Windows Terminal Server with Metaframe ICA Client Cannot Autocreate Some Printers

After you connect a locally attached printer and load the printer drivers to the local workstation that has a Citrix Metaframe ICA client, you log on to the Terminal Server computer. The printer is supposed to be autocreated and available to you in the Printers folder of your Terminal Server session. The printer does not appear in the Printers folder.

If the printer driver name on the local workstation does not match the printer driver name on the Windows NT Terminal Server computer exactly, the printer will not autocreate. This occurs with Windows 95, Windows 98 and any other operating system or platform where the printer driver name on the client station does not match the printer driver name on the Terminal Server computer. If you are adding a new printer that is not native to Terminal Server, and the client and server print driver names are different, this problem will also occur.

There is a file on the Terminal Server computer that can be modified to make the disparate printer driver names appear to be the same and the autocreate function will work.

To make this modification, follow these steps:

1. On the client workstation in local mode, not a Terminal Server session, click Start, click settings, and then click printers. Select the printer that did not autocreate and right-click it. Click Properties and then click the Details tab.
2. Write down the name that appears in the Print Using the Following Driver box. This box contains the print driver name. For example, HP DeskJet 1600C ColorSmart.
3. On the Terminal Server computer, click Start, click Settings, and then click Printers.
4. Double-click Add Printer, click to select the My Computer radio button, and then click Next. In the Available Ports box, click to select the LPT1 check box, and then click Next.
5. In the left pane, select the manufacturer of the printer you have installed on your workstation. In the right hand pane, scroll to the model of the printer you have installed on the workstation. For example, HP DeskJet 1600C. This is the server printer driver name for that printer. Write this name down.
   
   As you can probably see, the workstation printer driver name and the printer driver name on the Terminal Server computer are different. The server driver does not have "ColorSmart" added to it.
6. In the %systemroot%\system32 folder, open the Wtsuprn.txt file. The file is as follows:
   

    ==========================================================================
    ; WTSUPRN.TXT 
    ;
    ; this is a template for wtsuprn.inf -- rename this file to wtsuprn.inf
    ;
    ; this file provides a mapping for client printers which have a name
    ; different from the server printer.  this file is necessary since many
    ; printers for Win95 are different from their WinNT equivalent.
    ;
    ; Note: the driver for the server printer must be installed.  See the
    ; WinFrame Concepts and Planning Guide.
    ;
    [Identification]
            OptionType = PRINTER
    [ClientPrinters]
    ;
    ;     Client Name                                  Server Name
    ;          |                                            |
    ;          |                                            |
    ;         \|/                                          \|/ 
    ;"HP LaserJet 4/4M"                          = "HP LaserJet 4"
    ;"HP LaserJet 4P/4MP"                        = "HP LaserJet 4P"
    ;"HP LaserJet 4 Plus/4M Plus"                = "HP LaserJet 4 Plus"
    ;"HP LaserJet 4Si/4Si MX"                    = "HP LaserJet 4Si"
    ;"HP LaserJet 4V/4MV"                        = "HP LaserJet 4V"
    ;"HP LaserJet 5/5M - Enhanced"               = "HP LaserJet 5"
    ;"HP LaserJet 5/5M - Standard"               = "HP LaserJet 5"
    ;"HP LaserJet 5/5M PostScript"               = "HP LaserJet 5"
    ;"HP LaserJet 5L (PCL)"                      = "HP LaserJet 5L"
    ;"HP LaserJet 5P/5MP (HP)"                   = "HP LaserJet 5P"
    ==========================================================================
   						

7. Using this exact format, enter the previous information that you gathered from the workstation and the server.
   
   NOTE: Leave out the semicolon; this is used to remark the line out.
   
   Make sure you type the right driver under the proper colum. Client name would be the workstation; server name is the Terminal Server computer.
   
   For example:
   

    "HP DeskJet 1600C ColorSmart"                = "HP DeskJet 1600C"
   						

   
   
8. After making the change, save this file with a .inf extension and then close the Wtsuprn.txt file.
   
   NOTE: From now on, if you have to add any other printers, add them to the Wtsuprn.inf file.
9. Log off of the Terminal Server computer and log back on. Log your client workstation on to a Terminal Server session and you should now see your printer autocreated in the Terminal Server session printers folder, and you will be able to print to your local printer.

Installing a New, Non-Native Print Driver

When you need to install a new print driver to your workstation, you will also have to install a print driver to the Terminal Server computer. Install the printer on the server as a local printer. Upon completion of the printer installation, delete the printer icon from the printer folder. The printer driver will be installed on the server and, when you connect the workstation to the Terminal Server computer, the new printer will be autocreated. If the print driver names are different between the workstation (client) and the server, follow the same procedure as above to make them the same.

For information on how to modify these settings for Microsoft Windows 2000 automatically created printers when using the RDP client, see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

For additional information about Citrix Autocreate features, please visit their Solutions Knowledge Base web site at:

Steps Required to Ensure that Client Printers Autocreate Within ICA Sessions; Document ID -- CTX681954

http://knowledgebase.citrix.com/article/CTX681954 (http://knowledgebase.citrix.com/article/CTX681954)