You should add printers to your computer the first time you gain access to a printer or when you need to remove and reconnect a printer for troubleshooting purposes.
Prerequisite
- your userid requires permission to use the desired printer, otherwise jobs will be rejected by the printer
- request access
Procedure
Windows
Bound to Nexus (if you sign in to the machine with your UWuserid and password):
- click search, type in \\print.math.private.uwaterloo.ca and hit enter
- a list of printers will come up
- double click on the desired printers and they will be installed
Standalone (if you do not sign in to the machine with your UWuserid and password):
- click search, type in \\print.math.private.uwaterloo.ca and hit enter
- you will be prompted to enter your Nexus credentials. Enter nexus\UWuserid under User name and your password under Password, click OK.
- a list of printers will come up
- double click on the printers you want to add and they will be installed
Alternative using internet printing protocol (IPP)
This method is in the early stages so use it if asked by MFCF staff or the above methods fail
- Use your favourite browser to go to the print server web page
- Sign in with your Nexus credentials
- Click on the printer you want to use
- Click Properties on the left hand side
- Copy the Network Name
- Go to Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners
- Click on Add device
- Add a new device manually
- Select shared printer by name
- Paste the Network Name from the web page
- Click Next and complete the wizard
macOS
MFCF managed Mac
- open the Applications Folder and look for Self Service
- sign in using your 8 character WatIAM user ID and password
- on the left side, click Browse
- under Browse, click on Printers
- find the printer you wish to add and click Install Printer
Standalone
- download and install drivers from the printer list page
- if the Installer tries to discover printers, tell it to continue without doing that discovery and configuration. You complete the configuration in the next steps.
- open a Terminal window
- refer to the printer list page to find the appropriate command for the printer you wish to add
- copy and paste the command into Terminal and pressenter
- the printer will be added
Authenticate
- the first time a job is sent it goes into the local print queue on the Mac
- enter UWuserid and password > click to remember in keychain if you prefer
- if queue displays message: Hold for authentication, click icon to retry (circular arrow)
Linux (Specifically Ubuntu 22.04)
- get information about the printer such as the printer name and model
- the printer's name and model can often be found on the printer itself
- you can also use this list to help you find a printer
- the following printer-installation-commands can help you find the model
- access a terminal and install printer related packages
- click: Activities at the top left
- enter: Terminal
- enter: sudo apt update
- enter: sudo apt -y install smbclient foomatic-db-compressed-ppds
- open the add printer window
- click: Activities at the top left
- enter: Settings
- click: Printers
- click: Additional Printer Settings
- note: not Add Printer !!!
- click: Inside the Additional Printer Settings window click Add
- click: Network Printer > Windows printer via SAMBA
- enter: smb://print.math.private.uwaterloo.ca/<printer_name>
- note: the printer name uses underscore
- click Set authentication details now and enter your Nexus credentials
- username: nexus\<UWuserid>
- password: <password>
- note: skip verify
- click Forward/Next
- select the printer driver
- first try exploring the printer model in Select printer from database
- If you are unable to find a driver perhaps you can find it from:
- https://repo.math.uwaterloo.ca/ppd/linux/common
- save the PPD to your computer and then continue the printer driver setup using Provide PPD File