If your locally defined, physically attached or network printer, printer does not auto-create, verify the following:
Notes: While some of the below ideas may apply to
Imported Network Printers, as outlined in CTX881017 -
Troubleshooting MetaFrame XP Imported Network Print Servers, troubleshooting that issue can be significantly different than the auto-creation of locally defined workstation printers. Troubleshooting of the Universal Print Driver (UPD) is outlined in CTX089874 -
Troubleshooting and Explaining the Citrix Universal Print Driver, UPD. Also CTX105158 -
Troubleshooting Citrix ICA Printing - Quick Reference Guide and
CTX107137 -
Troubleshooting Printing Problems In Presentation Server 4.0.
1. In Citrix Connection Configuration double click the ICA listener port, select the
Client Settings button, and ensure
Connect client printers at logon is selected.
2. Also, ensure that the following boxes are not selected under the Client Settings Area:
Disable Windows Client Printer Mapping
Disable Client LPT Mapping
CTX104693 -
�Client Printer mapping� and �Client LPT Port mapping� are greyed out in ica-tcp listener
Both of these settings prevent client printers from being auto-created on the system, and prohibit the client printer from being manually added during the session.
3. If “Inherent User Config” is selected in step 1, ensure that "connect client printers at logon" is selected in the UserConfig button for each user account within User Manager for Domains or the Environment Tab within Active Directory Users and Computers/Computer Management-Local Users and Groups.
4. From client machine, make custom ICA connection directly to server desktop, log on, open printer folder inside ICA session, then add printer - network printer - expand client network - select client printer and try to add. What is the result? It may indicate a suitable driver needs to be added, it may say access is denied (rights issue), you may not see the printer under client network (is the printer defined in the local client print folder), can you expand a Microsoft server with a shared printer (this may indicate an OS/RPC issue), does CTX102808 -
Error: Could not connect to the printer. apply, or not see the client network at all. Refer to CTX748796 -
Users Unable to see the Client Network when in Print Manger or Connect to Printer.
5. New Microsoft RDP Clients allow for the creation of printers. While the RDP does not use the Citrix Client Network Service, Citrix Support may ask, as a test, to log in with the RDP Client. This may help in determining if there is an underlying OS or Permission issue.
6. Ensure the latest compatible driver for its operating system is installed on the client computer. On the Citrix Server install the latest compatible driver for the base operating system (NT 4.0 Terminal Server, Windows 2000, or Windows 2003). This is accomplished by installing a "phantom" printer on the server console. After the printer has been created it can be deleted from the print manager. The driver itself and registry references to the driver will remain. Verify what drivers have been installed on the server in step 6. In Windows 2000 and 2003, one can right-click in the white space in the
Print folder >
go to Server Properties >
driver tab.
Note: Because a printer driver is NT 4.0 or Windows 2000/2003 compatible does not necessarily mean the driver is compatible with NT 4.0 Terminal Server Edition or Windows 2000/2003 Terminal Server. Installing incompatible drivers may cause Blue Screens (reference Microsoft TechNet articles
Q191666,
Q249917, and the MetaFrame XP Feature Release/ Service Pack 2 Readme with respect to Lexmark Z12 drivers), spooler CPU spikes, hangs, print jobs failing to print, and auto-created printers failing to delete upon logoff (lack of Auto-created Printer definition inside the printer properties comment field.) Issues of this type should follow TechNet
Q135406 article recommendation to remove the suspect driver from the system and to use the Citrix Management Console to configure exclusions, manual print driver mappings, or to exclusively use the UPD. Syntax, spacing, capitalization between the quotes, within the manual mapping process is critical. A substituted print driver may limit the available printer functionality inside an ICA session with respect to the non-native driver. For more details concerning manual mappings and the wtsuprn.inf file usage, see CTX626451 -
Sample WTSUPRN.INF File for Use in Autocreation of Client Printers.
7. Verify what drivers have been installed (in WinFrame, Windows NT 4.0 Terminal Server, and Windows 2000) on your Citrix server by checking the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\Print\Environments \Windows NT x86\Drivers\Version-1 (WinFrame)
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\Print\Environments \Windows NT x86\Drivers\Version-2 (Terminal Server)
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\Print\Environments \Windows NT x86\Drivers\Version-3 (Windows 2000)
Note: The mere existence of the driver does not guarantee this process will work. The driver may be corrupted. Citrix Support may ask that the driver be removed and re-added.
8. Verify that administrators can auto-create client printers. If administrators can auto-create and regular users cannot, confirm that users have at least Read, Write, and Execute permissions to the following files and directory:
%SystemRoot%\System32\spool
%SystemRoot%\System32\printer.inf
Note: Auto-creation of 32-bit client printers involves both the client and the server.
ICA Client printer auto-creation happens during the login process. In MetaFrame for TSE, ctxlogon is called directly by winlogon. In MetaFrame for Windows 2000, ctxnotif.dll replaces Ctxlogon.exe and Ctxlogof.exe. Winlogon, specifically cmstart.exe, calls ctxnotif.dll, which makes a function call to ctxlogon to create printer connections. It handles logon/logoff notifications for specific login processing (for example, creating printer connections).
9. For MetaFrame 1.x on NT 4.0 Terminal Server Edition, ensure users have read(RX) rights to ctxlogon.exe and ctxlogoff.exe. By default, the Everyone group is configured for read permission during the installation of MetaFrame.
10. For Terminal Server 4.0 Installations, check to see if the following registry entry exists:
HKEY_LOCAL_Machine/Software/Microsoft/WindowsNT/CurrentVersion/Winlogin
Key Name: Userinit
Value: CTXLOGON.EXE
For Windows 2000 Terminal Server Installations, check to see if the following registry entry exists:
Cmstart.exe is needed to ensure wfshell is running in a session.
CTX102634 –
WFSHELL.exe crashes when attempting to autocreate certain HP Print Drivers
HKEY_LOCAL_Machine/Software/Microsoft/WindowsNT/CurrentVersion/Winlogin
Key Name: AppSetup
Value: Cmstart.EXE
11. MetaFrame XP SP2/FR2 changed the behavior in which client side network printers are auto-created. MetaFrame XP SP3/FR3 has a check box in the Citrix Management Console, under the Printer Node Properties, to toggle this behavior. For MetaFrame XP SP2/FR2, see if hotfix XE102W065 or its equivalent and the corresponding registry change resolve the issue.
The hotfix introduces a registry switch so that you can toggle which functionality you want — direct connection to network printers from a Feature Release 2 server or the network printers created as client printers that print through the ICA Client device.
Navigate to the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\Citrix\ClientPrinterAutoCreate
Value Name: fCreateNetworkPrinter
Value Type: DWORD
Value: 1 (to have network printers created as client printers)
Value: 0 (to retain the Feature Release 2 behavior)
With this feature enabled, network printers are created as client printers in the ICA session.
12. Have any MetaFrame XP Policies, to disable printing, been set in the Citrix Management Console?
13. Do any MetaFrame XP Compatibility Mappings or Driver Restrictions in the Citrix Management Console apply?
14. For MetaFrame XP SP3/FR3 on Windows 2003, have you obtained your Feature Release 3 license(s) from
MYCITRIX, then installed and activated the license(s)?
From Hotfix XE103W2K3006
In Windows Server 2003, client printers could not be auto-created without installing a Citrix Feature Release 3 license.
Terminal services in Windows Server 2003 were changed so that the printer virtual channel needed to be created in the system context. The MetaFrame server would not issue a printer auto-creation command through the printer virtual channel.
This hotfix ensure that the printer virtual channel is created in the system context and a Feature Release 3 license is no longer required.
15. Does the following article, CTX102580 -
How to disable printing through NFuse/Web Interface, apply?
16. MetaFrame bases its auto-creation of printers on client name and printer driver name, it is recommended that each client has an unique name. CTX376489 -
Clientnames Should Always Be Unique. The algorithm used to create the printer name may cause issue with some applications. The issue is often that of the length of the name. This sort of issue can be reproduced outside of a Citrix environment by creating the equivalent name length for a Microsoft shared printer. The application may need changed with respect to the way it enumerates and uses printer API’s. See Microsoft TechNet
Q240082 for starters.
17. Be advised Hewlett-Packard has introduced a new architecture targeted for the home market called Print Performance Architecture (PPA). Microsoft is not supporting the PPA architecture on all its operating systems therefore PPA will not be supported in a Citrix environment. Please refer to Microsoft article
Q153958 and CTX110571 -
Printers Supported by HP for use with Citrix Presentation Server 4.0 for Windows for more information.
18. After verifying all of the above, if your printer still does not auto-create, confirm that the driver names are identical on the client and the server. Sometimes driver names differ marginally for Windows 95 and Windows NT 3.51/4.0. In such an instance, you need to map the names in the Ctxuprn.inf file, Wtsuprn.inf on a MetaFrame 1.8 server (This file resides in the %SystemRoot%\System32 folder), and through the Citrix Management Console or via the QPrinter.exe command on MetaFrame XP.
Note: For more information regarding MetaFrame XP, refer to the Administrators and Advanced Concepts Guides. For the wtsuprn.inf file usage and a sample file please reference Citrix Document CTX626451 -
Sample WTSUPRN.INF File for Use in Autocreation of Client Printers.
More Information
The printing algorithm for MetaFrame 1.8 checks in this order:
1. <client name>#<printer name> in wtsuprn.inf
2. <printer name> in wtsuprn.inf
3. <client name>#<printer name> in wtsprnt.inf
4. <printer name> in wtsprnt.inf
5. <client name>#<client printer driver name> in wtsuprn.inf
6. <client printer driver name> in wtsuprn.inf
7. <client name>#<client printer driver name> in wtsprnt.inf
8. <client printer driver name> in wtsprnt.inf
9. <client printer driver name> in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet \Control\Print\Environments\Windows NT x86\Drivers\Version-2
10. <client printer driver name> in ntprint.inf. If a match is found, the new name is substituted for the driver name when the printer creation is attempted.
Note: The client printer mechanism checks the registry first. If the driver has been installed (then the registry entry will exist), the printer creates without a problem. If the registry entry does not exist for that particular driver, it looks in the ntprint.inf file to determine if the driver is available from the base NT installation. If it is a known driver and the installation is available (via CD or network), then the driver is silently installed on the machine and the printer creation goes forward.
11. When the Universal printer driver, UPD, is selected, much depends on how the Citrix Management Console configures this setting. The default setting creates the UPD after first attempting to create the printer using the native driver, following the above algorithm. This is also when using the Citrix Management Console to exclude drivers. See CTX089874 -
Troubleshooting and Explaining the Citrix Universal Print Driver, UPD for additional information.
Process Overview
The process begins on the client side. The wfica32 calls the APIs locally to enumerate client printers and send the information to the MetaFrame server. These client printers may be defined locally on the client port or they can be network printers defined locally. The printer mapping file (wtsuprn.inf) is referenced to determine which driver will be used to auto-create the printer. The driver will then be installed on the MetaFrame server if it is available to the operating system through the ntprint.inf.
Timing
The timing of the printer auto-creation depends on whether the user is connecting to a published app or directly to a server desktop.
If the user is connecting to a published application, the printer auto-creation process is synchronous so that the application will find a default printer when it is executed. This is by design because some applications will not load if a default printer is not defined.
If the user is connecting to a server desktop, the printer is created asynchronously to increase the speed of log on.
The synchronous process can be toggled in MetaFrame XP within the individual application properties.
Linear Mode
