Migrate Print Servers

Applies To: Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Vista

You can export print queues, printer settings, printer ports, and language monitors, and then import them on another print server running a Windows operating system. This is an efficient way to consolidate multiple print servers or replace an older print server.

Tools for print server migration

The tool you use to migrate print servers is determined by:

  • The source operating system you want to migrate from.

  • The destination operating system you want to migrate to.

  • Whether the migration involves 64-bit operating systems and drivers.

Supported migration scenarios

The following table describes the supported and unsupported migration scenarios for the Printer Migration Wizard and Print Migrator 3.1, whether x64-based systems and drivers are supported, and how to access each tool:

 

Tool Supported migration scenarios Unsupported migration scenarios Support for x64-based systems and drivers? Availability

Printer Migration Wizard, Printbrm.exe command-line tool

Windows Vista - Supports all migrations to Windows Vista.

Windows Server 2008 R2 - You cannot migrate directly from older operating systems (Windows NT Server 4.0, Windows 2000 Server) to Windows Server 2008 R2. Instead, you must migrate from the older operating system to a computer running Windows Vista, then migrate from Windows Vista to Windows Server 2008 R2.

Does not support migrations from Windows 2000 Server and older systems.

Yes. The Printer Migration Wizard is the only Microsoft-supported migration tool that works with 64-bit systems and drivers. 

Available through the Print Management snap-in or through the command line by using Printbrm.exe on computers running Windows 7 Enterprise, Windows 7 Ultimate, and Windows Server 2008 R2.

Print Migrator 3.1

Supports migration to Windows Server 2003 from all previous Windows operating systems.

Does not support migration to Windows Vista and later operating systems.

No. 64-bit drivers or systems are not supported.

Available online. Print Migrator 3.1 was also shipped in resource kits for Windows 2000 Server and Windows Server 2003.

Migrating to computers running Windows Server 2003

If you are migrating from Windows NT Server 4 or Windows 2000 Server to Windows Server 2003, you must use Print Migrator 3.1. Print Migrator 3.1 will not work with Windows Vista or later operating systems. It is unable to work with system drivers. To migrate between x64 Windows Server 2003 systems, use the Print Migration Wizard.

noteNote
Print Migrator 3.1 is no longer supported by Microsoft. The Printer Migration Wizard and the Printbrm.exe command-line tool were introduced in Windows 7 to replace it. For more information about this decision, see the blog Ask the Performance Team (http://blogs.technet.com/askperf/archive/2008/10/17/why-printmig-3-1-is-retired.aspx).

Migrating to computers running Windows Server 2008 R2

Use the Printer Migration Wizard or the Printbrm.exe command-line tool to migrate to a computer running Windows Server 2008 R2. Use the Printbrm.exe command-line tool on computers running Windows Vista, and Windows Server 2008.

noteNote
  • You cannot migrate directly from older operating systems (Windows NT Server 4.0, Windows 2000 Server) to Windows Server 2008 R2. Instead, you must migrate from the older operating system to a computer running Windows Vista, then migrate from Windows Vista to Windows Server 2008 R2.

  • For an in-place upgrade (a reinstallation) of print servers, use the Print Migration Wizard to back up and restore the print server configuration. A standard system migration will not preserve print server information, and can result in print configuration data loss if the data has not been properly backed up before installing the new operating system.

Migrating print servers

To migrate print servers by using Print Management

  1. Open Print Management.

  2. In left pane, click Print Servers, right-click the print server that contains the printer queues that you want to export, and then click Export printers to a file. This starts the Printer Migration Wizard.

  3. On the Select the file location page, specify the location to save the printer settings, and then click Next to save the printers.

  4. Right-click the destination computer on which you want to import the printers, and then click Import printers from a file. This launches the Printer Migration Wizard.

  5. On the Select the file location page, specify the location of the printer settings file, and then click Next.

  6. On the Select import options page, specify the following import options:

    • Import mode. Specifies what to do if a specific print queue already exists on the destination computer.

    • List in the directory. Specifies whether to publish the imported print queues in the Active Directory Domain Services.

    • Convert LPR Ports to Standard Port Monitors. Specifies whether to convert Line Printer Remote (LPR) printer ports in the printer settings file to the faster Standard Port Monitor when importing printers.

  7. Click Next to import the printers.

To migrate print servers by using a command prompt

  1. To open a Command Prompt window, click Start, click All Programs, click Accessories, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator.

  2. Type:

    CD %WINDIR%\System32\Spool\Tools Printbrm -s \\<sourcecomputername> -b -f <filename>.printerExport

  3. Type:

    Printbrm -s \\<destinationcomputername> -r -f <filename>.printerExport

 

Value Description

<sourcecomputername>

The Universal Naming Convention (UNC) name of the source or destination computer.

<destinationcomputername>

The Universal Naming Convention (UNC) name of the destination computer.

<filename>

The file name for the printer settings file. Use the .printerExport or .cab file extensions.
noteNote
To view the complete syntax for this command, at a command prompt type: Printbrm /?

Additional considerations

  • To open Print Management, click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Print Management.

  • You must have administrative credentials to perform this task.

  • The Printer Migration Wizard and Printbrm.exe can import custom forms and color profiles to the local computer only, and they do not support printer settings that are exported using the Print Migrator tool.

  • You can use the Task Scheduler feature of Windows to schedule the Printbrm.exe tool to regularly export or import printers. You can use this feature to supplement system backups.

Additional references

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Community Content

tommyaustralia
The Printer Migration Wizard is faulty - manual workaround
<p>I've tested using this tool with new Windows Server 2008 R2 builds with all newly downloaded and installed 64-bit print drivers. The source server was a standalone and the target a failover cluster. </p> <p> <br /> <br />I performed the following:<br /><br />1. On the standalone print server, exported the queues using the Printer Migration Tool to a file (no errors, ~130MB)<br /><br />2. Copied the file to a temporary folder on the C: drive of Cluster node 1.<br /><br />3. While logged on using a domain admin account (x.x.mydomain.com.au domain) Within Failover Cluster Manager &gt; Print Management &gt; Migrate Printers &gt; Import<br />At the ‘Review’ screen, the wizard displays the 30 queue names<br /><br />4. On the ‘Select a print server screen’ I’m given the option to select ‘This print server (<mtps:InstrumentedLink NavigateUrl="" runat="server" xmlns:mtps="http://msdn2.microsoft.com/mtps">\\ClusterNode1) I</mtps:InstrumentedLink> select \\ClusterNode1<br /><br />5. On the ‘Import Options’ I choose ‘Keep existing printers’ and ‘Don’t list any printers’.<br /><br />6. The ‘Importing…’ screen says Import Complete immediately but that errors were encountered. The ‘Printer Migration Events’ in Event Viewer only contains Information Event ID 45, 70 and 10<br /><br />Each event description says ‘Printbrm.exe is restoring printer forms. No user action is required.’<br /><br /></p> <p>The queues do not migrate.<br /><br />I also attempted this using the Printbrm.exe command-line tool without any success.<br /></p> <p>I then opened a premier support case with Microsoft. After ~3 hours of troubleshooting and remote assistance, Microsoft Support advised to use the following manual method. We tried cleaning up 3rd party language monitors and print processors but each time it failed with a 0x80070002 error.<br /><br />In conclusion, I think the Printer Migration Wizard is faulty...<br /><br />MANUAL METHOD:<br /></p> <p> <br />-1-</p> <p>Export the following keys:<br />HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print<br />HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows<br />NT\CurrentVersion\Print<br />HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows<br />NT\CurrentVersion\Port<br /><br /></p> <p>-2-<br />Stop spooler service on target server<br /><br /></p> <p>-3-<br />Import the above keys from source server and driver, prtprocs folder under spool folder from source server to target server<br /><br />-4-<br />Start spooler service on target server <br /><br />-5-<br />If using a CLUSTERED print server (as the target) then merge the following key.<br />You do not perform this step if using only a standalone target print server.<br />HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Monitors<br />HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Environments<br />HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Printers<br /><br />to the following corresponding keys:<br /><br />HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Cluster\Resources\&lt;Spooler<br />resource GUID&gt;\Parameters\Monitors<br />HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Cluster\Resources\&lt;Spooler<br />resource GUID&gt;\Parameters\Environments<br />HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Cluster\Resources\&lt;Spooler<br />resource GUID&gt;\Parameters\Printers<br /><br />And <br /><br />driver, prtprocs folder under spool folder to spool\clusterGUID folder as well, and then restart spooler service<br /><br /></p> <p> <br /> <br /><br /><br /></p>
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dhollis
Exporting printers in Print Manager
I wish to export all of the printers from a Windows 2k8 R2 print server for later import into a 2k8 print server cluster. My question, when I export the printers from the existing print server, are they removed?
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Jacob Moran
Re: Drivers
<p>You will need to either have 64bit print drivers that use the same name installed on the target machie before the restore, or install the same named 64bit print drivers in the source before backup.Look for any Application events stating a driver failed to restore.If there are no 64bit drivers for your printers that use the same name as those backed up, you can use a config file during the restore process to use drivers preinstalled on the target as replacements to the driver names from Server 2003.<br /></p> <p> <mtps:InstrumentedLink NavigateUrl="http://blogs.technet.com/b/askperf/archive/2009/02/20/two-minute-drill-printbrm-and-the-configuration-file.aspx" runat="server" xmlns:mtps="http://msdn2.microsoft.com/mtps">http://blogs.technet.com/b/askperf/archive/2009/02/20/two-minute-drill-printbrm-and-the-configuration-file.aspx<br /></mtps:InstrumentedLink> </p> <p>the migration guide is at <mtps:InstrumentedLink NavigateUrl="http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd379488(WS.10).aspx" runat="server" xmlns:mtps="http://msdn2.microsoft.com/mtps">http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd379488(WS.10).aspx</mtps:InstrumentedLink><br /></p> <p>There is a section on Preparing to Migrate regarding 32bit to 64bit migrations, as long as the drivers are installed on the 2008R2 machine before the restore you will be fine. It's a string match, all the driver names MUST match the 32bit driver name.Preparing for cross-architecture migrations<br /></p> <p>If you are migrating from the x86-based architecture of Windows Server 2003 or Windows Server 2008 to the x64-based architecture of Windows Server 2008 R2, you should install x64-based drivers on the source server before creating the backup file. The migration process copies all installed drivers from the source server to the destination server. It recreates the printer queues on the destination server if the printer settings file contains the x64-based drivers.Verify that each print queue on the source server has a driver installed for the operating system on the destination server before creating the printer settings file. For example, if you are migrating an x86-based source print server to an x64-based destination print server, verify that each print queue has an x64-based driver installed before you create the printer settings file. Any print queue that does not have a cross-architecture driver installed will not be migrated to the destination server.<br /></p> <p> <br />This Except From: <mtps:InstrumentedLink NavigateUrl="http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/winserverprint/thread/54cf609c-ba21-47be-9718-172685c80133/" runat="server" xmlns:mtps="http://msdn2.microsoft.com/mtps">http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/winserverprint/thread/54cf609c-ba21-47be-9718-172685c80133/</mtps:InstrumentedLink><br /></p> <p> </p>

Granholm
Drivers
I used this tool and it failed on all the drivers. (Error: 0x80070705 The Printer Driver is unknown)<br /><br />What did I miss? I did a twice, once with the GUI once from the command line. Command line errored out on "The Specificed printer monitor is unknown". Only 2 printers of 146 were created.<br /><br />Any ideas so I don't have to recreate 146 printer from scratch?
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GeoSs
Print Management
I think the next release of this tool should have also the option to select what you really want migrated. For example not everyone needs to migrate printer queues. Some poeple would only need to migrate ports , or only migrate drivers. So a few selectable options at import / export would be useful for everyone.
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Mike Crowley
Windows 2000 works
I had many driver issues, but I used the print management migration wizard to migrate printers and ports from Windows 2000 to 2008R2, despite this article saying it’s not possible.
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