Breakdown of the Print Driver Mapping Process
Article ID: CTX114079
Updated On:
Description
This article provides information on the process of invoking the print driver mapping when an ICA session is started.
In a Citrix XenApp environment, the print driver mapping provides compatibility between print driver names. After logon to ICA session in the client device, printers are automatically created. If the name of the print driver associated with the printer on the client does not match exactly with the name of print driver on the server, the printer is automatically created with the Universal Print Driver (UPD). Print driver mapping allows administrators to override this behavior and map certain print drivers in client device to print drivers on the XenApp server.
Background
Note: This process applies to XenApp 5 and earlier versions. XenApp 6 introduced a new policy options for driver mappings in the console and does not use the following mapping files:
Print driver mapping is performed in the Citrix Management console for a farm-wide scope. It can also be performed on a server-by-server basis by editing the specific mapping file. The following are the files controlling the print driver mapping process on each XenApp server:
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WTSPRNT.INF: This file lists the print driver mappings made through the Citrix Management console in plain text format. Any changes made through the Citrix Management console overwrite the contents of this file. Do not directly edit this file.
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WTSUPRN.TXT: This file is similar to the WTSPRNT.INF file and can be edited using a text editor. The contents of this file are not reflected or overwritten by the Citrix Management console. Also, the contents of this file take precedence over the contents in the WTSPRNT.INF file. To use the WTSUPRN.TXT file, the file extension must be renamed to .INF.
By default, these files are located in the \Program Files\Citrix\System32 directory.
Print Driver Mapping Process
The following are the conditions involved in the process of print driver mapping:
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Each client print driver is matched against the print drivers installed on the XenApp server.
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One of the following scenarios occur:
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If an identical driver name match is found between the server and client, the printer is automatically created.
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When there is a mapping of the print driver name with an associated server in the WTSUPRN.INF file, the printer is automatically created.
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When there is a mapping of the print driver name with an associated driver name in the WTSPRNT.INF file, the printer is automatically created.
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If an identical driver name match is not found either on the server or in the mapping file, the printer is autocreated using the UPD by default.
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These conditions are applied for each printer that must be created.
Note: The WTSUPRN.INF file is parsed before the WTSPRNT.INF file during the printer auto-creation process. When the first print driver mapping is found, the parsing process stops and the printer is mapped with the specified driver. If a print driver mapping is in both files, only the mapping in the WTSUPRN.INF file is used.
Refer CTX121163 – How to Use Wildcards with Print Driver Mappings for more information.
Issue/Introduction
