaperCut Hive or Pocket admin console, and navigate to Manage > Edge Mesh.
Select Add edge nodes > Manually deploy edge nodes.
Click Download for Windows to download the PaperCut Hive or Pocket Installer i.e. PaperCut-Hive.exe.
Copy the command line and paste it into a text editor; you will need this later. You can see where to get this in the screenshot below.
Add this file to an appropriate file location, where your MECM distribution point server and client computers can reach it.
2. Create the Edge Node package
In the MECM administration application, navigate to Software Library > Overview > Application Management.
Right-click Applications, and select Create Application.
On the General screen, select the Manually specify the application information radio button, then click Next >
On the General Information screen, enter the application name, for example, PaperCut Hive or Pocket EdgeNode Client.
All other fields are optional, so you can fill these in as required. Leave other fields as their defaults.
Click Next >
On the Software Centre screen, you can populate any other fields as required; the default settings are optimal for the client deployment. Making changes here will customize the user experience in the Software Centre applications on the client Computer.
Click Next >
On the Deployment Types screen, click Add.
Select the manually specify the deployment type information radio button, than click Next >
On the Specify general information for this deployment type screen, give the deployment a name. You can use the same name you used when you created the application for simplicity, or give it another meaningful name of your choice. Click Next >.
On the Content screen, specify the following:
Content location: the mount point of the distribution server(s) (UNC path) you created earlier when you downloaded the executable, for example, \\hivesccm.hive.local\hive.
Persist client in the content cache: optional, depending on your environment.
Installation program: paste in the installation command you copied when you downloaded the papercut-hive.exe file earlier.
If you didn’t make a note of this, you can copy the installation program command from your PaperCut Hive or Pocket Tenant using the deployment instructions for InTune (Step 4), shown below.
Uninstall program: you can use the command for uninstalling as shown in the InTune instructions (Step 4), shown below.
Note: Running the installation and uninstall program as a 32-bit process is not required, since the Hive client is a 64-bit application.
Click Next >
On the Detection Method window, add only one clause. For the first clause, use the following settings:
Setting type: File System
Type: File
Path: C:\Program Files\PaperCut Hive
File or folder name: pc-edgenode-service.exe
Uncheck This file or folder is associated with a 32-bit application on 64-bit systems. Click OK to save the clause.
Leave the The file system must exist on the target system to indicate presence of the application option selected, and click Next >
In the User Experience window, populate the following:
Installation behavior: Install for user
Logon requirement: Only when the user is logged in
Installation program visibility: Normal
Optional: During testing and production, you can typically set the Maximum allowed run time and Estimated installation time in minutes to the minimum possible, 15 minutes for both. If the client installation is expected to take longer you can increase the time, though it is usually much quicker.
Click Next >.
On the Requirements screen for the PaperCut Hive or Pocket EdgeNode Client, add requirements according to your organizational requirements or policies. Click Next >
On the Dependencies screen there are no required dependencies, so click Next >
On the Summary screen, review your configuration.
Click Next > and then Close to complete the wizard. You will return to the Deployment Types screen, where the new entry for the PaperCut Hive or Pocket EdgeNode Client is now listed. Click Next >.
Review the summary. Click Next >. The configuration will complete.
Click Close on the completion window to end the wizard. You will return to the Deployment Types wizard, where the PaperCut Hive or Pocket EdgeNode Client package is now shown.
Click Next >
Review the Summary, then click Next >
Click Close to complete the wizard.
3. Deploy the edge node package
From the MECM administration console, find the application you created. Right-click it and select Deploy.
On the General screen, the software package is pre-filled. Select the target user collection you want to deploy the application to. In this case, the All Users default collection is used. Click Next >
On the Content screen, add the distribution point you want to use for the client deployment. Click Next >
On the Deployment Settings screen, set the Action to Install and Purpose to Required. Other settings are optional. Click Next >
On the Specify the schedule for this deployment screen, you can leave the default option, which is As soon as possible after the available time. Click Next >
On the User Experience screen, ensure the System Restart checkbox is enabled. Currently, the Hive installer does not need a client restart. We have included this as best practice, in case there are other dependencies added in the future that require a system reboot.
Customize the other user experience settings according to your organization's preference. Click Next >
Configure any Alerts you require according to your organization's preference. Click Next >
Review the summary. Click Next > next, then click Close to complete the wizard.
To validate the client deployment to the assigned User Collection, navigate to Assets and Compliance > User Collections > All Users > Deployments. Your PaperCut Hive or Pocket EdgeNode Client should be listed there.
4. Create the Print Client package
In the MECM administration application, navigate to Software Library > Overview > Application Management.
Right-click Applications, and select Create Application.
On the General screen, select the Manually specify the application information radio button. Click Next >
On the General Information screen, enter the application name, for example,
PaperCut Hive Print Client.
All other fields are optional, so you can fill these in as required. Leave other fields as their defaults.
Click Next >
On the Software Centre screen, populate any other fields as required. The default settings are optimal for the client deployment. Making changes here will customize the user experience in the Software Centre applications on the client workstations.
Click Next >
On the Deployment Types screen, click Add.
Select the manually specify the deployment type information option button. Click Next >
On the Specify general information for this deployment type screen, give the deployment a name. For simplicity, you can use the same name as when you created the application, or give it another meaningful name of your choice. Click Next >
On the Content screen, specify the following:
○ Content location: the mount point of the distributions server (UNC path) you created earlier when you downloaded the executable, for example, \\hivesccm.hive.local\hive.
○ Persist client in the content cache: optional, depending on your environment.
○ Installation program: you can copy the installation program command from your PaperCut Hive or Pocket Tenant using the deployment instructions for InTune instructions (Step 4), shown below.
○ Uninstall program: you can use the command for uninstalling as shown in the InTune Instructions (Step 4), shown below.
Note: Running the installation and uninstall program as a 32-bit process is not required, since the Hive client is a 64-bit application.
Click Next >. The Detection Rule window is displayed. You now need to add 2 clauses.
For the first clause, click Add Clause and enter:
○ Setting type: File System
○ Type: File
○ Path: %localappdata%\Programs\
○ File or folder name: PaperCut Hive
Uncheck This file or folder is associated with a 32-bit application on 64-bit systems. Click OK to save the clause.
For the second clause, click Add Clause and enter:
o Setting type: Registry
o Hive: HKEY_CURRENT_USER
o Key: Software\PaperCut Hive Print Client
o Value: InstallPath
o Data Type: String
Uncheck This registry key is associated with a 32-bit application on 64-bit systems.
Leave the This registry setting must exist on the target system to indicate presence of the application option as selected. Click OK to save the clause.
Back on the Detection Method screen, you can:
Modify the operator to OR. This way, if the presence of either the file system in the local user context or the user context registry entry is detected, MECM concludes the PaperCut Print Client Application is installed correctly and will not try to install it again.
Alternatively, use the AND operator, and this should produce the same effect.
Click Next >
On the User Experience window, configure the following:
○ Installation behavior: Install for user
○ Logon requirement: Only when the user is logged in
○ Installation program visibility: Normal
Optional: During testing and production, you can typically set the Maximum allowed run time and Estimated installation time in minutes to the minimum possible, 15 minutes for both. You can increase the time if the client installation is expected to take longer, though it is usually much quicker.
Click Next
On the Requirements screen for the PaperCut Hive or Pocket Print Client, you can set this according to your organizational requirements or policies. Click Next >
On the Dependencies screen, add the PaperCut Hive or Pocket EdgeNode Client, that you created earlier.
On the Define a group of applications screen, click Add.
Find the PaperCut Hive or Pocket EdgeNode Client Application in the Available Applications list. Select the checkbox for the EdgeNode application you created first. Click OK.
Back on the Define a group of applications screen, in the the Dependency group name field enter PaperCut Hive or Pocket Print Client.
Leave the Auto Install checkbox enabled. If the PaperCut Hive or Pocket EdgeNode client is not installed or was missed, MECM will attempt to install that dependency first before trying to install the PaperCut Hive or Pocket Print Client. Click OK.
The Dependencies screen should now show the dependency. Click Next >
Review the configurations on the Summary screen, and click Next >
After the configuration is complete, click Close. This returns you to the Deployment Types window, where you should now have a PaperCut Hive or Pocket Print Client entry in the list.
Click Next >.
Review the summary. If it is acceptable, click Next >
The configuration is complete. Click Close on the completion window to end the wizard.
5. Deploy the Print Client package
From the MECM administration console, find the PaperCut Hive or Pocket Print Client application you created. Right-click it and select Deploy.
On the General screen, the software package is pre-filled. Select the target user collection you want to deploy the application to. In this case, the All Users default collection is used. Click Next >
On the Content screen, the distribution point you selected for the PaperCut Hive or Pocket EdgeNode Client should already be selected. If not, select the appropriate distribution point. Click Next >
On the Deployment Settings screen, set the Action to Install and Purpose to Required. Other settings are optional. Click Next >
On the Specify the schedule for this deployment screen, leave the default option set to As soon as possible after the available time. Click Next >
On the User Experience screen, ensure the System Restart checkbox is selected. Currently, the PaperCut Hive or Pocket installer does not need a client restart, but this setting may be necessary for future releases.
Customize the other user experience settings according to your organization's preference. Click Next >
Configure any alerts you require according to your organization's preference. Click Next >
Review the summary, then click Next >
Click Close to complete the wizard.
To validate the client deployment to the assigned User Collection, navigate to Assets and Compliance, User Collections, All Users, and then Deployments. Your PaperCut Hive or Pocket Print Client should be listed there.
Post-deployment checks
After both components are deployed, spot-check a few Windows clients to ensure the services are running:
- In Task Manager, on the client workstation, check that
pc-edgenode-serviceis running. The Windows PC requires this service to perform activities such as receiving, replicating, or printing jobs if the PaperCut Cloud Service calls upon it. - In Task Manager, on the client workstation, check that
pc-print-client-service.exeis running. This is the print client needed to link the end-user to PaperCut Hive or Pocket and submit jobs via the PaperCut Printer. This process must be running in memory as it provides the functions the user needs to print jobs via the PaperCut Printer.
If either of these services is not running, please contact your PaperCut Reseller and provide copies of the logs.
An alternate method to validate this on the client workstations is Open the Software Centre application, go to Installation status, and from here, view that both the PaperCut Hive or Pocket EdgeNode and Print Clients have been installed.
Administrators can track successful deployments through the MECM administration console, as shown below.
Locations of logs
- Edge node and setup logs:
C:\Program Files\PaperCut Hive\data\logsorC:\Program Files\PaperCut Pocket\data\logs - Print client logs:
%AppData%\Local\Programs\PaperCut Hive\data\logsor%AppData%\Local\Programs\PaperCut Pocket\data\logs - Print client setup logs:
%AppData%\Local\Programs\PaperCut Hive\data\logsor%AppData%\Local\Programs\PaperCut Pocket\data\logs%AppData%\Local\Temp
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