Troubleshooting Printer Issues in Presentation Server 4.0
As the Printing Architecture has been enhanced with the release of Presentation Server 4.0, there are some additional troubleshooting methods necessary to isolate printing issues that may arise.
A new service has been created to control Printer Management. The Citrix Print Manager Service (cpsvc.exe) controls the creation, deletion, and management of all client printers. The service logs on using the newly created Ctx_SmaUser account. This is a local account created on the installation or upgrade of Presentation Server 4.0. The permissions and rights granted to this user were designed to give the service the minimum permissions it needs to perform the tasks required of it, and nothing more.
The following techniques should be used in addition to those outlined in CTX681954 – Troubleshooting Citrix ICA Printer Autocreation.
Confirm the following:
• Is the Ctx_SmaUser a member of the Power Users group?
• Has any file system hardening taken place on the server, for instance, removal of the local Everyone group?
• Has the ICA listener been recreated? The Ctx_SmaUser is not added to the permissions of the listener when it is recreated. CTX106629 – Client Printers Fail to Autocreate in Presentation Server 4.0.
• Event Viewer Errors? CTX107273 – Event ID 1114 – Could not add printer connection to printer
• What Citrix Policies and or Microsoft Policies are in place?
• What DefaultPrnFlags if any are set under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWARECitrixPrint. See CTX107059 – Advanced Concepts Guide for Presentation Server 4.0 for more information.
Print Jobs are Automatically Previewed on the Client Device
Certain applications do not apply print job settings properly. When printing from such applications, print jobs are automatically previewed on the client device. This fix detects such applications and suppresses the print preview unless the following registry key is set:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWARECitrixPrint
Name: DefaultPrnFlags
Type: REG_DWORD
Data: 0x00008000
[From PSE400R01W2K3047][#129979] & [From PSE400R01W2K028][#129979]
Printers Do Not Autocreate
Many autocreation issues can be caused by the removal of permissions or rights from the Ctx_SmaUser, or from any group of which the user is a part.
• To isolate permissions problems:
1. Add the Ctx_SmaUser to the local administrators group or start the Citrix Print Manager Service using the Local System account.
2. If after making this change, the printers begin to autocreate. You can then set the user back to its original configuration.
3. Run filemom and regmon from SYSINTERNALS. Filter on the following executables: cpsvc.exe, wfshell.exe, rundll32.exe, and spoolsv.exe. Note any resources to which access is denied for the user account.
4. Enable Windows Auditing. How To Enable and Apply Security Auditing in Windows 2000
Note: While setting the service to start with enhanced permissions is utilized for troubleshooting, it is not a recommended solution and is not a supported configuration.
• CTX106393 – Required Permissions and Rights for the Ctx_SmaUser Account can be used to recreate the user with the correct permissions.
• CTX106683 – Event ID 1116: Printer auto-creation failure. Reason: AddPrinter() failed with status 0x5
• CTX107445 – Event ID 1116 Printer autocreation failure. Reason: AddPrinter() failed with status 0x704
• CTX107838 – Event ID 1116 Printer autocreation failure. Reason: AddPrinter() failed with status 0x3EB
• CTX108284 – Event ID 1116 Printer autocreation failure. Reason: AddPrinter() failed with status 0x78A
• CTX111457 – Event ID 1116: Printer autocreation failure. Reason: AddPrinter() failed with Status 0x6be
• CTX111947 – Intermittent Client Printer Autocreation Failures
• Further, check to see if the Citrix Print Manager Service or the Print Spooler Service is started.
It is important to note that the Citrix Print Manager Service may terminate without causing a crash due to permissions problems noted above. Enabling Dr. Watson as the default debugger for the server can provide a user dump for the process that is crashing. Microsoft document 188296 details how to enable Dr. Watson as the default debugger. If the service is causing a dump, submit the Dr. Watson log file and user dump to Citrix Support for analysis.
See Hotfix PSE400W2K022 or Hotfix PSE400W2K3022 or their equivalents.
• Version 9.0.29244 of the ICA Client does not autocreate client printers. This version is an Early Adopter Program (EAP) / Tech Preview Client and is not supported with the Release to Manufacture Version (RTM) of Presentation Server 4.0
Default Printer Is Not Set Correctly in Sessions
By default, the client’s default printer should be created as the default printer inside of the ICA session. A Presentation Server policy can be used to modify this behavior.
• Confirm the settings inside any Presentation Server Policies. Unlike other Policy types, Session Printer policies are cumulative, meaning all policies applied to a user will take effect. So printers set in two policies are created, but the default printer comes from the policy with the highest priority.
• If client autocreated printers are not being set as default correctly, check CTX106745 – Failed To Inherit Set as Default Printer Setting If a Client Device Has Several Printers and apply the appropriate hotfix.
• CTX107415 – Imported Network Printers Do Not Retain the Default Printer Setting
Print Jobs Do Not Appear on the Client or are Garbled
If printers are created successfully inside of a session, but when a job is sent to the printer it does not print:
• Ensure that the job is spooled on the server by pausing both the server and client side print queues. If the job enters the server queue, unpause it and note if the job reaches the client queue.
• Use perfmon on the server to monitor the “output – printing bandwidth” counter for the ICA session. This will determine if the print data is sent down the wire.
• Confirm that the client virus scanner is not interfering with the print job, per CTX106698 – Unable to Print from Presentation Server with McAfee and ICA Client Version 9.0 or Later.
• Confirm the policy setting for print job routing under the client printers policy. Jobs
routed directly to the print server should be treated like any other network printer defined on the server. Ensure that the network print server is accessible from the Presentation Server.
• CTX107427 – Published Adobe Acrobat and Lotus Notes Exhibit Garbled Printing
• CTX111463 – Presentation Server 4.0 Autocreated Printers Fail to Print
Advanced Troubleshooting
If the above methods do not isolate the problem, the Citrix Diagnostic Facility can be used to trace print traffic and commands. The attached templates can be used to trace the correct modules (see the ZIP file). See CTX104578 – How to use Citrix Diagnostic Facility and the Access Suite Console to Trace Issues for instructions on how to use the Citrix Diagnostic Facility.
Other Troubleshooting Documents
CTX089874 – Troubleshooting and Explaining the Citrix Universal Print Driver
CTX106812 – The Citrix Universal Printer Explained
CTX106743 – Security Context of Auto-creation by Legacy Client Printers
CTX106746 – Print Status Is Switched to Offline While an Auto-created Printer Is Printing
CTX106629 – Client Printers Fail to Autocreate in Presentation Server 4.0
CTX106393 – Required Permissions and Rights for the Ctx_SmaUser Account
CTX107058 – Error: Print settings could not be saved, access is denied
CTX105158 – Troubleshooting Citrix ICA Printing – Quick Reference Guide
CTX108004 – How to Give Access Permission to Administrators to Manage Autocreated Printers
CTX111150 – Printer-Related Policy Registry Values
CTX112227 – Print Jobs from Published Applications Take an Abnormally Long Time to Finish in Windows Server 2003
This document applies to:
- Presentation Server 4.0 for Microsoft Windows 2000
- Presentation Server 4.0 for Microsoft Windows 2003
Source: Troubleshooting Printing Problems In Presentation Server 4.0