Printer and print server migration (Must know)

For migrating printers from a Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2 server to Windows Server 2012, we will be using the Print Management console. This administration tool is part of the Print and Document Services role in Windows Server 2012. This tool can be used to migrate printers from both x86 and x64 servers. If you are migrating printers from a 32-bit server, make sure to install 64-bit drivers prior to the migration. The print drivers, queues, shares, directory listing, and security settings can be migrated using this migration tool. During the migration you will have an option to list (publish) these printers in Active Directory. So if these printers were listed in Active Directory previously, the migration utility can maintain the same configuration after the migration.

The following diagram graphically represents all the high-level tasks:

How to do it...

The following steps will help you migrate printers using the print management console:

1. Log on to the new Windows Server 2012 server.
2. Open Server Manager and install the Print and Document Services role. Refer to the Add and remove roles and features (Must know) recipe for role and feature installation details.
   
3. On the Select role services window, select the Print Server service. Click on Next and complete the role installation.
   
4. Open the Print Management console from the Start screen.
5. Right-click on the Print Management node and select the Migrate Printers… option.
   
6. Select Export printer queues and printer drivers to a file option and click on Next.
   
7. On the Select a print server window, select the source print server in the Server name box. Make sure that the account you are using can access the source server from the target server and has full permission on both servers. Click on Next.
   
8. The discovery process will identify Print Queues, Print Drivers, and Printer Processors. You will see this information in the Review the list of items to be exported window. Review the items and click on Next to continue.
9. In the Select file location window, select a destination folder. Click on Next. You will see the progress in the next window. You can also open Printer Migration Events in Event Viewer to get more details as shown in the following screenshot:
   
10. Click on Finish to complete the export process.
11. The next step is to import these printers onto the new Windows Server 2012 print server. Right-click on the Print Management node and select the Migrate Printers… option.

    Note

    You can also start the import process by double-clicking the printer export file (.Printer.Export).

12. This time, select Import printer queues and printer drivers from a file. Click on Next.
    
13. In the Select the file location window, select the export file. Click on Next.
14. The printer information can be reviewed in the Review the list of items to be imported window. Click on Next.
15. In the Select a print server window, select the destination Windows Server 2012 print server. Click on Next.
    
16. In the Select import options window, you have the fields Import mode and List in the directory:
    1. In Import mode we have Keep existing printers and Overwrite existing printers. Since we are migrating into a new print server, our assumption is that we don′t have any printers available on this new server. So we will select the Overwrite existing printers option.
    2. In List in the directory we have List printers that were previously listed, List all printers, and Do not list any printers. For this scenario, we will select the List printers that were previously listed option. This will automatically update the Active Directory with the new print server information.
    3. Click on Next to start the import process.
    
17. Click on Finish to complete the process.

How it works...

At this point all the printers are migrated onto the new printer server. The migration log and Event Viewer will provide more information about the migration process and result. If you don′t see any errors in any of these logs, you can start decommissioning the old print servers. If the printer mappings or automatic deployment of printer are configured through Group Policy Object or Group Policy Preference, these policies should to be updated with the new printer server information.

There′s more...

Instead of using the Print Management console, you could use the Printbrm.exe command line tools to achieve the same result. By default, these tools are located in the C:\Windows\System32\spool\tools folder. The Printbrm.exe -s <\\SourceServer> -b -f <File> command will export the printers from the source server and the Printbrm.exe -s <\\TargetServer> -r -f <File> command will import printers into the target server.