Active Directory Print Management

Many organizations rely on Active Directory to authenticate and authorize users. At PrinterLogic, in keeping with our philosophy of seamlessly integrating with other common technologies and leveraging their strengths, we’ve built on this existing foundation to make Active Directory print management easier than ever across your entire organization.

Our print management solution allows you to deploy printers to end users according to Active Directory (AD) criteria such as:

  • Active Directory user
  • Active Directory computer
  • Active Directory group
  • Active Directory organizational unit (OU)
  • Active Directory container

It’s simple and straightforward. All you have to do is add any of those above objects to the “Deploy” tab of a printer object, and the desired printer will automatically be deployed according to those parameters.

Through PrinterLogic’s Active Directory print management software, you can even set the printer that is being deployed as the default printer according to Active Directory object association. For even greater flexibility, that default printer setting can be assigned only during the initial printer installation (“once”), each time the client logs in or refreshes (“always”), or omitted completely (“never”). If the user or workstation is a member of multiple deployment assignments, the printer will only deploy according to the most specific (i.e., lowest-level) object.

One of the most talked-about advantages of PrinterLogic is its convenient self-service portal, which allows users to perform routine printer installs themselves with just a single click. Active Directory print management comes into play here, too, for added security combined with added simplicity. When a user accesses PrinterLogic’s self-service portal, that user can view all the available printers but not install any printer for which he or she has not been assigned corresponding rights. PrinterLogic is about clarity, of course, so in the case of unauthorized install attempts the user isn’t left in the dark or given a cryptic error message. They will receive a prompt stating that they need to be granted permission to access the printer.

PrinterLogic makes use of role-based access control for granting permissions, meaning that you can delegate printer management roles and permissions with Active Directory integration. You can add any Active Directory user or group objects to PrinterLogic’s administrative users list, allowing users who are members of that user or group object to access admin settings just by using their Active Directory username and password. That distributes some of the administrative responsibility to more localized managers or department heads.

Yet, just as importantly, you don’t sacrifice oversight when using PrinterLogic as your Active Directory print management solution. PrinterLogic provides complete administrative auditing of changes made by administrators, so you can keep tabs on which users or workstations are being granted which rights.

Want a straightforward step-by-step guide on Active Directory print management using PrinterLogic? This handy how-to page has more on using and managing Active Directory user accounts.