With VMware Integrated Printing, users can print from a 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. It also works with browser-based clients.

VMware Integrated Printing supports client printer redirection, location-based printing, and persistent print settings.

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. For printers redirected from a Windows client to a remote desktop, VMware Integrated Printing supports the following types of printer drivers on the remote desktop.
  • Native Printer Driver (NPD). On the remote desktop, you must install the same printer driver as the driver for the client printer. NPD supports only v3 printers.
  • Universal Printer Driver (UPD). This includes two options - VMware Universal XPS Driver and VMware Universal EMF Driver. You do not need to install any driver on the remote desktop.

By default, VMware Integrated Printing displays the session user name on the client side print queue. This way, the end user can monitor the print job and see who initiated the print job.

By default, if you install the native driver on the Horizon Agent computer, NPD is used. Otherwise, UPD is used. You can select the printer driver type to use on a remote desktop by configuring a group policy setting.

To determine which printer driver type is used in a remote desktop, go to Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Devices and Printers, right-click the virtual printer, and select Printer Properties from the context menu. On the General tab, if Model is VMware Universal EMF driver or VMware Universal XPS Driver, UPD is used. Otherwise, NPD is used.

Location-Based Printing

The location-based printing feature maps printers that are physically near client systems to remote desktops. For information, see Setting Up Location-Based Printing.

Nested Mode Redirection

In a nested mode setup, you can redirect local printers installed on the first and second layers to the remote desktop or published application on the third layer. Depending on the group policy setting and whether native print drivers are installed, redirected printers on the third layer might use UPD or NPD.

Static Printer Names

Redirected printers retain their names across sessions with the suffix vdi so that users do not need to remap the printer manually when they connect to another session. The static printer name is supported only on single-user machines, and is not supported on Windows Server with VDI mode.

Persistent Print Settings

Printer settings for redirected client printers, including NPD and UPD, or location-based printers, are retained after a user logs out or disconnects from the remote desktop. For example, a user might set a redirected client printer or location-based printer to use black and white mode. After the user logs out and logs in to the remote desktop again, the previous print setting is persistent.

Persistent print setting can be deactivated by configuring a group policy setting.

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 source: select the name of the input paper tray.
  • Paper size: select the paper size:
    • Standard paper sizes: paper sizes that are commonly supported by most printers, 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.
  • DPI: specify the printer resolution.
  • Color: specify whether a color printer prints color or monochrome.
  • Print and Preview: select print directly or print preview:
    • With print directly, you can select with opening preference dialog, which opens the client printer preferences before printing, so that you can change print settings.
    • With print preview, the with opening preference dialog option is not available.
  • Number of copies: specify the number of copies.
  • Print as Image: print each page as an image.
  • Compression: specify how the images in the printed document are to be compressed.
  • Finishing: specify staple and punch options for specified printers.

You can define default settings for UPD printers by activating the group policy setting Default settings for UPD printers. See VMware Integrated Printing Policy Settings.

By default, you cannot set the media type on a UPD printer. To change the media type on a UPD printer, activate the Disable Printer Property Persistence group policy setting and change the media type setting of the client printer to the desired setting. For information about the Disable Printer Property Persistence group policy setting, see VMware Integrated Printing Policy Settings.

Native Printer Driver Finishing Options

These redirected native printers support a finishing option when the specific hardware is connected to the printers.

Printer Finishing option Requirements on the client-side local printer
FX ApeosPort-IV C5575 PCL 6 staple, booklet Verify that the finishing hardware device is connected to the printer.

Update printer information with bi-directional communication in printer properties.

Enable the finishing options in printer preferences.

Ricoh MP C5003 staple, punch Manually add the finisher according to its device setting to activate the finishing option, which is then available in printer preferences.

Installing VMware Integrated Printing Redirection

VMware Integrated Printing is a default setup option in the Horizon Agent installer. To install this feature on a virtual machine or on an RDS host see the Windows Desktops and Applications in Horizon document.

Configuring VMware Integrated Printing Group Policy Settings

To customize VMware Integrated Printing, including deactivating location-based printing, deactivating print setting persistence, selecting the printer driver for a redirected client printer, and deactivating printing to non-desktop clients, use the group policy settings in the VMware Integrated Printing ADMX template file (printerRedirection.admx). See VMware Integrated Printing Policy Settings.

Activating Event Logging for Printer Redirection

  1. In the Windows registry, navigate to Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\VMware, Inc.\VMware VDM\PrintRedir.
  2. Right-click in the left pane of the window and select DWORD (32-bit) value.
  3. Name the new registry value EnableEventLog.
  4. Double-click on EnableEventLog to edit the value.
  5. Enter 1 in the Value data field and click OK.
  6. Log out and then log back in.
  7. Navigate to Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\EventLog\Application\printredir and confirm that EventMessageFile has been created.
  8. In the Windows Event Viewer, select Windows Logs > Application and confirm that events with source printredir have been created.

    Find the printredir event indicating that the printers have been redirected successfully and note the number of printers that have been redirected. For example, if there are eight redirected printers, the event would have a message like 8 printer(s) redirected successfully.

  9. In Windows Print Management, select Custom Filters > All Printers and confirm that all of the redirected printers are listed.