With VMware Integrated Printing, users can print from a Linux remote desktop to any local or network printer available on their client computer. VMware Integrated Printing works with Windows, Mac, Linux, and mobile client devices.

VMware Integrated Printing supports client printer redirection.

VMware Integrated Printing is only supported on Linux desktops running RHEL 7.9, RHEL 8.3 or later, or Ubuntu 20.04. The feature does not currently work with browser-based clients.

Client Printer Redirection

With client printer redirection, users can print from a remote desktop to any local or network printer available on their client computer. The client printer is redirected to the remote desktop to process the print job. You do not need to install any printer driver on the remote desktop.

VMware Integrated Printing supports the following types of printer drivers on the client side:

  • For printers redirected from a Windows client to the remote desktop, VMware Integrated Printing supports Universal Printer Driver (UPD).
  • For printers redirected from a Mac or Linux client to the remote desktop, VMware Integrated Printing supports Native Printer Driver (NPD).

Static Printer Names

Redirected printers retain their names across sessions so that users do not need to remap the printer manually when they connect to another session. The redirected printer appears with one of the following suffixes appended to the printer name:

  • For a single-session desktop or application, the suffix is vdi.
  • For a multi-session desktop or application, the suffix is the session ID.

Universal Printer Driver Print Settings

VMware Integrated Printing provides the following print settings for redirected UPD printers from Windows clients.
  • Orientation: select portrait or landscape orientation of the paper. The staple and punch finishing options depend on the orientation of the paper.
  • Print on Both Sides: select duplex (double-sided) printing for duplex-capable printers.
  • Multiple Pages per Sheet: to print multiple document pages onto one physical page, select the number of pages to print onto one physical page, and select the layout of the pages.
  • Paper size: select the paper size:
    • Standard paper sizes: paper sizes that most printers commonly support, such as A4, letter, and legal.
    • Vendor-defined paper sizes (also called nonstandard paper sizes): paper sizes that are defined by a printer vendor.
    • User-defined paper sizes (also called customized paper sizes): paper sizes that are defined by system administrators.
  • Color: specify whether a color printer prints color or monochrome.
  • Number of copies: specify the number of copies.

Install and Enable VMware Integrated Printing

By default, VMware Integrated Printing is installed and enabled when you install Horizon Agent on a Linux machine. The feature does not require any custom installation or configuration options for activation.

If needed, you can use the printSvc.enable configuration option in the /etc/vmware/config file or the PrintRedirEnable configuration option in the /etc/vmware/viewagent-custom.conf file to deactivate VMware Integrated Printing. See Setting Options in Configuration Files on a Linux Desktop.

Exclude Printers From VMware Integrated Printing

To configure filters for client printers, you can use the printSvc.printerFilter option in the /etc/vmware/config file. Printers specified in the filter are excluded from redirection and do not appear as available printers on the Linux desktop.

printSvc.printerFilter supports search query syntax that lets you filter printers based on the name of the printer, the driver, or the driver vendor. See Setting Options in Configuration Files on a Linux Desktop.

Configure Default Print Options

You can use the printSvc.defaultPrintOptions option in the /etc/vmware/config file to specify the default print settings used to print output, if print settings cannot be detected from the source application. See Setting Options in Configuration Files on a Linux Desktop.

Customize the List of Available Paper Sizes

To customize the list of paper sizes that can be used for printing output through VMware Integrated Printing, you must create a properly formatted configuration file that defines the paper sizes. Then use the printSvc.paperListFile option in the /etc/vmware/config file to specify the file path to that configuration file of paper sizes. Only the paper sizes listed in the configuration file are available as options when printing.

See Setting Options in Configuration Files on a Linux Desktop.

Note: VMware Integrated Printing supports customized paper-size lists only when printing from Windows clients. The feature applies globally to all redirected printers on a Windows client system.

Redirect Non-NPD and Non-UPD Printers

To redirect a client printer that does not use an NPD or UPD driver, you must install the printer's custom PPD file on the agent machine. Then use the printSvc.customizedPpd configuration option in the /etc/vmware/config file to specify the file path to that PPD file. See Setting Options in Configuration Files on a Linux Desktop.

Configure PDF as the Print Format

You can use the printSvc.usePdfFilter configuration option in the /etc/vmware/config file to specify whether or not to use PDF as the print format for redirected printers. See Setting Options in Configuration Files on a Linux Desktop.

Note: The printSvc.usePdfFilter configuration option is only supported for Linux and Mac clients.

Event Log for VMware Integrated Printing

You can find the event log for VMware Integrated Printing at /tmp/vmware-$user/vmware-PrintRedir-xxx.log.

To specify the level of detailed reported in the event log, use the printSvc.logLevel configuration option in the /etc/vmware/config file. See Setting Options in Configuration Files on a Linux Desktop.