How to Enable Debug (collect logs) for PaperCut Web Print

Please also see Reporting Problems

PaperCut has special debug options which cause PaperCut to produce a more detailed text log of activity. The log allows our Developers to inspect the internal workings of the PaperCut application and pinpoint the cause of problems. Enabling debug logging is only usually required if requested by the PaperCut Support Team.

The Web Print Server is the component in PaperCut that accepts user uploaded documents and prints them on behalf of the user.

Keep in mind there are two ways of setting up PaperCut’s Web Print: the Service (default) or the Sandbox (needed processing Office documents). Depending on which version of Web Print you are troubleshooting, skip to the appropriate section below.

While performing these tests you may also be asked to Enable debug on the PaperCut Application Server and Enable Debug Mode in the Print Provider for us to be able to put together a full picture of the problem.

Gather debug logs from the PaperCut Web Print Service

1. On the PaperCut Primary Application server, browse to the Web Print configuration file, found in [application-directory]/providers/web-print/[platform]/web-print.conf. (On 64-bit Windows server running PaperCut MF, this path would be C:\Program Files\PaperCut MF\providers\web-print\win\).
2. Open the web-print.conf file a plain text editor such as Notepad.
3. Find the line debug=off and change this to debug=on.
4. Save this file.
5. Restart Web Print service for the changes to take effect.
   • Windows: Restart the PaperCut Web Print service in Services.msc located in Control Panel → Administrative Tools → Services.
   • macOS: Restart the system running the PaperCut Application Server.
   • Linux: Using Init scripts: Restart the PaperCut Web Print service via /etc/init.d/pc-web-print restart. Using systemd: Restart the PaperCut Web Print service via sudo systemctl restart pc-web-print.service.
6. Print a few test documents via the end-user Web Print interface to demonstrate the issue you’re having.
7. Record the approximate time and date of the problem and the name of any printed documents and time you performed the test action. The best way to do this is to take a screenshot of the job in the PaperCut job log. This will help the Support Team and Developers match up log entries with your test activity. Additional information such as what was observed or what was expected is always useful.
8. On the PaperCut Primary Application server, browse to [application-directory]/providers/web-print/[platform]/logs and create a zipped up copy of all the files in this directory. (On 64-bit Windows server running PaperCut MF, this path would be C:\Program Files\PaperCut MF\providers\web-print\win\logs\).
9. Lastly, upload those files to your PaperCut Support ticket and don’t forget to disable debug logging by following those steps in reverse.

Gather debug logs from the PaperCut Web Print Sandbox

1. On the PaperCut Web Print Sandbox, browse to the Web Print configuration file, found in [application-directory]/providers/web-print/[platform]/web-print.conf. (On a 64-bit Windows workstation running the Sandbox application, this path would be C:\Program Files\PaperCut MF\providers\web-print\win\)
2. Open the web-print.conf file a plain text editor such as Notepad.
3. Find the line debug=off and change this to debug=on.
4. Save this file.
5. Quit and re-open the Web Print Sandbox GUI application for the changes to take effect. Restart the PaperCut Web Print GUI application (or restart the server).
6. Print a few test documents via the end-user Web Print interface to demonstrate the issue you’re having.
7. Record the approximate time and date of the problem and the name of any printed documents (or the time you performed the test action). The best way to do this is to take a screenshot of the job in the PaperCut job log. This will help the Support Team and Developers match up log entries with your test activity. Additional information such as what was observed or what was expected is always useful.
8. On the PaperCut Web Print Sandbox, create zipped copies of these log folders:
   • [application-directory]/providers/web-print/win/logs.
   • %USERPROFILE%\web-print-logs\
9. Lastly, upload those files to your PaperCut Support ticket and don’t forget to disable debug logging by following those steps in reverse.