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Some organizations need to deploy Universal Print alongside an exsiting Windows print server deployment (A.K.A. a side-by-side setup). In these cases, there are some important pieces of information the admin needs to be aware of.
Can my users access printers from both Universal Print and Windows print server?
Access to printers through Universal Print or Windows print server hinges on the following:
- A user with a PC that is only joined to the local AD domain can access printers on that domain through a print server. On this PC, the user will not be able to find Universal Print printers even if the printers are deployed in the organization.
- A user with a PC that is only joined to Entra ID can access Universal Print printers in that tenant. On this PC, the user will not be able to find print server printers even if the printers are deployed in the organization.
- A user can access printers through Universal Print and a print server simultaneously if the user’s PC is joined to the local AD domain and joined to Entra ID (i.e., hybrid join).
- For the admin side of this configuration, please see this article
- For the user side, after a user’s PC is joined to the local AD domain, the user can go to Settings > Accounts > Access work or school. They can then connect to Entra ID using their Entra ID credentials. This joins the PC to Entra ID as well.
So, it’s up to the admin to decide whether user can access both or not.
Creating a side-by-side setup using the Universal Print connector
In this example a connector is used. However, a side-by-side setup can also be achieved using Universal Print Ready printers. In addition to being installed on a print server, these printers can be directly registered wtih Universal Print without needing a connector. For simplicity, this information assumes that there is no 3rd party print software or secure release mechanism in place.
As the diagram below illustrates, the same physical printer can be shared simultaneously through Universal Print and a print server. So, you don’t need separate printers for Universal Print if you’d like to use printers users currently access through a print server.
Something to consider is that the same physical printer may show up on the user’s PC as 2 different printers if the user’s PC can access both UP and print server printers simultaneously (case 3 above).
You can choose to share the physical printer with users with the same printer share name from Universal Print and the print server or give them different names. In the Windows settings app, Universal Print printers will appear with a little blue cloud on them as opposed to on-prem printers.
Note
Many Universal Print customers who are running a hybrid environment choose to install the connector software on the print server where their printers are already installed. So, you can choose whether to have a separate connector or not.
Important
If the connector is not installed on the print server, then DocuPrint-model123 must be directly installed on the connector machine as if the print server doesn’t exist. In other words, installing the print server shared printer (e.g., \\PrnServer1\Blg3-Floor1-prn1) on the connector machine will not work for connecting the printer to Universal Print.
