Print & Device Operation Failover

Print services can be disrupted if the MyQ Print Server becomes unavailable.

MyQ provides failover options that help maintain printing during server outages and reduce disruption to users. Some of these options use MyQ Desktop Client (MDC) on client computers.

Client Spooling with MDC

With this feature, entire print jobs are not sent to the print server. MDC sends only job metadata instead, keeping the job stored on the user’s computer. And when the user chooses to release the document, it is sent to the device from their computer.

Deploy Client Spooling

1. Set up Windows/macOS printers for Client Spooling.

2. Install MDC on the computer.

3. Enable Client Spooling in MDC.

Offline Login

MyQ Terminals remember users who log in on the device, and when the Server is unavailable, these users can keep logging in offline and using the device.

In combination with Device spooling, this offers a robust solution for offline operation.

Deploy Offline Login

1. Enable Offline Login in MyQ.

2. Wait for Embedded Terminals to reconfigure.

Device Spooling

A printer on the user’s computer can be configured to send print jobs to the device where they wait for release or are printed immediately. If more printers in the local network support this feature, the user will see their job on those printers, ready to be released.

Embedded Terminal reports statistics once it connects to the server again, meaning no accounting data is lost.

Deploy Device Spooling

1. Enable Device Spooling in MyQ.

2. Wait for Embedded Terminals to reconfigure.

Fallback Printing with MDC

Fallback Printing allows users to continue printing when MDC cannot connect to the MyQ Print Server. Instead of sending the job to the server, Desktop Client sends it to an available fallback printer. When the connection to the server is restored, accounting data is reported automatically.

Fallback Printing is configured centrally in MDC Configuration Profiles. Administrators can specify which printers or printer groups are available for fallback, define release conditions, and configure the device port used to send fallback jobs.

Fallback Printing compatibility depends on the printer vendor and model. Some devices may reject jobs received outside the normal MyQ workflow. Test the configuration with the target devices before deploying it in production.

Deploy Fallback Printing

1. Install and configure MDC on the client computers.

2. Configure the printers on the client computers to send print jobs to Desktop Client. Typically, the printer uses localhost or 127.0.0.1, LPR, and the corresponding MyQ queue name.

3. In MyQ > Settings > MDC, open the required Configuration Profile.

4. On the Printing tab, enable Fallback Printing and configure:

   • the printers or printer group available for fallback,

   • the release conditions,

   • the device protocol, port, and queue.

5. Test fallback printing with the printers used in the deployment.

Local Print Monitoring with MDC

Users may also have a local printer connected to their workstations. If configured, MDC can monitor local ports and report print jobs released on these local printers.

If the print server is offline at the moment, MDC stores information about printed jobs and reports this data to the print server when it is reconnected.

Combine Fallback Printing with Device Spooling

You can combine Fallback Printing to a Device Spooling-capable device, and Offline Login into one robust solution.

With this setup, when the print server is operating normally, MDC will send jobs there. But once the print server goes offline, the Desktop Client can route jobs to a fallback printer.

The entire print experience is very similar to when the server is online and operable. The user is not impacted as much as if they didn’t have these fallback options configured.

Enable Device Spooling and Offline Login in MyQ

In MyQ > Settings > Printers & Terminals, you can enable both functionalities. Let the printers reconfigure to apply the new settings. The Embedded Terminals on supported vendors will start listening on the device spooling ports.

Configure Fallback Printing to Device Spooling

1. Install MDC on the client computers.

2. Go to MyQ > Settings > MyQ Desktop Client and configure the Configuration Profile assigned to these clients.

3. On the Printing tab, enable Fallback Printing.

4. Select the Printers or group that can be used for fallback printing.

5. Configure the required Release conditions.

6. Configure the Device port to use the Device Spooling port that corresponds to the required print behavior.

For details about Device Spooling ports and release behavior, see Fallback Printing in the MDC documentation.

Configure Printer Ports on Client Computers to Print to MDC

Create printers on client computers using the desired printer drivers. Assign ports that are configured for MDC Client Spooling.

• hostname will be localhost (127.0.0.1)

• LPR port 515

• the queue name from MyQ this printer should send jobs to.

Once configured, when the user prints to this printer, the job is controlled by the Desktop Client. If the print server is up and running, the job is processed on the server.

If the server is unreachable, MDC uses the fallback printers allowed by its Configuration Profile. If multiple eligible printers are available, the user can select the printer to use.

Thanks to the MyQ device spooling option, the print file is sent to the selected Device Spooling port once the user selects the desired fallback printer to use. Depending on what port it is, the job can be printed immediately (direct print) or held, waiting for the user to securely release it after they authenticate on the device.