Issue:
How to run PPPClient.exe with a group policy or logon script
1. Open Group Policy Management
2. Right-click the Group Policy object that applies to the users in question and click Edit
3. Under User Configuration, expand System and then Logon
4. Double-click Run these programs at logon
5. Select Enabled
6. Click Show
7. Click Add and enter the UNC path to PPPClient.exe, along with any command line parameters
Example: \\myserver\myshare\pppclient.exe nowatcher workingdirectory="C:\Temp"
8. Click OK and close the GPO
Or just add the following to the logon script:
start \\server\share\ppp\pppclient.exe
Issue: How to run PPPClient.exe with elevated privileges.
Here are the examples of using the p= and u= switch to run pppclient.exe
with elevated rights:
\\server\share\ppp\pppclient.exe u=username@example.domain.com
p=password
J:\ppp\pppclient.exe u=example.domain.com\username p=password
* Note: PPPClient.exe is still ran in the users space but when attempting operations that require elevated privileges it runs those procedures with the user specified with the u= switch.
Description: All command line parameters for PPPClient are preceded by a single space on the command line, and do not use a "/" or other
delimiter. If a parameter value includes spaces, the entire value should be enclosed in double
quotes. Unless specified, multiple parameters can be used simultaneously, separated by a single
space. An example that meets all these requirements is
This option tells the installer to check and see if it is running on a laptop computer. If so, it should not install any printers based on the laptop's IP Address. This is most commonly used when a computer's IP address is being used to decide which printers should be installed on it, and where laptops move around alot. (this option prevents laptops from getting printers installed everywhere they go)
InterfaceOnly
This option causes the installer client to skip any automated installation instructions setup by the administrator, and only provide the system tray application for manually installing printers as requested by the user
AutoOpenSysTray
This option causes the system tray application to automatically open as soon as the client has finished initializing.
Global Client Parameters
U=user@example.yourdomain.com
P=Password
Use the u= and p= to specify the domain user that you want PPPClient.exe to use
when Elevated privileges are required. You may use a login account local
to the end-user's machine, but this account would need to be present on every
machine the client is running on.
Workoffline
This option gives the client the ability to continue functioning without interruption when the remote location the client is
installed on is no longer available. It does this by caching all data files as they are accessed from the remote location to a local temp directory. A client can only access files offline, that it has previously accessed while the remote location was available.
Install
This option is used when running the client from a network drive or other remote location. It causes essential client files to be installed locally on end-user's machines and sets up registry keys to run the local copy of the client automatically whenever a user log in. The client will still run as if its directly from the remote location (including any changes to application versions, datafiles, etc). It will continue to function if the remote
location is unavailable at any point in time, and will resume network operation as soon as its online again. You can continue to run the client from the network location with the install option without any negative side effects. (this allows you to keep it in a login script so that new computers will get the client installed automatically).
If administrative rights are not available when the command is executed, it
will only be installed for the current user.
Uninstall
This uninstalls any registry entries made by the Install option, and then immediately terminates.
Autoclose=x
This specifies how long (in minutes) the client should run for, before automatically closing itself.
Delay=x
This option instructs the client to sit idle for the specified number of seconds when starting up before attempting to process anything. This is generally unneeded, but can sometimes be required if another application interferes during login and causes conflicts, or
if the computer has a particularily slow start up.
HideOnInvalidPath
Causes the PPPClient.exe to remain hidden even if it is unable to connect to the configuration file to receive instruction to run open or hidden. The downside to using this option is you don't know the
PPPClient.exe is not able to find the config file in the <ppp_install_dir>/mem folder. The good side of it is users will never see the
PPPClient log window. Usually this parameter is used with the WorkingDirectory parameter so that if the server is down that is holding the
PPP configuration database the PPPClient.exe will remain running silent (although doing no work) until the next time the user logs in and the server is back up.
LogAsAdmin
This instructs the advanced logging options to be performed
as the user specified on the command line, as opposed to the user running PPP
Client. (Advanced logging can be enabled on the [Global] tab of the
"Client Settings" found in any of the administrator applications). This
is useful if you wish to limit write access to the network folder these logs
are in to administrative accounts.
MinimizeClientWindow
This option allows you to override the "Show Client Window" option on the [Global] tab of the "Client Settings" in any of the administrator applications. This will always hide
the PPP Client on startup.
NoMenu
This will allow you to run a specific PPP Administrative module without the module loading the main menu first.
NoWatcher
This tells the client to close immediately after completing initial configuration.
This is used when you don't want PPPClient to continue running on the client machine, watching for printer installs.
ProfilerHelper
This tells the client to use an alternate method for
detecting changes to user printer connections. This is mostly provided for
backwards compatibility, but can also be useful on some machines where the
operating system is not correctly signaling change events.
Regedit
This allows you to specify an alternate path to the windows application "Regedit". This application is used in some situations on a 64 bit platform,
and is used extensively for PPP Profiler when configuring printers. You would normally receive an error if the client can not find Regedit.
Showclientwindow
or
NoMinimize
This option allows you to override the "Show
Client Window" option on the [Global] tab of the "Client Settings" in any of
the administrator applications. This will always show the client window of PPP
Client on startup and is most useful for troubleshooting.
UpdateInterval=
Allows you to override the value specified on the [Global] tab of the
"Client Settings" in any of the administrator applications. This will control how many
minutes the clients wait before checking in for changes to settings, datafiles,
or other configurations.
Wait=
This option allows you to override the number of seconds to wait after a printer change is detected before running configurations. This is usually used for specific instances where a different value is useful. Otherwise the option found on the [Global] tab of the "Client Settings" in any of the administrator applications should be used.
WorkingDirectory=
Allows you to specify an alternate path where data-files can be found, apart from the executables. This is often used to allow a locally installed Client to run with data-files from a network drive. This option is left mostly for backward compatibility. If you wish clients to be installed locally on computers, the "Install" option is recommended.
Gatherer Client Parameters These options are only used if the client has been configured to gather printer settings and drivers from all the end user machines.
ForceDrivers
Gather the drivers for all local printers, even if its been done preivously and doesn't appear to need updating.
ExcludeDrivers
Do not gather drivers for local printers, even if they have never been gathered in the past. This is usually used when you want the client to gather information about the printers on the network, so all the objects can be defined for you, but you wish to specify new drivers for everything yourself.
Issue: Should I use a print server, or direct tcp/ip printers?
Descripton: Advantages and disadvantages of using print servers verses direct IP Printers. PPP Installer handles either scenario with ease.
Overview
Print servers are a great way for centrally managing printers in windows, but they provide many difficulties
with reliability, compatibility, and management.
One solution is to use Direct TCP/IP printers installed locally on end-user machines. This provides the ultimate in
flexibility and configurability, and since it doesn't rely on a print server, the printer is always available.
This solution is often overlooked by larger organizations because the printers are not
easily managed from a central location. However, PPP Installer makes managing such an arrangement trivial, and
extremely flexible.
The following chart details some of the major differences between the two arrangements:
Print Servers
Direct TCP/IP Printers
Security
Most printers can be configured to accept print jobs from specific IP addresses.
This allows you to completely restrict access to the printer except through your print server(s). Not all printers
support this, and they have to be configured individually, but the ability exists for tight security.
Since end-users would be connecting to the printer directly, you can not easily restrict access to the printers
to individual users or workstations, however, you can still restrict access to subnets fairly easily for printers that support it.
Connectivity
Since all print jobs must go through the print server(s) an extra layer has been added to your network which could fail.
Hardware and software can be purchased to provide backups to your print server, but it can quickly become quite pricey. If no
backup server is available, the failure of a print server will mean all users lose their ability to print to any printer controlled
by the print server, even if the printer is sitting on the desk next to them.
Since the end-users are connecting directly to the printers, there are no extra layers that could cause connectivity problems.
If the printer is functioning and the end-user's computer is functioning, then the printer is accessible.
Remote Offices
Since all print jobs must go through a print server, then you either need to setup a print server in each office, or use remote print
servers accross a WAN, which can add alot of instability to the print process as print jobs first travel accross the WAN to get to the printer,
then travel back accross the WAN back to the printer. If you choose to setup print servers in each office, and want to have 100% up time, then you
would have to setup backup print servers in each office as well, which will greatly increase your costs.
Print jobs go directly from the user's computer to the printer, no additional hardware or software is required.
Print Queues
Since all printers are being hosted by your print server, you can control the size and stability of your print queues.
You can set them up to accept print jobs even when the printer is offline, or you can have them reject new print jobs.
You can have them empty print queues in the event of a power failure, or you can have them hold onto print jobs indefinately until they are printed.
The performance and abilities of the print queues will be dependant on the specific printers. Although generally, since the printers are
installed locally on the end-user's machines, their own local print queue can be configured to provide all the same abilities as a print
server would.
Management
The printers themselves are managed centrally on your print servers. You can control default settings, driver selection, etc. However, you still need to
connect users to your printer, which can be tricky to manage, but possible with some knowledge of creating and managing login scripts.
The printers must be installed locally on each computer, and this can not be done easily from a scripts. However, using the PPP Installer application,
this can be controlled quickly and easily, and without many of the management hassles of a print server.
Compatibility
When end-users connect to a printer on your print server, the print server supplies a driver for the end-user's computer to use.
The print server has a limited number of driver types that can be installed at once. Sometimes it is not possible to supply
drivers for all end-users, especially with Windows 7 on the horizon, which has to share driver slots with windows XP users, and Vista users.
Also, if the driver given to the end-user is not 100% compatible with the driver being used on the server itself, printing preferences and device settings may not be properly
reported to the end-user, and the printer may not function, or may not function correctly. Sometimes it is not possible to correctly share a printer to all end users without having multiple
print servers to allow different drivers. (ie. XP users connect to \\server1\printer, and Vista users connect to \\server2\printer)
The printer is installed locally on each end-user's computer using any driver you choose, and it keeps its own device settings and preferences independantly of any other
user or operating system on the network. Installing drivers and configurations in this manner can not easily be done through login scripts, or in
a centralized manner, without the aid of software such as PPP Installer, which allows you to control everything about the installations and completely
automate them with minimal effort.
Issue: PPPClient stalls the login script or batch file
Description: Starting with version 6, PPPClient has a feature named Printer
Watcher. After configuring all installed printers, PPPClient slips into the background and waits for more printers to be installed in order to configure
them. Because of this, PPPClient doesn't exit until the user logs out or shuts down.
Solution:
1. MICROSOFT: If starting PPPClient from a batch file (.com or .bat), simply putting in the path and filename to PPPClient will make the batch file to wait for the program to
finish. Use the Start command, and the batch file will continue without waiting for the program to finish.
Example: start y:\pppclient.exe.
2. NOVELL: If starting PPPClient from a login script, use the @ symbol instead of the # symbol.@ will allow the script to continue, while # will wait for PPPClient to exit, which won't
happen. See Novell TID 2905212 for more information. Back to Top
Issue: Distribute PPPro Client Package fails to copy PPPClient.exe
Description: This tool performs a basic file copy to the remote location. As such, if the
PPPClient.exe file is in use, or running on client computers from that location, the file may not be
overwritten. Unless you are upgrading your PPPClient.exe file, this is not a problem, since the PPPClient.exe file is not altered when making changes to printer
configurations. If you are upgrading or updating your software, PPPClient.exe will need to be overwritten.
Solution:
1. Perform the distribution after hours when no end-users are logged in or using the PPPClient.exe file. Back to Top
