How to Enable Debug (collect logs) in the User Client

Please also see Reporting Problems

PaperCut has special debug options which causes PaperCut to produce a detailed text log of activity. The logs allow our developers to inspect the internal workings of the PaperCut application and pinpoint the cause of problems. Enabling debug logging is usually only requested by the PaperCut Support team.

The User Client is the component of PaperCut that runs on the user workstations. Its purpose is to display the Balance Window, allow job (cost) confirmation, allow charging to shared accounts, and in some cases perform authentication.

Tip: If you’re seeing mysterious behavior with the User Client, but not getting any error messages, check to see if the User Client has been configured to use the —silent option, which suppresses all error messages. Try running the client without this option, and see if the client then gives you any useful error message information first!

Note: There are two ways to enable debug logging: via the config file, or via a launch parameter. If the client is being launched from a network share (e.g. running pc-client-local-cache.exe or pc-client.exe from the PCClient share on the server) then enabling debug in the config file will enable it for all users launching the client from that location. In that case, and if debug logging is only required for one workstation, enabling it via the launch parameter may be more suitable.

To enable debug in the PaperCut User Client:

1. Enable debug

   1A. Enable debug via the config file

   On the system where the user client is installed, open the following file in a text editor:
   [app-path]/client/[platform]/config.properties

   You’ll find the Mac client config file at:
   [app-path]/client/mac/PCClient.app/Contents/Resources/config.properties
   To browse inside the PCClient package, option-click it (right-click it) and choose Show Package Contents.
   Add a line debug=Y to the end and save the file (or remove the # comment from the existing line).

   or…

   1B. Enabling debug via the launch parameter

   From the place where the client is launched (e.g. the ‘Startup’ folder, a login script, etc.), add the parameter:
   --debug
   to the end of the command/target (ensuring there is a space between the command and the parameter).
   The pc-client-local-cache.exe client requires the debug parameter method, not the config file modification.

   If the command is quoted, the parameter should be added outside the quotes, separated by a space, e.g., on Windows:
   “C:\Program Files\PaperCut\client\win\pc-client-local-cache.exe” --debug

2. Restart the user client tool.

3. Reproduce the error.

4. Compress (“zip up”) the resulting log file user-client.log (and pc-client-local-cache.log if using pc-client.local.cache.exe).

   • On Windows XP (or earlier) systems it can be found at: C:\Documents and Settings\[username]\Local Settings\Temp\user-client.log
   • On Windows 10 or Windows 8 systems it can be found at: C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\Temp\user-client.log
   • On Mac systems, it can be found in the user’s home directory: /Users/[username]/user-client.log
   • On Linux systems, it can be found in the standard temporary directory, typically /tmp/user-client.log

5. Send the compressed log file to support.papercut.com. Include an explanation of the steps taken, along with any other information requested by the PaperCut developers such as event time, logged-in user, workstation name. By the way: your log files and other information you send to us will be treated with care in accordance with our privacy policy.

6. Turn off debug logging by reversing the tasks undertaken in step 1A or 1B.