Command Line Printer Control

in Windows 2000 / XP

Many, but not all, printer settings can be done from Windows 2000's command line using PRINTUI.DLL and RUNDLL32.EXE.

The list of functions on this page was generated using the following command in Windows 2000 (Professional):

RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /?

Notes:	(1)	I certainly did not test each of these switches myself! To be honest, I usually prefer to use the (VBScript) printer management scripts that come with Windows 2000 and later (`%windir%\System32\prn.vbs`).
	(2)	In Windows 7, `PRINTUI.EXE` can be used as shorthand for `RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry`

More information is available at Microsoft's TechNet under Q189105.

Download Microsoft's PrintUI.DLL User's Guide and Reference for more detailed, task oriented explanations of command line options.

Usage:

RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry [ options ] [ @commandfile ]

/a[file]	binary file name
/b[name]	base printer name
/c[name]	unc machine name if the action is on a remote machine
/dl	delete local printer
/dn	delete network printer connection
/dd	delete printer driver
/e	display printing preferences
/f[file]	either inf file or output file
/ga	add per machine printer connections
/ge	enum per machine printer connections
/gd	delete per machine printer connections
/h[arch]	driver architecture, one of the following: `Alpha \| Intel \| Mips \| PowerPC`
/ia	install printer driver using inf file
/id	install printer driver using add printer driver wizard
/if	install printer using inf file
/ii	install printer using add printer wizard with an inf file
/il	install printer using add printer wizard
/in	add network printer connection
/j[provider]	print provider name
/k	print test page to specified printer, cannot be combined with command when installing a printer
/l[path]	printer driver source path
/m[model]	printer driver model name
/n[name]	printer name
/o	display printer queue view
/p	display printer properties
/q	quiet mode, do not display error messages
/r[port]	port name
/s	display server properties
/Ss	Store printer settings into a file
/Sr	Restore printer settings from a file
	Store or restore printer settings option flags that must be placed at the end of command:
	2	PRINTER_INFO_2
	7	PRINTER_INFO_7
	c	Color Profile
	d	PrinterData
	s	Security descriptor
	g	Global DevMode
	m	Minimal settings
	u	User DevMode
	r	Resolve name conflicts
	f	Force name
	p	Resolve port
/u	use the existing printer driver if it's already installed
/t[#]	zero based index page to start on
/v[version]	driver version, one of the following: `Windows 95 or 98 \| Windows NT 3.1 \| Windows NT 3.5 or 3.51 \| Windows NT 3.51 \| Windows NT 4.0 \| Windows NT 4.0 or 2000 \| Windows 2000`
/w	prompt the user for a driver if specified driver is not found in the inf
/y	set printer as the default
/Xg	get printer settings
/Xs	set printer settings
/z	do not auto share this printer
/Z	share this printer, can only be used with the /if option
/?	help this message
@[file]	command line argument file

Examples:

Run server properties:: RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /s /t1 /n\\machine
Run printer properties: RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /p /n\\machine\printer
Run add printer wizard localy: RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /il
Run add printer wizard on \\machine: RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /il /c\\machine
Run queue view: RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /o /n\\machine\printer
Run inf install: RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /if /b "Test Printer" /f %windir%\inf\ntprint.inf /r "lpt1:" /m "AGFA-AccuSet v52.3"
Run add printer wizard using inf: RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /ii /f %windir%\inf\ntprint.inf
Add per machine printer connection: RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /ga /c\\machine /n\\machine\printer /j"LanMan Print Services"
Delete per machine printer connection: RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /gd /c\\machine /n\\machine\printer
Enumerate per machine printer connections: RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /ge /c\\machine
Add printer driver using inf: RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /ia /c\\machine /m "AGFA-AccuSet v52.3" /h "Intel" /v "Windows 2000" /f %windir%\inf\ntprint.inf
Remove printer driver: RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /dd /c\\machine /m "AGFA-AccuSet v52.3" /h "Intel" /v "Windows 2000"
Set printer as default: RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /y /n "printer"
Set printer comment: RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /Xs /n "printer" comment "My Cool Printer"
Set printer port: RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /Xs /n "printer" PortName "port:"
Get printer settings: RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /Xg /n "printer"
Get printer settings saving results in a file: RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /f "results.txt" /Xg /n "printer"
Set printer settings command usage: RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /Xs /n "printer" ?
Store all printer settings into a file: RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /Ss /n "printer" /a "file.dat"
Restore all printer settings from a file: RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUI /Sr /n "printer" /a "file.dat"
Store printer information on level 2 into a file: RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /Ss /n "printer" /a "file.dat" 2
Restore from a file printer security descriptor: RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /Sr /n "printer" /a "file.dat" s
Restore from a file printer global devmode and printer data: RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /Sr /n "printer" /a "file.dat" g d
Restore from a file minimum settings and resolve port name: RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /Sr /n "printer" /a "file.dat" m p

More to explore:

Microsoft Knowledge Base articles: How to add printers with no user interaction in Windows XP and How to add printers with no user interaction in Windows (2000/2003).

How to print files from the command line (or batch files).

An overview of Registry Entries for Printing by Microsoft.

If RUNDLL32 just won't do the job:

Sometimes we need to do just alittle more than RUNDLL32 is capable of, like installing a TCP/IP printer port.
In that case, consider buying yourself a copy of the Windows 2000 Server/Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit and use PRNADMIN.DLL and the accompanying sample scripts written in VBScript.

My own AddIPPrn.bat uses these VBScripts to install a printer, its driver and a TCP/IP printer port on a remote computer.

If all you need is to backup/restore, clone or migrate existing printers:

Often the printer configurations of existing computers need to be cloned to other computers, or restored after reinstalling Windows.
In those cases, a backup/export and restore/import with Microsoft's PrintMig 3.1 may be the best (and easiest) solution.
Though earlier versions of PrintMig were GUI only, version 3.1 can also be run without user interaction from the command line or in a batch file:

Microsoft (R) Windows (TM) Printer Migrator 3.1
Copyright (C) 1997-2002 Microsoft Corp. All rights reserved

usage: PRINTMIG [options] [server]
       [-?] Display this message
       [-b] Backup - followed by CAB file name
       [-r] Restore - followed by CAB file name
       [-l] Attempt to convert LPR Ports to SPM
       [-i] Suppress warning popups.  Info still written to log file.

If server is not specified then the local machine is implied.

Example command line to restore an existing config to a server:
  printmig -r d:\print\ps1.cab \\prt-srvr1

Example command line to backup a server to the specified file:
  printmig -b "\\filesrv\store\print server 2.cab" \\prt-srvr2

PrintMig can be used for Windows (Server) 2000, XP and Server 2003.
For Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008, use the Printer Backup Recovery Migration tool (PRINTBRM) instead.
PRINTBRM is a great (native) command line tool to backup/restore and migrate printers.

Its command line couldn't be any simpler.
To backup:

%windir%\System32\Spool\Tools\PrintBRM -s \\sourcecomputername -b -f filename.printerExport

And to restore:

%windir%\System32\Spool\Tools\PrintBRM -s \\destinationcomputername -r -f filename.printerExport

For more help:

%windir%\System32\Spool\Tools\PrintBRM /?

Export printer drivers:

With Microsoft's PrintMig tool you can create backups of your complete set of printers, ports, drivers, print processors and print monitors.
Unfortunately there is no way to selectively backup nor restore, so you may want to backup a clean test system with just the printers and components you need to migrate.

If you need to migrate a single printer, use my ExpPrnDr.bat (Export Printer Driver) instead.
It uses Microsoft's DEVCON.EXE to list all files belonging to a specific printer driver, and PRINTUI.DLL to install that printer driver on any computer.

Acuityware's Technology Blog

Thursday, November 3, 2011