Event ID 1111 — Remote Desktop Services Printer Redirection

Applies To: Windows Server 2008 R2

Remote Desktop Services provides printer redirection, which routes printing jobs from a server to a printer that is attached to a client computer or to a shared printer that is available to the client computer. When a user establishes a remote session with an RD Session Host server, the redirected printer will be available to applications running in the remote session.

By default, an RD Session Host server that is running Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2 first tries to use the Remote Desktop Services Easy Print driver. If the client computer does not support this driver, the RD Session Host server looks for a matching printer driver installed on the RD Session Host server. You can either install a matching printer driver on the RD Session Host server, or you can create a custom printer mapping file.

To resolve this issue, do either of the following:

• Install or reinstall the printer driver on the RD Session Host server.
• Create or modify a custom printer mapping file.

To perform these tasks, refer to the following sections.

If the printer driver installed on the client computer is an OEM driver, and a driver is available from the printer's manufacturer, replace the OEM driver with the driver that is available from the printer manufacturer. If you are installing a third-party driver, make sure that the driver is a Windows Hardware Quality Labs (WHQL) signed driver.

Important:  After you install the printer driver, RD Session Host clients must log off from and then log on to the RD Session Host server before the printer driver changes take effect.

To install the printer driver, use either of the following methods.

To perform these procedures, you must have membership in the local Administrators group, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority.

Run the printer's Setup program to install the printer driver .inf file on the RD Session Host server.

Install the printer driver by using the Add Printer Driver Wizard.

To install the driver:

1. On the RD Session Host server, click Start, click Run, type control printers, and then click OK.

2. On the File menu, click Server Properties.

   Note:  If the File menu is not visible, right-click an empty area of the Printers dialog box, and then click Server Properties.

3. Click the Drivers tab.

4. Click Add, and then follow the instructions in the Add Printer Driver Wizard to install the printer driver .inf file.

You can create or modify an existing custom printer mapping file to define mappings from client-side to server-side drivers on the RD Session Host server.

To perform this procedure on the RD Session Host server, you must have membership in the local Administrators group, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority.

To use a custom printer mapping file:

Caution:  Incorrectly editing the registry might severely damage your system. Before making changes to the registry, you should back up any valued data.

1. On the RD Session Host server, open Registry Editor. To open Registry Editor, click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.

2. If the User Account Control dialog box appears, confirm that the action it displays is what you want, and then click Yes.

3. Locate the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\Wds\rdpwd registry subkey.

4. Add the following values:

   Name: PrinterMappingINFName

   Type: String (REG_SZ)

   Value data: Name of the .inf file to which you want to redirect lookups.

   Example: c:\windows\inf\ntprintsubs.inf

   Name: PrinterMappingINFSection

   Type: String (REG_SZ)

   Value data: Name of the section in the .inf file to which you want to redirect lookups.

   Example: Printers

After you add the new registry values, create or modify the .inf file that you specified in the PrinterMappingINFName registry entry to include the user-defined mappings from the client-side to server-side drivers. Follow the format used in the following example:

;NTPRINTSUBS.INF

;Printer mapping file for client-side to server-side drivers

[Printers]

"OEM Printer Driver Name" = "Windows Server 2008 Driver Name"

For example:

"HP DeskJet 720C Series v10.3" = "HP DeskJet 722C"

The left side of the equation is the exact name of the printer driver associated with the client-side print queue that is being redirected to the server. The exact name of the printer driver appears on the General tab, next to Model when you view the printer properties on the client computer. (You can also click the Advanced tab and view the driver name in the Driver list.) The right side of the equation is the exact name of the server-side driver equivalent that is installed on the RD Session Host server.

Important:  You must restart the Print Spooler service on the RD Session Host server for the changes to take effect.

To perform this procedure on the RD Session Host server, you must have membership in the local Administrators group, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority.

To restart the Print Spooler service:

1. On the RD Session Host server, open the Services snap-in. To open the Services snap-in, click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Services.
2. If the User Account Control dialog box appears, confirm that the action it displays is what you want, and then click Yes.
3. In the Services pane, right-click Print Spooler, and then click Restart.
4. Confirm that the Status column for the Print Spooler service displays Started.

To verify that printer redirection is working properly, establish a remote session with the RD Session Host server and check that the redirected printer is available and is functioning as expected.

Remote Desktop Services Printer Redirection

Remote Desktop Services