Network Printing

Adding a Printer to a Cluster

After creating the group, resources, ports, and printer drivers, you can add a printer to the cluster. Each node must have connectivity to the remote print server device (port). A locally connected computer cannot be used in a cluster configuration because the printer is connected directly to the node and does not fail over if that node goes down.

Adding a printer to a cluster is the same as adding it to any other computer, with the following exceptions:

Never start from the local Printers folder. The cluster always appears remote, even if you are working on the active cluster node. Instead, type the cluster name (for example, \\Cluster-prn) in the Run menu. Then click the remote Printers folder that is displayed.
If the Add Printer Wizard does not appear when the remote Printers folder opens, you cannot continue. One of three things is wrong:
- You do not have administrator permissions on each cluster node.
- The spooler service is not started on the current computer (unlikely).
- The cluster does not have at least one Print Spooler resource online.