Training
for
Print Audit 6
Introduction to Print Audit and other Print Audit Products ... 3
Unit 1 – Preinstallation ... 4
Print Audit Component Overview ... 4
Print Audit 6 Technical Overview... 6
TECHNOLOGY... 6
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS ... 6
Pre Installation Check List... 8
Unit 2 – Installation and Deployment... 9
Installation Types ... 9
Installation Type: Trial Install ... 10
Installation Type: Step by Step Walkthrough ... 14
Installation Type: Client Only ... 30
Installation Type: Create a Network Install ... 34
Client Deployment Methods ... 41
Print Audit 6 Mac OS X Network Installation Guide ... 42
Unit 3 – Users and User Profiles ... 44
Unit 4 – Printers and Printer Profiles ... 48
Unit 5 – Allowances and Balances... 51
Unit 6 – Custom Rules... 53
Unit 7 – Custom Fields ... 56
Unit 8 – Tracking Applications ... 58
Unit 9 – Analysis Reporting ... 61
Unit 10 – Job Manager ... 66
Unit 11 – Job Merge Wizard ... 72
Introduction to Print Audit and other Print Audit Products
Print Audit 6 is the most accurate and powerful suite of print tracking and print management products available. It is used to analyze, reduce and recover costs along with the resources associated with printing and plotting to all networked, local, and direct to IP printers.
The Print Audit 6 suite is comprised of the following components:
Print Audit Analysis is an inexpensive tool that is used to collect print volume information on all printing devices. It allows companies to get an accurate picture of their print volumes utilizing Print Audit 6 Analysis’ comprehensive reporting capabilities. This information can then be used to optimize their printing fleet.
Print Audit Rules allows enterprises to restrict color usage, enforce printing limits and redirect expensive print jobs to the most efficient printing device.
Print Audit Recovery allows organizations to accurately bill their clients or users for their printing and copying costs. Recovery automates every step of the chargeback process. Its bullet-proof security and unique capture method ensures that 100% of printing and plotting costs are recaptured.
These three components can be purchased a variety of configurations depending on the needs of your organisation.
Unit 1 – Preinstallation
Before you install Print Audit, you may want to gather some information to determine the best method for the installation. The following section includes some information that should be considered prior to deployment.
Print Audit Component Overview
The following information explains the Print Audit components. Once you have gathered the information discussed later in this unit, you can determine the best options to install Print Audit. You can also determine which components will be installed on each computer in the environment.
Print Audit print tracking is split into three main components; the Client, the Client Communicator and the Database.
Print Audit tracks print jobs directly from the computer where the print job is generated. It does so by having the Print Audit Client installed on each computer. The Print Audit Client sends print job information to the Client Communicator. The Client Communicator receives print job information from the Print Audit Client on workstations and then transfers this data to the database.
The Client Communicator is a vital Print Audit component which handles communication between the Clients and the database. As such, it is important to carefully plan on which computer(s) the Client Communicator will reside. Take the following into consideration when choosing the computer which will contain the Client Communicator.
TIP:
The number of threads specified within the Client Communicator configuration utility is the maximum number of concurrent connections the Client Communicator will use to connect to the database. By default, the threads are set to 10 and will be sufficient in most environments. Inenvironments with extremely high print volumes that have adequate hardware and a full version of SQL, you can increase the number of threads to 20 to increase the performance.
There are other components that can be installed as well. The Print Audit Administrator is used to specify various options associated with the Print Audit Client.
The Job Reporting tools include the Job Manager and Analysis Reporting. Both tools can be used to create reports and data exports from the data collected by Print Audit 6.
The Administrator and the Job Reporting tools do not require a license and can be installed on as many workstations as desired. The Administrator and Job Reporting tools require full control access to the database so the user will require the appropriate permissions to a Microsoft Access database.
Print Audit Optional Components
Copy Audit – This component is used to track photocopy expenses. This component requires hardware device(s) called a Copy Audit. The Copy Audit device is connected to a photocopier and records copy information to the same database as Print Audit. This data can be used to generate reports for both printing and copying expenses. Note: The Copy Audit Communicator can only be installed once in an environment, ensure that you do not install multiple
communicators.
Embedded for Sharp - integrates directly with the touch screen on compatible Sharp MFPs and tracks walk-up copying, scanning, faxing, and document server prints to the Print Audit database
.
PSD Director (Ricoh) integrates directly with the touch screen on compatible Ricoh MFPs and tracks walk-up copying, scanning, faxing, and document server prints to the Print Audit database
Facilities Manager Only- is a free cut-down version of PA6 for those dealers/ customers tracking devices on Facilities Manager. This will enable tracking of local devices on the Facilities Manager secure website. This requires a full installation of the database and client communicator, but only requires the client to be installed on those pc’s with local devices attached. It is also a requirement that the client communicator is installed on the same computer as the ICE (Facilities Manager software).
Print Audit 6 Technical Overview
TECHNOLOGY
Print Audit 6 uses a client-based architecture. This has an important advantage over server-based tracking systems in that it allows tracking of all local as well as network printing by printer port and IP address identification, without utilizing valuable network bandwidth. Another equally important advantage is that the Print Audit system is safe and easy to install, without any alteration of the existing network whatsoever.
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
Operating System requirements
Print Audit Database Communicator, database and Administrative tools: . Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008.
Print Audit Client:
. Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008.
Print Audit 6’s CPU and RAM requirements are the same as those of the operating system Print Audit 6 is running on.
Networking requirements
. TCP/IP networking (by default, port 17520 is used for communication between the Database Communicator and the Client)
Database
•
Microsoft Access databases are
password protected and cannot be
opened in Microsoft Access without the
password.
•
SQL databases are password protected by
default and can utilize all of the security
features of the Microsoft SQL Server
platform if desired (including
Windows/Integrated security).
Print Audit Applications
•
The Administrator includes the ability to
create different user security profiles. Some
users can be granted full access to the
system, others read-only access (for
reporting), and others can be denied access
except the ability to track their printing.
•
Users can be prompted to enter either a
secure PIN code or their network password
to gain access to the administrator and
reporting tools.
•
Users can be prompted to enter either a
secure PIN code or their network password
for validation in order to print.
•
PIN codes are stored in the database in
encrypted form, never in clear text.
•
Users can be authenticated against an
Active Directory or Novell NDS server if
desired.
Data
•
All data is stored in the SQL or Microsoft
Access database. The data is as secure as
the network / server on which it resides.
Network
•
Communication between the clients and the
Database Communicator occurs on a single
TCP port (17520 by default). This port
number can be changed if desired.
•
Strong encryption is used for all data
transmissions between the client and
Database Communicator.
Internet-Based License Activation
•
Normally, Print Audit 6 licenses are
activated via our secure licensing server
using the HTTPS protocol. If it is not
possible or desirable to activate over the
Internet, the license can be activated
manually.
Privacy
•
No data is transmitted to third parties.
•
Print Audit can be configured to not track
the document names and / or user
names for each print job.
Pre Installation Check List
1. General Customer Information Reseller Information Accounts:
Address:
City: State: Postcode:
Decision Maker: Primary Contact: Network Contact: Company: Sales Rep: Technician: Telephone: City/State: Job Title: Job Title: Job Title:
Phone: Phone: Phone:
2. Print Audit Product Requirements 3. Server Environment
Assessment days Print Audit Analysis Print Audit Reduction Print Audit Recovery Print Audit Copy Audit Print Audit Facilities Manager
Citrix Novell
Windows Terminal Server
Windows Domain / Active Directory Windows Workgroups
SQL Server / MSDE Linix / Unix
4. Existing Database Types
Microsoft Access (JET) MSDE
SQL Oracle
5. Workstation Environment
Workstation OS Number of workstations Windows OS 3.11 or older
Windows OS 95 or newer MAC OS 10.3.8 or older MAC OS 10.3.9 or newer
Workstation OS Number of workstations Linix / UNIX
Mobile Users Other
6. Current Deployment Methods 7. Print Environment
Active Directory Login Script SMS
Novell ZenWorks
9. Network Connectivity
TCP/IP Internet Access Terminal Server Manual Installation Other: Mainframe Printing KIPP Fiery
Proxies (list in domain diagram) Firewalls (locate on domain diagram) Subnets (list in domain diagram) VPN Connections
DHCP Enabled/Disabled
Unit 2 – Installing and Deployment
Print Audit 6 is a desktop application that you must install on every computer where you want to track
printing. Users installing Print Audit must have Administrator rights, or you must use third-party tools that
can install software in a locked down environment. Installing Print Audit 6 across a network requires
knowledge of the network design, user rights and technologies available in your organization. Print Audit
supplies various tools to aid in the network rollout of Print Audit 6 software but these tools are meant to
complement your organization's current desktop software rollout procedures. If you do not have an
established way to rollout software in your organization then we strongly advise that you develop a
software rollout plan for all desktop software before attempting to roll out Print Audit 6 software.
Installation Types
The Print Audit 6 installer makes the following installation types available:
Trial Install
–This install will create a Microsoft Access database, and install all tracking and reporting
tools on a single computer.
Step by Step Walkthrough
– recommended for advanced users or installations where multiple
computers will be storing information in a shared database.
Client Only Install
– recommended for manually installing extra computers to an existing Print Audit 6
installation. This setting only installs the Client component on a single computer. You must have an
existing Print Audit 6 database and Database Communicator running on the network before selecting this
type of installation.
Create a Network Install
– recommended for advanced users who wish to prepare Print Audit 6 for
network deployment. This setting does not install any active code on the machine; it creates a network
installation folder which contains files necessary for network deployment. You will be taken through a
wizard interface to select options that will take effect on machines deployed using this installation
configuration.
Now that you have determined the necessary criteria to install Print Audit, you are ready to install the
software.
NOTE:
The initial installation screen includes options to view various installation guides that are available on the Print Audit website. Please refer to these guides at any time for more information.NOTE:
If you are using a SQL database, it must be installed prior to completing the next steps.Installation Type: Trial Install
Print Audit 6 setup can be downloaded from our website at
www.printaudit.com
. Our website always
includes the latest version of the setup program.
The Trial Install method is meant for installation to a single computer, computers not connected to a
network or for users wanting to evaluate the software on their local PC.
Step 1: Greeting
Our new installer welcomes you to Print Audit 6. Press “Next” to continue. You can abort the installation
process at any point by selecting “Cancel”.
Step 2: License Agreement
This screen will present you with the Print Audit 6 End User License Agreement. You will need to select
“I accept the terms in the license agreement” before the setup process can continue. Press “Next” once
you have read the agreement and selected the appropriate checkbox.
Step 3: Installation Type
Select the “Trial Install” installation type. Press “Next” to continue.
If you wish to install select components or prepare network installation files, please see the appropriate
sections for the type of install you are interested in.
Step 4: Installation Type Confirmation
Print Audit 6 will display a summary of options that have been defaulted to during the Trial Install process.
Press “Next” to continue the installation.
Step 5: Ready to Install
Print Audit 6 now has enough information to install selected components. If you wish to make changes to
installation settings, click the “Back” button. Otherwise, press “Install” to proceed with the installation of
Print Audit 6.
Step 6: Installation Completed
A screen indicating the InstallShield Wizard Completed will be displayed once the installation has
completed. Press “Finish” to exit the installation wizard.
Installation Type: Step by Step Walkthrough
Print Audit 6 setup can be downloaded from our website at
www.printaudit.com
.
The Step by Step Walkthrough method is intended for network installations where multiple computers will
communicate with a central database. It is also useful if you wish to decide which components will be
installed.
Step 1: Greeting
The installation welcomes you to Print Audit 6. Press “Next” to continue. You can abort the installation
process at any point by selecting “Cancel”.
Step 2: License Agreement
This screen will present you with the Print Audit 6 End User License Agreement. You will need to select
“I accept the terms in the license agreement” before the setup process can continue. Press “Next” once
you have read the agreement and selected the appropriate checkbox.
Step 3: Installation Type
Select the “Step by Step Walkthrough” installation type. Press “Next” to continue.
If you wish to perform a Trial Installation or prepare network installation files, please see the appropriate
sections for the type of install you are interested in.
Step 4: Select Destination Folder
This step lets you choose the folder you want to install Print Audit 6 to. If you would like to use the
default folder, press “Next” to continue.
Step 5: Select Database Type
Print Audit 6 can use two types of databases; Microsoft SQL Server (6.5, 7.0 and 2000, 2005 or SQL
Server 2005 Express Edition or MSDE) or Microsoft Access. Microsoft Access is easier to configure
while SQL Server is more robust and handles large user bases better. Microsoft Access does not need
to be installed in order to use Microsoft Access for database storage.
Step 6: Create New Database?
Print Audit 6 requires a Print Audit 6 compatible database to exist before it can store information in it.
If you have not yet created a database for Print Audit 6, choose “Yes – Create a new database”. If you
previously created a database, choose “No – Do not create a new database, I already created one”.
Press “Next” to continue.
Step 7: Select Database Location (Microsoft Access Only)
This screen allows you to select where the Microsoft Access database will be created. You can accept
the default location (the My Documents folder for the current user) or press “Change” to select a new
location.
You can also choose to automatically share the newly created database on the network. If you plan on
running reports from multiple computers, it is recommended you share the database by selecting “Share
this folder across the local network”. Optionally you can select what name you wish this folder to be
visible as on the network by typing in the desired name in the “Share Name” field. Press “Next” to
continue.
Step 8: Install Database Communicator
Print Audit 6 uses a component called the Database Communicator to facilitate communication between
the database and Client component installed on workstation computers. Usually only one Database
Communicator should be installed on a network. It is also highly recommended to install the database
and Database Communicator on the same computer.
If you have not yet installed a Database Communicator, select “Yes – Install the Database
Communicator”. If you already have a Database Communicator installed on your network, choose “No –
Do not install, I already installed one”.
Step 9: Database Communicator Settings
If you decided to install the Database Communicator in the previous step, you will see the screen pictured
below. If you do not see this screen, proceed to step 9.
The Database Communicator allows for two settings to be modified; location and port.
The location is the name of the machine on which the Database Communicator has been installed to.
Since we are installing the Database Communicator to this machine, the field is grayed out as Print Audit
6 automatically defaults the entry to the name of your computer.
The port field is defaulted to 17520. In most situations this default port will work perfectly. If you are
aware of another application on your network using port 17520, you may change the communication port
to one that is not used on your network.
Step 10: Install Copy Audit
Users may track photocopy expenses by purchasing a hardware device called a Copy Audit. The Copy
Audit device is connected to a photocopier and records copy information to the same database as Print
Audit 6. This data can be used to generate reports for both printing and copying expenses.
If you have one or more Copy Audit devices on your network, select “Yes – Install the Copy Audit
Communicator on this machine”. If you do not have a Copy Audit device on your network or have already
installed the Copy Audit Communicator onto another machine, select “No – Do not install the Copy Audit
Communicator on this machine”.
Step 11: Select Components
Print Audit 6 now gives you the opportunity to select which optional components will be installed to this
machine. If this is the first machine you are installing to, it is recommended that you install all
components.
Step 12: Ready to Install
Print Audit 6 now has enough information to proceed with installation. If you wish to make changes to
any previously entered settings, you can use the “Back” button to return to the appropriate screen. If you
are happy with your selections, press the “Install” button to install Print Audit 6.
Step 13: Installation Complete
Print Audit 6 will inform you when the installation has completed. In some circumstances, if system files
need to be updated during installation, Print Audit 6 may need to reboot the computer. If that is the case,
you will be prompted to reboot your computer.
If you selected to use a Microsoft Access database, the installation is now complete, however, if you
selected to use a SQL Server database, the next steps will review how to create a database, create
users and set up all necessary permissions for the database.
Step 14: Enter Database Login Information (SQL Server Only)
After the installation of Print Audit 6 has completed, you will be prompted with the screen below.
Print Audit 6 will attempt to create a database on your SQL Server, however, it needs “sa” credentials
before it can do so. Enter your server name along with “sa” login and password into the appropriate
fields. The “sa” user account will only be used to create the database and will not be stored on your
system. Print Audit 6 automatically creates a user during installation with only enough permissions to
function correctly. More information on the “PrintAudit” user account can be found in step 16.
Optionally, you can use Windows authentication to create the database. Your user account will need
necessary permission to create a database, otherwise creation will fail. On some networks a “Network
Provider” has to be specified before Print Audit 6 can connect to your SQL Server. If you know of a
specific network provider that is required for your network, enter it in the “Network provider” field.
Click “Next” to continue.
Step 15: Enter Database Name (SQL Server Only)
Enter the name of the database you wish to create on your SQL Server. Print Audit 6 will automatically
create all necessary tables and structures in this database. Make sure the database name you are
specifying does not already exist on your SQL Server.
Step 16: Select Password for PrintAudit User (SQL Server Only)
Print Audit 6 automatically creates a user named “PrintAudit” and gives that user permissions to the Print
Audit 6 database. The user permissions are limited to what is necessary for Clients to be able to connect
to the database. You should use this user account to connect to the Print Audit 6 database.
The window below allows you to set the password for the “PrintAudit” user. If a password is not entered,
it will default to “password”. Press “Next” once you have set a password for the “PrintAudit” user account.
Step 17: Ready to Create Database (SQL Server Only)
The Maintenance Wizard will now show you the summary of options you selected. If there is anything
you wish to change, press the “Back” button and make any required changes. If you are satisfied with
the settings, press “Create” to create a Print Audit 6 database.
Step 18: Database Creation Complete (SQL Server Only)
You will see the screen below if the desired database has been successfully created. If the database
could not be created, Print Audit 6 will inform you of the errors and give you a chance to modify your
settings.
Press “Done” to complete the Print Audit 6 installation. If you selected to install the Database
Communicator during this installation, proceed to step 19, otherwise you are ready to capture print
information with Print Audit 6.
Step 19: Client Run for the First Time (SQL Server Only)
After installation is completed, the Print Audit 6 Database Communicator is automatically started. At this
point you will see the error message below. It indicates that Print Audit 6 could not detect your database
settings. This is normal behavior as we have not told the Database Communicator which account to use
to connect to the Print Audit 6 database.
Step 20: Enter SQL Server Login Information (SQL Server Only)
You will be presented with a SQL Server Login screen. The following information needs to be entered
before we can connect to the database; server, database, user and password.
The “server” field is usually the name of your SQL Server. If you have multiple instances of SQL Server,
then the server name needs to be entered in the following format “SERVERNAME\INSTANCENAME”.
In the “database” field, enter the name of the database you created for Print Audit 6 in step 15.
In the “user’ and “password” fields, enter the “PrintAudit” username and the password you set in step 16.
If you are using NT authentication, press the “Advanced” button to see advanced setting, otherwise press
“Login” to have the Print Audit 6 Database Communicator connect to your SQL Server and the Print Audit
6 database.
In the “Network provider” field enter the same information you used in step 14.
The default for “Connection timeout” is 5 seconds. If you have a slow or congested network, you may
want to raise this value. This timeout determines how long Print Audit 6 waits before giving up attempting
to establish a connection to your SQL Server.
The “Query timeout” field defaults to 60 seconds. This is the time Print Audit 6 will wait for a response
from the SQL Server after it has been sent a query.
Press “Login” to have the Print Audit 6 Database Communicator connect to your SQL Server and the
Print Audit 6 database.
Installation Type: Client Only
Print Audit 6 setup can be downloaded from our website at
www.printaudit.com
. Our website always
includes the latest version of the setup program.
The Client Only Install method is meant for tracking additional computers. This means the database has
already been created and there is a computer running the Database Communicator. If you have not
created a database or do not have a computer that is running the Database Communicator component,
please see the Trial Install or Step by Step Install documentation before proceeding with the Client Only
Install.
Step 1: Greeting
Our new installer welcomes you to Print Audit 6. Press “Next” to continue. You can abort the installation
process at any point by selecting “Cancel”.
Step 2: License Agreement
This screen will present you with the Print Audit 6 End User License Agreement. You will need to select
“I accept the terms in the license agreement” before the setup process can continue. Press “Next” once
you have read the agreement and selected the appropriate checkbox.
Step 3: Installation Type
Step 4: Database Communicator Settings
Print Audit 6 uses a Database Communicator component to read/write to the database. The Client
component you are now installing communicates with the Database Communicator. In order for the
communication to be successful the Client component needs to know where the Database Communicator
is located. We provide this information by entering two fields of information; location and port.
The location is the name of the machine on which the Database Communicator has been installed. Enter
the name of the machine where you installed the Database Communicator (likely to be the computer that
has the database).
The port field tells the Client what port number to use to connect to the Database Communicator. Enter
the port number that you selected during the Database Communicator installation.
Press “Next” to continue.
Step 5: Ready to Install
Print Audit 6 now has enough information to proceed with installation. If you wish to make changes to
any previously entered settings, use the “Back” button to return to the appropriate screen, otherwise
press the “Install” button to install the Print Audit 6 Client now.
Step 6: Reboot
An installation of the client requires an update during installation. Save all your work and then press
“Finish” to allow the computer to reboot.
Installation Type: Create a Network Install
Print Audit 6 setup can be downloaded from our website at
www.printaudit.com
. Our website always
includes the latest version of the setup program.
The Create a Network Install method creates the files for Print Audit 6 for mass deployment. We suggest
running this type of install only after the database has been created and the Database Communicator is
running on one of the computers.
If you have not created a database or do not have a computer that is running the Database
Communicator component, please see the Trial Install or Step by Step Install documentation before
creating a network installation folder.
The result of going through “Create a Network Install” will be a folder with batch files useful for deploying
using login scripts, MSI files that can be used with Active Directory deployment using group policy, a CFG
file that can be used to modify which components are installed and a copy of the installer.
Step 1: Greeting
Our new installer welcomes you to Print Audit 6. Press “Next” to continue. You can abort the installation
process at any point by selecting “Cancel”.
Step 3: Installation Type
Select the “Create a Network Install” installation type. Press “Next” to continue.
If you wish to install select components or perform a Trial Install, please see the appropriate sections for
the type of install you are interested in.
Step 5: Select Network Install Folder Location
Files created during the “Create a Network Install” process must be placed into a folder. The window
below will allow you specify where this folder is created.
Additionally, when using login scripts to deploy, this folder will need to be shared across the network.
The Print Audit 6 installer gives you the chance to automatically create a network share.
Select “Do not share this folder across the local network” if you do not wish to automatically share this
folder, of “Share the folder across the local network” if you are planning on using login scripts to deploy
Print Audit 6. If you will be sharing out this folder, enter the desired name for the network share in the
“Share Name” field.
Step 5: Select Database Type
Print Audit 6 can use two types of databases; Microsoft SQL Server (6.5, 7.0 and 2000 or MSDE) or
Microsoft Access. Microsoft Access is easier to configure while SQL Server and MSDE are more robust
and handle large user bases better. Microsoft Access does not need to be installed in order to use
Microsoft Access for database storage.
Select the type of database you wish to use and press “Next” to continue.
Step 6: Select Components
In this step, select which components you wish to have installed on all machines that this network
installation will be used to deploy to. By default, the Client component will be selected. The Client
component must be installed on every machine you wish to track.
Select components you wish to install and press “Next” to continue.
Step 7: Database Communicator Connection Settings
The Print Audit 6 Client component needs to connect to the Database Communicator in order to
communicate with the database. This is done by entering the location and port of the Database
Communicator.
Enter the name or IP address of the machine running the Database Communicator in the “Location” field.
Enter the port number on which the Database Communicator is listening on in the “port” field.
Step 8: Advanced Settings
There are two advanced settings that can be set during network installation.
“Suppress Reboots” – In certain environments, it is desired not to show any signs of new software being
installed. In those kinds of environments, the Print Audit 6 installer can be configured not to reboot upon
completion (even if a reboot is requested by the operating system). Notice that Print Audit 6 may not
function correctly until computers deployed to are rebooted.
“Do Not Create Uninstall” – If you do not wish to see an uninstall entry for Print Audit 6 in the Windows
Control Panel under Add/Remove Programs, check this setting. Notice that this will make it more difficult
to uninstall the software by both users and network administrators.
“Do Not Create Start Menu Icons” – In an environment where you wish to have very little indication that
Print Audit 6 is installed, turning this option on will prevent Print Audit 6 from creating start menu items.
Note that this will make it more difficult to launch Print Audit 6 components such as Help.
Step 9: Ready to Install
Print Audit 6 now has enough information to proceed with creation of the network install folder. If you
wish to make changes to any previously entered settings, you can use the “Back” button to return to the
appropriate screen. If you are happy with your selections, press the “Install” button to create the network
install folder for Print Audit 6.
Step 10: Installation Complete
When Print Audit 6 finishes creating the network install folder, you will be presented with the InstallShield
Wizard Completed window. Press “Finish” to complete the installation.
Client Deployment Methods
Ensure that you have buy in from the IT Department and give them the responsibility of deploying the
Print Audit 6 Client to the workstations requiring print jobs to be tracked. There are various deployment
methods that can be used. Some of the most common deployment methods are listed below.
- Active Directory
- Logon Scripts
- Third Party Applications such as Microsoft SMS, Novell Zenworks, etc.
- Print Audit Client Status / Deployment tool
Detailed instructions for some of the deployment methods listed above can be found on the Print Audit
website.
Print Audit 6 Mac OS X Network Installation Guide
This document describes how to deploy Print Audit 6 to a network of Mac OS X computers.
Important: Print Audit 6 works only on computers running Mac OS X 10.4 or later. You need to update any
computers running Mac OS X 10.3 (Panther) to 10.4 or newer before installing Print Audit 6. Computers running Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) do not require any updates. To determine which version of Mac OS X is running on your Macintosh, click on “About this Mac” in the Apple menu.
We recommend that you use Apple Remote Desktop to deploy Print Audit 6 to a network of computers running Mac OS X. You can remotely install, upgrade and uninstall Print Audit 6 using Apple Remote Desktop. However since the installer package is a standard Mac OS installer package, you can also roll out Print Audit 6 using any other
Macintosh network deployment tool that supports this standard.
Apple Remote Desktop is network management software created and sold by Apple. To obtain Apple Remote Desktop, contact your Apple reseller or order it directly from Apple. The rest of this document assumes you are familiar with the basic operation of Apple
Remote Desktop. For more information on Apple Remote Desktop, consult Apple’s web site at
http://www.apple.com/remotedesktop/ or read the Administrator’s Guide at
http://images.apple.com/remotedesktop/pdf/ARD_Admin_Guide22.pdf
Installing or Upgrading Print Audit 6 using Apple Remote Desktop
There are two steps to install or upgrade Print Audit 6. First, you have to configure the Print Audit 6 installer so it can do a silent install; then you use Apple Remote Desktop to install Print Audit 6 to the networked computers. Additional information on the second step can be found in Chapter 3 of the Apple Remote Desktop Administrator’s Guide.
1. Configure the Print Audit 6 installer
a. Download the latest release of Print Audit 6 for Mac OS X from the Print Audit web site at
http://www.printaudit.com/.
b. Double-click the Disk Image (.dmg file) to mount it. A Finder window is displayed showing the contents. c. Copy the Print Audit 6 Installer.mpkg file from the disk image to the hard drive.
d. Control-click on Print Audit 6 Installer.pkg, and select “Show Package Contents”. e. Navigate to Contents/Packages inside the installer package.
f. Control-click on printAudit6.pkg, and select “Show Package Contents”. g. Navigate to Contents/Resources inside the installer package.
h. Edit pa6install.conf using a text editor such as TextEdit.
i. Change the configuration settings in pa6install.conf as appropriate for your network. In particular, you must configure the Database Communicator location. Pa6install.conf has explanations of the other optional settings.
j. Save pa6install.conf.
Uninstalling Print Audit 6 using Apple Remote Desktop
There are two steps to uninstall Print Audit 6. First, you have to tell Print Audit 6 to stop tracking print jobs; then, you can delete the Print Audit 6 application files from the computer.
1. Tell Print Audit 6 to stop tracking print jobs
a. Choose a computer list in Apple Remote Desktop. b. Choose one or more computers in the list.
c. Choose Manage > Send Unix Command from the menu d. The UNIX Command you want to send is
sudo “/Applications/Print Audit 6/Print Audit 6 Uninstaller.app/Contents/MacOS/uninstall” This assumes Print Audit 6 was installed to /Applications. Note that the
quotes are important.
2. Delete the Print Audit 6 application files
a. Choose a computer list in Apple Remote Desktop. b. Choose one or more computers in the list.
c. Choose Report > File Search from the menu.
d. Search for the Print Audit 6 folder. By default, it is installed in /Applications. e. Select the Print Audit 6 folder, and click Delete in the report window
Unit 3 Users and User Profiles
User Profiles
Print Audit allows you to assign tracking and security options to users with user profiles.
There are two types of user profiles: Tracking Profiles and Security Profiles. You can assign the same profile to multiple users, allowing you to quickly set up how you want users to behave in Print Audit.
Tracking Profiles control how Print Audit tracks printing from the user.
This includes things such as how jobs are tracked, what options they have on the Client Popup W indow, if they have declining balances and any cost modifiers applied to the job for the user.
Security Profiles control what the user can do in the Print Audit tools.
For example you can assign the "Print Audit Administrator" profile to a user to give them full access to configure Print Audit 6.
You can set individual Print Audit policies to control things such as user management, printer management and job exporting.
Print Audit assigns the first and subsequent user to use the Print Audit Administration tool as the Print Audit
Administrator. It is recommended that after installation, you change the default tracking to Print Audit Regular User. If you want new users to have other profiles than these defaults, you can use this section to assign different defaults.
You MUST have one user at all times as the Print Audit Administrator. Print Audit does try to protect you from removing the last administrator.
If you somehow do remove the last Administrator you will not be able to use the Administration tool at all.
Print Audit ships with some standard profiles already defined. You can modify these profiles to suit your business needs, or create new profiles to assign.
Users
Print Audit automatically adds every user it detects to the user list.
Over time this list contains every user in your organisation that has printed.
You use this list to assign tracking and security profiles, assign users to report groups, set PIN codes and check and set user balances.
How to set up a new user profile
1. Navigate to the User Profiles tab in administrator.
2. Select New > User Profile and enter the name and details required.
3. Suppose you wanted to create a profile which did not display a pop-up when the user printed, Select Track with no pop-up from the Track drop-down box.
4. Select Add to complete the process.
How to change a user’s tracking/security profile
1. Navigate to the Users tab of Administrator.
2. Select the User(s) required, and select Edit.
Unit 4 Printers and Printer Profiles
Overview
Printer Profiles
Print Audit 6 allows you to assign tracking and print cost information to printers through Printer Profiles. For example you use Printer Profiles to set whether Print Audit tracks printing from a printer, if it should track printing in pages, square footage, etc., as well as any printing limits you want to place on your printing device. You only need to create different Printer Profiles if you need to have different tracking or pricing options for different devices. You can set multiple printers to use the same Printer Profile. However, each printer can only have one profile attached to it.
Print Audit ships with two profiles already created, one for standard tracking one for ignoring printing. It sets the default profile to the tracking profile.
Printers
Print Audit 6 automatically adds printers to your printers list. Print Audit adds the printer the first time it detects a print job going to the printer. Over time this list contains every printing device in your organisation.
You use this list to assign profiles to printers as well as maintain device specific information.
Setting up a printer profile and applying it
4. If your printer is not listed, send a print job to it and then press the “Refresh” button on the Print Audit 6 Administrator’s toolbar.
5. Once your printer is listed, open its properties and set the profile to the one you have created in the Profile drop down box.
6. Click the Save button to commit changes.
NOTE: You can assign the same profile to many printers in your organization, each printer does NOT require a unique profile.
Changing the default printer profile
1. Navigate to the Printer Profiles tab.Unit 5 Allowances and Balances (Recovery Only)
Print Audit 6 allows you to set define cost or page balances for users. Whenever a user prints a job, its value is automatically deducted from the user's balance until none is remaining. If the user runs out, they can no longer print. To view an individual user's current balances, you can view the individual user in the Users section of the Administrator.
There are three major pieces that tie into user balances:
Allowances
An allowance is the default balance assigned to a user. You set up allowances on the User Tracking Profile, and whenever a user is assigned to the profile their balances get set to the allowance you define. The types of allowances are as follows:
• Total Pages - The total number of pages a user can print before they run out. Counts both b/w and color pages.
• B/W Pages - The total number of b/w pages a user can print before they run out. Allows unlimited color printing.
• Color Pages - The total number of color pages a user can print before they run out. Allows unlimited b/w printing.
• B/W and Color Pages - The total number of b/w and color pages they can print. If either allowance runs out, the user won't be able to print any more pages of that type.
• Cost - The total cost of print jobs the user is allowed to print before the allowance runs out.
You can set allowance balances to auto-reset periodically. For example, you could define an allowance of 50 total pages, that resets the first of every month. At any point you can manually reset a user's balance.
Additional Balances
If additional balances are enabled, printing is taken first from any remaining allowance, and then taken from the additional if the allowance runs out.
Overdraft
In some cases, you may want to allow users to be able to still print even if their balance is negative. In this case, you can assign an overdraft amount to the User Profile. For example, if you have a 50 page allowance you could set a 5 page overdraft to give a bit of leeway to your users.
Resetting User Balances
You can easily reset the balances for every user in a Tracking Profile. You may want to reset the balances at the start of every month, or using some other criteria that makes sense for your business. Please note that Print Audit automatically asks you if you want to reset user balances when you change the starting balance on the profile window.
You can also setup automatic balance resetting.
To reset user balances:
1. Click on the User Profiles button on the left hand side of the Administration window. The User Profiles section appears in the right hand side.
2. Click the Tracking Profiles Tab in the User Profiles section. A list of all defined Tracking Profiles appears. 3. Double-click on the Profile you want to reset balances for in the profile list. The Tracking Profile window
appears.
4. Make sure the allowance values on the Allowances tab on the Tracking Profile window contains the value you want.
5. Click the Reset User Balances button. The Reset Balances window appears. 6. Click the option corresponding to the balance option you want.
7. Check the Set additional balances to zero box if you want to reset additional balances along with the allowance balances.
8. Click the Update button. A message appears asking you to confirm you want to update the balances. 9. Click Yes to set the balances of all users that use the profile.
Unit 6 Custom Rules
New in Print Audit 6 is the ability for you to create custom rules. These rules can allow you to handle almost any printing control needs within your organization.
Using Custom Rules you can select one or more conditions that trigger one or more actions to take place within the software.
For example, you could allow free printing after a certain time of day, send an email to people if jobs of a certain size are printed, display messages to users, etc.
You can also define rules that depend on other rules being triggered, so the possibilities are endless.
For most printing needs, such as basic limits and pricing, you can use our User Profiles, Applications or Printer Profiles for your needs, but for complex printing situations and environments Custom Rules may be required. When you define a Custom Rule, the behaviour you define in the rule overrides any other settings that you may have made in other areas of the application.
Rules work by evaluating one or more conditions you define, and if those conditions are met the rule triggers one or more actions you define.
It is very simple to define rules, but given the combinations of actions and conditions you can create rules to handle very complex situations.
For ease of administering rules, you can create and manage user and printer rule groups. You can define groups for departments for example, and set rules to run only for those departments.
These groups are separate from reporting groups you can define in the Job Manager and Analysis Reporting.
Conditions (trigger the rule)
o User
o User Profile
o Printer
o Printer Profile
o Computer name
o Time of day
o Total page count
o Total colour page count
o Total mono page
o Total units in the job
o Total colour units in the job
o Total mono units in the job
o Total job cost
o Job duplex setting
o Job n-up setting
o Job origin
o Job type
o Job was printed to file
o Document title
o Printer group
Actions (after a rule is triggered)
o Set track option to
o Set authentication type to
o Display message and cancel the job
o Display message and present option to cancel the job
o Display message and continue the job
o Send an e-mail message
o Do not deduct job cost from user balance
o Set the cost profile
o Ask for custom fields
How to set up a custom rule
e.g. If the time is after 7pm, or on Sunday, printing is free as it is off peak.
1.
Open the Print Audit 6 Administrator tool and navigate to Custom Rules (under the Advanced section).2.
You will see a list of all the rules already created.4.
Select Add with the Conditions tab open and select When the time of day / Is After / 7pm. Then, add a second condition and select When the Day of the week / is / Sunday.Unit 7 Custom Fields
Print Audit 6 allows you to define up to five custom fields which the user must enter information for before they can print.
Each one of these custom fields can have completely different values and types, allowing you to gather from your users valuable business information for each print job.
Your users MUST enter information on the Print Audit Client Popup for each custom field you define. If you have simpler needs and just want them to enter optional free form information, you should turn on the Comments field in Client Settings.
You can also configure Print Audit to require different custom field information depending on who is printing, which is done using User Profiles.
Types of custom fields
- Searchable Drop-Down - Searchable
- Simple Drop-Down - Option (2 options only) - Non Validated
- Linked Searchable - Linked Drop-Down
Creating a new custom field
1. Navigate to Custom Fields and select New > Custom Field.
2. Specify the field name and type (for this example we will be using Option).
3. Highlight the custom field which has just been created and navigate to the bottom grid. Create new values by double-clicking in the grid, or selecting New > Custom Field Value.
4. The New Value window will open. Enter the details for the first field, press Add and repeat for the second field.
Unit 8 Tracking Applications
Print Audit 6 can determine whether or not to track printing from an application. By default, all applications are watched for print jobs.
However you may have instances where you want to track printing from only one application, or you want to track printing from all applications except one.
You may also have instances where you do not want users to be able to print information from an application. New to Print Audit 6, you can now define printing limits, job rules, custom pricing and specify which custom fields are used for the user at an application level.
You DO NOT need to add every application you want to track to this list. Only add applications to the list if you have special tracking needs.
Please note that unlike the Users and Printers list, Print Audit does not automatically add every application it detects printing from to the list.
How to disable tracking for a particular application:
Step 2:
Unit 9 Analysis Reporting
You can use the Analysis Reporting tool in two different modes. The normal mode and a "simple" mode.
Simple mode in Analysis Reporting supports all of the same reports as the normal mode, but in simple mode you do not have access to complex printer and user grouping.
The Analysis Reporting tool consists of two main areas, the toolbar and the tabbed display area. You use the toolbar to manipulate tabbed information or even create new tabs.
The tabs themselves display your printer and user groups along with any created reports. Printer and user groups are not displayed in simple mode.
There are only two tabs visible when you first run the Analysis Reporting tool in normal mode. They are the Printer Grouping and Filtering tab and the User Grouping and Filtering tab. The Printer Grouping and Filtering tab displays all printers in your database.
You use this tab to arrange printers into reporting groups as well as selecting which printers/groups you want to include in your reports.
You can also use this tab to enter an estimated cost per page for the printer. Generally, Analysis Reporting uses the actual recorded cost of the print job to calculate total costs when you are doing reports.
If you choose, you can use the estimated cost per page you enter to calculate costs. IMPORTANT: Actual costs in Print Audit include several things such as unit type, cost modifiers, etc.
Estimated cost per page only takes into account the reported page count.
The User Grouping and Filtering tab displays all users in your database. You can use this tab to group your users any way that makes sense for your organisation.
You could group them by last name, or by department, etc. Once you have your groups defined you can create reports based on your data.
After you create a report you can then print it or export it in different formats.
How to create a Printer or User group for reporting
2. Select the relevant users/printers by clicking them whilst holding ctrl (to select individuals) or shift (to select a range).
3. Select Groups > Create / Add to Group, name the new group and press OK.
How to run an Analysis Report
2. Select Reports > Create Report and choose the type of report. (In this case we will do a normal Report).
Unit 10 Job Manager
Introduction
You use this tool to manage your detailed print job information.
You can search for jobs using several different pieces of search criteria.
Once you find the jobs you want you can edit the jobs, build reports based on the job details and export the job information.
You can also use the Job Manager to schedule exports of your job information to a file format that your accounting program can read.
Searching for Print Jobs
One of the first steps in using the Job Manager is to find the job or jobs you want to act on. Print Audit allows you to search for jobs based on a combination of criteria.
We highly recommend that you narrow your search as much as possible. Print Audit can track thousands of print jobs per day depending on the printing volumes in your organization.
You can search for jobs based on the following:
D Date Printed
D User who printed
D Printer used
D Custom Fields To search for print jobs:
1. Enter your criteria as described above.
Creating a Report
Reports are one of the integral parts of Print Audit 6.
Reports generated in Analysis Reporting tool allow you to visualise the data, whereas reports in Job Manager contain the hard data
and statistics about your printing.
1. Search for the jobs you want to include on the report.
2. Click the Create a new Report button on the toolbar. The Build a Report wizard appears.
3. Click on Full (Details and Totals) in the reports list on the left. A description of the report appears on the right.
4. Verify that the number of decimal places you want for the report is correct. 5. Click the Next button. The wizard changes to the Fields tab.
6. Select up to five fields to display in the report. These fields appear as columns on the finished report. 7. Click the Next button. The wizard changes to the Total By tab.
10. Select the unit type you want to display for the unit totals.
11. Check the Show job cost totals to display cost totals on the report, broken down by your Total By selection. 12. Check the Show job count totals to display the total number of jobs on the report, broken down by your Total By selection.
13. Check the Subtotal and Page break check boxes to set or clear subtotalling and page breaks by level. 14. Click the Next button. The wizard changes to the Titles tab.
15. Enter in an optional title and sub-title you want displayed at the top of each page in the report. If you want to display the From and To date used in the title when the report prints,
you can enter the %from and %to placeholders in the title. For example: "My report with data from %from to %to". 16. Click the Build button to build and display the report. If you want to keep this report definition to re-run later, you can click Save and Build to enter a name and description for your new report definition.
If you save a report definition it displays in the list of available reports the next time you run the Build a Report wizard.
Editing and Exporting Print Jobs
Editing Jobs
You can use Print Audit 6 to edit existing print jobs.
Once you print a job you may want to adjust the job costs, view the detailed job information or delete the jobs. You can control who has permission to edit and delete jobs.
The Job Manager allows you to export your print jobs to several different formats. You can then use this file in third- party accounting or reporting tools to give you even more job processing options.
For example, you could export your jobs to a standard flat file format to allow you to import the jobs in Microsoft Excel for detailed analysis.
When you export jobs you generally need to select an export type and an export configuration. The export type determines how Print Audit will export the jobs.
For example, the Flat File export type exports your information to a standard text file. The export configuration determines the format and options of the export type.
For example you could create a Flat File export that only exports five columns of data in a tab-delimited format. You can export jobs in one of three ways:
o Export Current Results - This allows you to choose the export type and configuration you want to use to export all jobs in your current results list.
o Export Current View - This allows you to quickly export all jobs in your current results list to a comma-delimited file that mirrors how you have constructed your current data view.
o Run Accounting - This allows you to choose the export type and configuration you want to use to export all jobs in your database if they have not already been exported for accounting. This export type does not
take into account any of your job search criteria. Print Audit currently supports only Flat File exports.
Unit 11 How to Use the Job Merge Wizard
The Job Merge Wizard is provided in Print Audit 6 to enable companies to consolidate data from multiple remote locations, for the purpose of reporting. It is also very valuable in assessment situations where data needs to be transported before being used to create reports. By using the Job Merge Wizard, the print information from multiple Print Audit 6 databases can be brought into a single database that can then be used to generate individual or consolidated reports.
There are two steps when using the Job Merge Wizard; (1) exporting the information from a remote database and (2) importing it into a local database. The export process involves some important decisions, so it is imperative to read and follow the on-screen prompts. The following outlines a step by step procedure for using the Job Merge Wizard successfully.
Exporting Data
The first step in the Job Merge Wizard is to select to import or export data. Before data can be merged into a common database, it must first be exported using the Job Merge Wizard. As an additional feature, automatic exports can be created with a defined schedule.
To export all jobs from the source database now, select “Export Jobs Now” and press the “Next” button. If you wish to schedule exports, select the “Set Up Scheduled Exports” button. The scheduled export configuration process is identical to an immediate export, with the exception of one additional screen to configure the export schedule.
Select the source database to be used for the export from the Database tab. Click “Next” to continue once the source database has been selected.
TIP:
Data can be imported / exported from any supported Print Audit 6 database source such as Microsoft Access or Microsoft SQL Server (MSDE). The Job Merge Wizard supports exporting from Microsoft Access and importing into a Microsoft SQL Server database (or vice versa).The export settings screen is imperative in configuring the export. Choices made on this screen will determine what data is exported and what information will be available to import from the generated .jbs file. The first choice is to select what type of records to export. Print Audit 6 can export either print job information only or print job information along with the
associated custom field values.
TIP:
When exporting data for analysis purposes, you will normally choose “export jobs only”. When combining data from multiple locations where fields are setup to recover information during printing, choose “export jobs and custom fields”.The second choice is which print jobs to export. You can choose to “export new jobs (since last export)”, “export all jobs in database”, or “export all jobs printed on or after” a date you specify. An internal database flag is used to mark which records have already been exported when you choose “export new jobs (since last export)” and only new print jobs will be exported when you choose this option.
Press “Next” to move to the Merge Code screen.
Depending on the choice made at the previous screen, you will see one of the two screens below. If you selected “export jobs only” you will see the screen on the left. If you selected “export jobs and custom fields” you will see the screen on the right. In both scenarios, you will be asked for a common piece of information, Job Merge Codes. The Job Merge Codes are data identifiers that will allow you to merge multiple databases while keeping the information separate to allow you to create individual and consolidated reports.
TIP:
In assessment situations, you will usually export all jobs in database. Exporting new jobs only usually occurs in recovery situations where multiple databases are merged on a schedule.TIP:
The name and code used must be unique to import the data into the main database. For customers using the Analysis module, the company name is usually a good choice for the merge code. For customers using theRecovery module, the site name or location is usually used.
Press “Next” to move to the next screen. If you selected to schedule an export, you will be presented with the “Schedule” tab pictured below.
On this screen, you can schedule how often the export will run by adjusting the “Run Export” setting. The “On” and “At” fields allow you to fine tune which days and at what time the export will take place.
The PIN code field is mandatory and a valid PIN code MUST be supplied for the scheduled export function to work. The PIN code used must be for a Print Audit user that has permission to export data.
Select the folder you wish to save the export file to by using the “Export to Directory” browse button. Press “Next” to proceed to the last step in the Job Merge Wizard.
