Changing the PaperCut Server Name or IP Address

“Help! We need to change the IP address and/or Hostname of our PaperCut server. How can we do this while ensuring minimal disruption for our users?”

Changing the hostname or IP address of your PaperCut server is considered a high-impact task and should be treated with some care and planning. Many components on the network rely on the PaperCut server’s hostname or IP address. If the primary PaperCut server’s hostname or IP address is changed it can cause many PaperCut components to communicating with the server.

If instead you are looking to change the IP address of your printers or copiers, we recommend you have a look at this article: Printer and Device IP Address Change Considerations.

Before you go down this path…

• Please read through this guide and then figure out which PaperCut components will need to be updated.
• If you simply want a more user-friendly name for your server consider setting up a CNAME/alias record on your DNS server instead for users to browse to.
• Schedule downtime to make the transition and plan on bringing a box of donuts to share with your users during the migration.
• We strongly recommend you contact your PaperCut Partner for consultation and technical assistance (their details can be found on the About page in the admin interface of your PaperCut server) before undertaking these changes.

PaperCut Components that will need to be updated

• Devices running the PaperCut Embedded Application
• PaperCut User Client
• Secondary Servers
• Workstations running the Direct Print Monitor
• Release Stations
• Site Servers
• Print Deploy

Other things to consider

• If PaperCut and your print server are one and the same, how will clients connect to the print queues if the server name changes? You may need to either redeploy printer connections to workstations, or create CNAME (alias) record on your DNS server to redirect clients from the old server name to the new server name.
• If the hostname of your PaperCut server is being changed you may need to rename the Printers in PaperCut so the history of each printer will be continuous. Otherwise there may be a separate printer object in PaperCut associated with the old server name. See How to Rename a Printer for more details.
• The URLs used to access the PaperCut server for remote administration may need to change - inform other administrators.
• Always take time to test the system in full after making the changes. You may find the PaperCut Post Upgrade Test Plan useful.

Devices running the PaperCut embedded app

PaperCut MF customers only: If your PaperCut server’s IP address or hostname is changing you may need to reconfigure your copiers and printers running the PaperCut embedded application so that these devices will continue working with the server.

There is a separate article which explains in detail how to configure embedded software after a server migration or an IP/Hostname change for each device platform.

PaperCut User Client

The PaperCut User Client enables users to select an account for billing when printing, lets users see their balance, and may be used for pop-up authentication in some environments.

If your organization uses these features, you will need to find and update the PaperCut Client’s configuration file with the new server IP address and hostname.

This file, called config.properties, can be opened and edited with any plaintext editing software like TextEdit or Notepad to change the values of the lines that start with server-ip and server-name.

At a minimum, you will want to update the master copies of these files on the server and it may also be necessary to update the config.properties file on each workstation depending on how the PaperCut User Client is deployed.

Update the Client’s config.properties files on the server

After renaming or re-IP-ing a server you should update the master config.properties files for the Client on the PaperCut Server.

Steps:

1. Log into the server running PaperCut.
2. Navigate to these three config.properties files on the server:
   • Windows: [application-directory]/client/win/config.properties
   • Linux: [application-directory]/client/linux/config.properties
   • macOS: [application-directory]/client/mac/PCClient.app » then control-click on the file > Show Package Contents > browse to Contents/Resources/config.properties
3. Open each of those config.properties files with a plaintext editor such as Notepad.
4. Find the lines starting with server-ip and server-name and update these with the new PaperCut server name and IP address.
5. Save these files.

If the PaperCut Client has been deployed with the Zero Install method and is running from the share on the PaperCut server, you might be good to go! Just make sure the logon script which launches the client on startup also has the correct server hostname or IP address.

If the PaperCut client is installed locally, then you will need to follow the steps below.

Update the Client’s config.properties file on each workstation

If the PaperCut User Client has been installed locally on each workstation, then the simplest option is to re-deploy the PaperCut Client using the freshly updated copy of the application from the server.

An alternative is to manually edit the config.properties file on each workstation running the PaperCut Client. If you must do this, here is where to find the config.properties file for each client OS type:

• Windows: [client-install-path]/config.properties (For example C:\Program Files\PaperCut MF Client\config.properties)
• macOS: Finder > Applications> command-click on PCClient.app > Show Package Contents > browse to Contents/Resources/config.properties

Secondary Servers and the Direct Print Monitor

The PaperCut Secondary Server application may be installed on additional print servers in your environment other than the PaperCut server to track print jobs.

The Direct Print Monitor may run on individual workstations to track print jobs not sent to a PaperCut server (for example a locally attached USB-connected printer).

If your organization has Secondary servers or workstations running the Direct Print Monitor, you will need to update the Print Provider configuration file, named print-provider.conf, with the new PaperCut server’s IP address and hostname. On Windows workstations running the Direct Print Monitor, this will be called the direct-print-monitor.conf file, but the steps will be the same.

Steps:

1. Log into the Secondary Server(s) or workstations running the Direct Print Monitor.
2. Navigate to [application-directory]/providers/print/[platform]/. (On a Windows PaperCut MF Secondary Server this may be located in C:\Program Files\PaperCut MF\providers\print\win\.)
3. Open print-provider.conf with a plaintext editor such as Notepad.
4. Find the line starting with ApplicationServer and update this to the new PaperCut server name or IP address.
5. Save this file.
6. For the changes to take effect restart the PaperCut Print Provider service on the Secondary Server or workstation running the Direct Print Monitor with a restart. Alternatively you can open services.msc, right click on the PaperCut Print Provider Service and choose restart. For more info, or to see how to do this on Linux or macOS servers see here.

Release Stations

The PaperCut Release Station application may be installed on a dedicated computer in a print room to enable users to securely release print jobs.

If your organization has Release Stations, you will need to update the connection.properties file with the new PaperCut server’s IP address and hostname.

At a minimum, you will want to update the master copies of these files on the server and it may also be necessary to update the connection.properties file on each workstation depending on how PaperCut Release Stations are deployed.

Steps:

1. Log into the PaperCut server.
2. Navigate to [application-directory]/release/connection.properties (On a Windows PaperCut MF Secondary Server this may be located in C:\Program Files\PaperCut MF\release\.)
3. Open the connection.properties file with a plaintext editor such as Notepad.
4. Find the lines starting with server-ip and server-name and update these with the new PaperCut server name and IP address.
5. Save this file.
6. Next, follow the steps to reinstall the Release Station application on any Release Stations.

Site Servers

A PaperCut Site Servers hosts a read-only copy of the main PaperCut server and may be used for resilience and failover.

If your organization has Site Servers you will need to find and update the configuration file, called site-server.properties, with the new PaperCut server’s IP address and hostname.

Steps:

1. Log into the Site Server.
2. Navigate to [application-directory]/server/. (On a Windows PaperCut MF Site Server this may be located in C:\Program Files\PaperCut MF\server\.)
3. Open the site-server.properties configuration file with a plaintext editor such as Notepad.
4. Locate the line starting with server.master.address and update this to the new PaperCut server name or IP address.
5. Save this file.
6. For the changes to take effect restart the Site Server.

Print Deploy

If the server you are migrating to has a different IP address or hostname from your original server, you will need to redeploy the clients with the new server’s hostname. We recommend that you redownload the client from your new server to ensure your clients are also up to date. Note that reinstalling or uninstalling the clients won’t remove the print queues already installed on your users’ computers; users can still print to all queues already deployed by Print Deploy.

As mentioned above, if PaperCut and your print server are one and the same, you may need to re-clone and deploy your printers in Print Deploy using the new server address. This is described in the Print Deploy manual.

Note: For more information on PaperCut application server migration, click here

Web Print Sandbox

The Web Print Sandbox is Windowed application running on a separate computer from the PaperCut server to process print jobs submitted via WebPrint.

To accomplish this, the Sandbox communicates with the PaperCut server and fetches print jobs using a ‘hot folder’ (a file share configured on the PaperCut server). The ‘hot folder’ path can either be a mapped network drive or a UNC path and is saved in the web-print.conf file found on the Sandbox. You will want to check this file to see how this path is configured and confirm it points to the new hostname of the server.

Steps:

1. Log into the workstation or VM running the WebPrint Sandbox application.
2. Navigate to [application-directory]/providers/web-print/[platform]/web-print.conf. (On a Windows Web Print Sandbox this may be located in C:\Program Files\PaperCut MF\providers\print\win\.)
3. In this directory open web-print.conf with a plaintext editor such as Notepad.
4. Find the line starting with HotFolder and confirm this line points to the correct destination.
   • If the web-print.conf file contains a UNC path for the Hot Folder, you will want to make sure this is updated to point to the new server hostname.
   • If the web-print.conf file contains a mapped drive letter for the Hot Folder (commonly the W:\ drive) you will want to confirm this mapped network drive points to the new hostname of the server.
5. Save this file.
6. For the changes to take effect, restart the Web Print Sandbox Application.