Hey everyone! We're trying to set up a couple of Zebra label printers to function as network printers that we can manage centrally through a Windows print server. The goal is to deploy them to all our workstations using Group Policy Object (GPO). We've installed the drivers on the print server and configured the network settings, and while we can print either through the server or by manually installing the drivers on workstations using the printers' IP addresses, we're struggling with deployment through GPO. We can't seem to get the printers to install automatically or connect as shared printers on the workstations. With around 300 workstations and 100 rugged laptops, manually installing them would be a nightmare. If anyone has experience or advice on getting these printers deployed with GPO, it would be a huge help!
4 Answers
What specific model of Zebra printers are you using? I set up Zebra ZD421 printers with GPOs a couple of months ago, and they’ve been running smoothly. If you have the same model, I might be able to offer more tailored advice!
You might want to try deploying the printers via user GPO instead of computer GPO. I've found that it can work better for certain setups, so giving it a shot might resolve your issues.
Check out the Point and Print restrictions on Microsoft’s site. They have guidelines that might help with your GPO setup. Specifically, look for the Package Point and Print options to approve senders and manage printer connections through GPO.
It sounds like you might need to prestage the printer drivers on the print server. This way, when clients connect, the drivers can install automatically without admin permissions needed. Make sure you're pulling the driver directory from the print$ UNC path, and then use 'pnputil' to install them on the clients. This should avoid any driver mismatch popups when connecting to the printer. Also, remember to push driver updates to clients if you change anything.
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