You can use the Print Management snap-in to automatically detect all the printers that are located on the same subnet as the computer on which you are running Print Management, install the appropriate printer drivers, set up the queues, and share the printers.

To add a printer by IP address or hostname, you must be a member of the local Administrators group or be granted the Manage Server permission.

To automatically add network printers to a print server
  1. Open Print Management.

  2. In left pane, click Print Servers, click the applicable print server, right-click Printers, and then click Add Printer.

  3. On the Printer Installation page of the Network Printer Installation Wizard, click Search the network for printers, and then click Next. If prompted, specify which driver to install for the printer.

Note

To add printers that are on the same subnet as a remote print server, use Remote Desktop to log on to the print server, open Print Management and then add the printer.

Additional considerations

  • To open Print Management, click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Print Management.

  • If you are a member of the local Administrators group, you can grant someone else the Manage Server permission to be able to add a printer by IP address or hostname. To do this, open Print Management, double-click Print Servers, right-click the applicable print server, and click Properties. On the Printer Server Properties dialog box, click the Security tab, select the user from the list, click the Manage Server check box under Allow, and then click OK.

  • If the Print Management snap-in is not available because the Print Server role service is not installed on this server, you must have administrative privileges to be able to add a printer by IP address or hostname. While in the Add Printer Wizard, select Add a local or network printer as an administrator and follow the instructions in the Add Printer Wizard to add a printer using administrative privileges.

  • To add Web Services for Devices (WSD) printers for sharing and to view them on your network, network discovery must be enabled and the PnP-X IP Bus Enumerator service must be running. To add a WSD printer, you must be a member of Administrators group.

    To enable network discovery, click Start, click Control Panel, and then click Network and Internet. On the Network and Internet page, click Network and Sharing Center. On the Network and Sharing Center page, click Change advanced sharing settings. On the Advanced sharing settings page, Click the arrow next to Domain, click turn on network discovery, and then click Save changes.

    To start the PnP-X IP Bus Enumerator service, Click Start, click Administrative Tools and then click Services. In the center pane, right-click PnP-X IP Bus Enumerator and then click Start.

Additional references