Skip to main content
Custom Printers are available for Mac computers

​
Getting Started

Before you create your Custom Printer library item, you’ll need two things:
1

Get Driver Package

The driver installer package associated with that printer.
2

Get PPD File Path

The file path to the PPD (PostScript Printer Description) file installed by the package. Typically the correct PPD can be identified by the model name appearing in the filename.
After you’ve collected these two things, you’ll then need to gather the following information:
  • The display name of the printer (for example, Marketing Printer)
  • The CUPS (Common Unix Printing System) name of the printer (for example, marketing_printer)
  • The location description (for example, 2nd Floor)
  • The printer URI (for example, lpd://192.168.0.43/queue_name or ipp://hostname.local/queue_name)

​
Creating a Custom Printer Library Item

​
Add a Custom Printer Item:

To add this Library Item to your Iru Endpoint Library, follow the steps outlined in the Library Overview article.

​
Configure the Custom Printer Item:

1

Name and configure icon

Give your Custom Printer a name and optionally upload a custom icon for it.
2

Assign to Blueprints

Assign your Custom Printer to a Blueprints.
3

Choose installation option

Choose an option from the Installation pop-up menu:
  • Install printer once per device: This installation option will install the printer and associated driver once per device. Flushing the item status for a device will trigger a reinstall.
  • Install printer and continuously enforce: This installation option will install the printer and associated driver and continually enforce the installation by checking for the presence of the printer’s configuration at every check-in.
  • Install on demand from Self Service: This installation option will install the printer only if the user triggers the install through Self Service.
4

Configure Self Service options (optional)

Optionally configure Self Service options. Learn more about Self Service options.
5

Enter Display Name

In the Display Name field, enter the display name that the user will see within printer preferences.
6

Enter Printer Name

In the Printer Name field, enter the CUPS printer name. You should remove any special characters and replace spaces with underscore characters. Dashes are not allowed in CUPS queue names.
7

Enter Location

In the Location field, enter the location. This will be visible to the user in the location field of their printer preferences.
8

Enter Device URI

In the Device URI field, enter the device URI. This is usually the print protocol (ipp:// or lpd:// or dnssd://) followed by the hostname or IP address of the printer. If you are sending print jobs to a print server, you will typically see the queue name appended to the hostname (for example, lpd://print-server.local/queue_name).
9

Choose PPD path

Choose a PPD path, use the Apple-provided generic driver, AirPrint, or upload a custom PPD.
10

Provide printer driver PKG (optional)

Optionally choose to provide a printer driver PKG file. This PKG will be installed as part of the printer installation. The installer file must be a PKG.
11

Upload PKG file

If you do choose the Install provided software package option, upload the PKG.
12

Configure Liftoff Settings (optional)

Under Liftoff Settings, optionally select Hide in Liftoff and enter a Friendly name. See Liftoff Settings.
13

Save configuration

Click Save.
After the Iru Agent installs a custom printer, macOS may take a few minutes to update the printer configuration file. When printer installation or enforcement issues generate alerts in Iru Endpoint, see our Global Alerts support article for details.

​
Liftoff Settings

At the bottom of the Library Item, under Liftoff Settings, customize how this Library Item behaves when used with Iru Liftoff:
  • Hide in Liftoff: If selected, this Library Item still processes during Liftoff but is not shown to the end user. While it processes, Liftoff shows Processing additional required configurations before proceeding… at the bottom of the screen. This setting does not affect ordering.
  • Friendly name (optional): If specified, Liftoff shows this name instead of the Library Item Name. This is separate from Display Name, which appears in printer preferences. The Iru Agent still orders Library Items by Name during check-in.

Library Overview

Curate, create, and manage Library Items and add them to Blueprints

Configuring Blueprints

Create and configure device Blueprints for policy management

Self Service: Library Items

Configure Library Items for Self Service (macOS)

Global Alerts

Configure how Iru Endpoint surfaces alerts when Custom Printers or other Library Items report issues