Printing On the Server

[Bradley M. Small]

Hi --

I have an ASP (not .Net) web application that needs to Print Server Side.

In response to let's say Orders being placed, the server would perhaps print
the pick sheets to some printer in the warehouse.

This is purely hypothetical application description as the actual
application is much more convoluted, but basically does this.

When I am on the server itself, and access it with IE on the same machine it
works, but when I am remote then it doesn't.

The printing itself is being done in a VB activex control. It sets a printer
active by device name, and then uses the Printer object to print a hand
coded report. The printers themselves are placed into the registry by
copying the hives containing them to the hkey_users.default.

Basically this all works when you are physically on the server. Once you go
to a different machine, it stops working. I assume that it has something to
do with what happens with the IUSER_<MACHINENAME> or the RUN AS aspect of
the IIS service.

Any suggestions would be welcomed.

 

[TomB]

This is a guess. But I think if you set a password for the IUSR account,
then log in as that user, you can add printers to the profile. I would
assume that you would then be able to print to it.

Alternatively, you could tell IIS to run under your profile, by changing the
anonymous access settngs in ISM.

I'd bet (a very small bet) that if you look in Event Viewer, you'd see an
error indicating that your print failed because no printer was installed.

Hope that helps
Tom B

 

[Tom Kaminski [MVP]]

Hi --

I have an ASP (not .Net) web application that needs to Print Server Side.

In response to let's say Orders being placed, the server would perhaps print
the pick sheets to some printer in the warehouse.

This is purely hypothetical application description as the actual
application is much more convoluted, but basically does this.

When I am on the server itself, and access it with IE on the same machine it
works, but when I am remote then it doesn't.

The printing itself is being done in a VB activex control. It sets a printer
active by device name, and then uses the Printer object to print a hand
coded report. The printers themselves are placed into the registry by
copying the hives containing them to the hkey_users.default.

Basically this all works when you are physically on the server. Once you go
to a different machine, it stops working. I assume that it has something to
do with what happens with the IUSER_<MACHINENAME> or the RUN AS aspect of
the IIS service.

Is this your problem?
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=184291

 

[Bradley M. Small]

More information:

The problem seems to be that if the printer is local to the server it will
work, but if it is a networked printer, then it will not. Is there some
issue with local system account and network resources?

 

[Bradley M. Small]

Tom --

I have already used that to get the system working. That will work as long
as I am sitting at the server using the IE that is on the same machine. If I
go over to the next machine and connect, then it will not print.

-- A

 

[TomB]

Are you saying, that it will print to a local printer from a remote machine?

If so, then there are two possible solutions.
1) Run IIS under a domain account that has permission to print to the
printer
2) Print directly to the printers ip address (assuming it has one) by
setting it up as a local printer connected to a standard TCP/IP port.

Tom B