Importing a subset of domain users

PaperCut works by “mirroring” the user list in your network domain. By default, it imports all the users (active and inactive) into PaperCut. In a University environment it is common to use PaperCut at the lab level. The particular faculty lab may only be responsible for a subset of users. PaperCut can be configured to import the required subset of users using one of the following methods:

Option 1 - Static import from a domain group

PaperCut can import users from a selected domain group only. This can be configured either during the initial setup via the setup wizard option Import users from group:, or at any other time via the PaperCut administration interface under **Options→User/Group sync**. To delete the users from PaperCut which do not exist in this group you will also need to make sure you select the option Delete users that do not exist in the selected source. After making the change on an already setup system, press Synchronize Now.

This option assumes a suitable network group is available. Most large networks will already have users grouped into domain groups depending on their department or role. If a suitable group does not exist, network administrators can quickly construct a new group using the Active Directory management tools. For example, forming a new group called PaperCut Users. Active Directory’s filter and query options may help with this task.

Note for Administrators: PaperCut has full support for Active Directory, so users can be direct/indirect members of this group.

PaperCut also have the option to not import disabled Active Directory users. You can read about it here.

If you are using PaperCut NG, and have exceeded your user license limit you might find the Exceeding the license limit (user count exceeded) knowledge base article useful.

Option 2 - Dynamic import

PaperCut can import users automatically the first time they print, or if net charging is enabled, the first time they use the internet. By default the user will be added to PaperCut automatically with an initial starting credit as defined under the Groups tab. Read this section of the user manual, it covers how to set up initial new user creation rules.

The automatic account creation feature can be used to dynamically create the user list based on who uses the printers/internet. This method would be suitable where the list of users who should be listed in PaperCut are unknown or can’t be easily defined in a network group. We recommend the following procedure:

1. Setup PaperCut to initially import a small set of users whom you know should be in the list. This procedure is defined in Option 1 above.

2. Setup PaperCut’s initial credit rules so the [All users] group has a small starting credit - for example say equivalent to 10 pages.

3. Inform users that they have a small start balance.

4. When a user prints for the first time they will be automatically added to the PaperCut user list.

5. Users will now have an account on the system and may use features such as User Web Pages and will receive any scheduled quotas if setup.