Microsoft Corporation Published: April 2005Abstract Consolidating servers in corporate and enterprise environments offers many benefits to both the end users and system administrators. This paper presents the system administrator with several methods for performing print server consolidations, offering a range of automation and flexibility.
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A server consolidation effort is an excellent time to also migrate servers from one operating system to
another. In one transition period, server functions may be consolidated into fewer, newer server
computers and migrated to the current version of Microsoft Windows from another operating system or from an earlier version of Microsoft Windows.
To plan the best migration strategy, the system administrator should understand how the end-users are
currently using the existing printers and servers as well as become familiar with the new features and
tools provided by the new version of the operating system. A range of print server migration tools is
available for Microsoft Windows Server 2003; however which tool, or tools, will work best in a specific
migration depends on the environment and the migration strategy.
This section describes some of the available print server migration tools and methods that may be used
during a print server migration and consolidation.
Client MigrationPrint system reliability was improved in Windows 2000 when user-mode print drivers became
supported. In Windows NT 4.0 and earlier versions of Windows, print drivers ran in kernel-mode which,
at the time offered better driver performance than running in user-mode; however this advantage came
at some risk to system reliability. If a kernel-mode driver fails, it can halt the entire operating system. If a
user-mode print driver fails, in Windows 2000 and later versions of Windows, only the print spooler
process is affected. In the more recent versions of Windows, however, the performance advantage of a
print driver running in kernel mode is no longer as dramatic; however the risk of the driver running in
kernel mode remains the same. For this reason, administrators are encouraged to upgrade their client
computers to Windows 2000 or a later version of Windows.
Migrating client computers to newer versions of Windows and creating an environment that does nothave any Windows NT 4.0 clients makes it possible to use only the newer, user-mode, printer drivers.
This improves overall server reliability by eliminating the system crashes that can result from a problem
occurring in a kernel-mode print driver.
The Choosing the Right Printer Drivers paper describes the details of the different print driver
technologies as well as how the driver on the print client interacts with the driver on the print server.
Print Server Migration Tools
This section reviews the following print server migration tools:
• Print Migrator
• Scripted Copy/Restore
• Manual Printer Creation
The tools listed above are shown in order from the most automated to the least automated. This order is
also from the least flexible to the most flexible. In most cases, a combination of these tools will be
applied to facilitate the consolidation or migration; using the best tool for each specific situation. The
system administrator will need to evaluate the need for automation with the need for flexibility when
determining the best mix of tools for a particular environment and migration strategy with the goal being
be to choose the most automated tool possible for each specific task.
Print Migrator
Print Migrator 3.1 is available for Windows Server 2003 and is used to automatically backup and restore
print servers. Print Migrator 3.1 is not shipped with Windows; however it is available for download fromMicrosoft. A link to the download site for this tool may be found in the References section of this
document.
Print Migrator 3.1 has the following improvements over Print Migrator 2.0:
• Cross-OS Support – Print Migrator 3.1 can migrate printers from one version of Windows to
another, such as Windows NT 4 to Windows 2000 or Windows Server 2003.
• Cluster Support – Print Migrator 3.1 fully supports backing-up and restoring print servers running
Microsoft Cluster Services. Print Migrator 3.1 enables the migration to or from a standalone print
server and a clustered server.
•LPR-to-SPM Port Conversion – Microsoft introduced the standard TCP/IP port monitor (SPM) inWindows 2000. This port type has many advantages over the older LPR port monitor. The Print
Server Connectivity Technical Overview paper provides more information how to choose the
right connectivity option.
Using Print Migrator 3.1 is the fastest way to backup and restore printers on a server; however, it is also
the least flexible. Print Migrator 3.1 works by saving the original print server environment and then
replicating it on the destination server. This is an excellent tool for the migration of a server to a newer
operating system as well as to perform straightforward server consolidations. This tool may not be the
best to use in cases where the administrator would like to change aspects of the original print server
configuration such as reconfigure print queues or remove unused or obsolete print drivers.
Microsoft does not recommend using the Print Migrator when migrating from an environment withWindows NT 4.0 workstation clients to an environment with no Windows NT 4.0 workstations clients.
Rather, Microsoft recommends using either a scripted copy and restore or the manual printer creation
method.
Scripted Copy and Restore
The scripted copy and restore process uses an automated method for collecting information about a
print server configuration, saves that information, and then recreates the configuration on another
computer using that information. This method is not as automatic as the Print Migrator, however, unlike
the Print Migrator tool, the configuration information collected may be edited prior to creating the new
environment.
To start the print server migration and consolidation, the original printer and print server configuration
must first be captured. On systems running Windows NT 4.0 Server or Windows 2000 Server,
configuration data must be collected by scripts that use prnadmin.dll. The Windows Management
Interface (WMI) provider in those versions of Windows does not provide sufficient functionality to collect
the information required. On systems running Windows XP or Windows Server 2003, however, the
system administrator can choose to use scripts for either prnadmin.dll or the enhanced WMI provider to
collect information about the print server environment.
See the following resources for further information on this topic.
Overview and Technical Reference• Windows Server 2003 Print Services at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=41172.
• Print Server Upgrade, Migration, and Interoperability at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?
LinkId=41173
• Print Server Connectivity Technical Overview at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=41175
• Windows Point and Print Technical Overview at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=41176
• Choosing the Right Printer Drivers at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=41177
Automated Tools
• How to Programmatically Create a Printer and Printer Port by Using Printer Admin(prnadmin.dll) with a Visual Basic Script in Microsoft Windows 2000 at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?
LinkId=41178
• How to Add Printers with No User Interaction in Windows XP at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?
LinkId=41179
• How to add printers with no user interaction in Windows at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?
LinkId=41180
• Print Migrator 3.1 at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=41181