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Start monitoring network thermal printers

Network thermal printers are identified and registered automatically on the portal after completing the configuration steps described in this documentation.

It is not possible to register thermal printers manually.

Instructions

Learn the first steps to start monitoring network thermal printers. It starts with:

  • The installation of the DCA and Cloud Connector agent on the computer or server connected to the devices to be monitored;

  • Enabling and configuring monitoring rules;

  • The configuration of services, determining which thermal printers will be monitored;

  • The thermal printer classification to determine which ones will be managed by the NDD Orbix portal and which will not (optional).

Step 1. Generate the agent installer

Who can use this feature

Users with the Admin or Generate installer permissions

The installer is generated directly in the NDD Orbix portal and can be customized according to the organization's needs:

Warning

If the agent is already installed to monitor another device, it is not necessary to reinstall it on the same computer or server.

In this case, go directly to Step 3. Enable and configure monitoring rules and following.

Generate an installer with direct or proxy communication

  1. Create the customer, as instructed at Create customer, site and department

  2. After creating the customer, access the menu Installations > Installers > Generate installer

  3. In the Install Local Monitoring option, click Select

  4. Click Generate installer

  5. In the side tab, select the desired customer

  6. Click the Generate installer button

  7. Copy the link of the generated installer or click Send by email to send the installer link to the configured emails
    When pasted into the browser, the file download will start automatically.

    1. When you click Send by email, a side tab will open

    2. Define the recipients:

      1. System emails: select users registered on the NDD Orbix portal;

      2. External emails: enter the email address in the field indicated and click Add. Repeat the process until you have included all the desired emails;

      3. Both.

    3. Click the Send installer button to immediately send the installer link to the configured emails

The link is valid for 90 days. After this period, you will need to generate a new installer.

Generate an installer with gateway communication

  1. Create the customer, as instructed at Create customer, site and department

  2. After creating the customer, access the menu Installations > Installers > Generate installer

  3. In the Install Local Monitoring option, click Select

  4. Click Customize

  5. Select the desired customer

  6. In the Communicator connection to the cloud field, if Gateway Connector is being used to communicate with NDD Orbix servers, enter the address (IP or hostname) and port of the computer/server where Gateway Connector was installed, in the following format: IP:port
    If filled in, the address and port will be predefined in the installer.

💡

Example

192.168.0.1:9635

Information

To install Gateway Connector, access Install the Gateway Connector on Windows.

  1. Click the Generate installer button

  2. Copy the link of the generated installer or click Send by email to send the installer link to the configured emails
    When pasted into the browser, the file download will start automatically.

    1. When you click Send by email, a side tab will open

    2. Define the recipients:

      1. System emails: select users registered on the NDD Orbix portal;

      2. External emails: enter the email address in the field indicated and click Add. Repeat the process until you have included all the desired emails;

      3. Both.

    3. Click the Send installer button to immediately send the installer link to the configured emails

The link is valid for 90 days. After this period, you will need to generate a new installer.

Step 2. Install the agent in the environment

Currently, the installation of DCA and Cloud Connector for monitoring network thermal printers is only available for Windows operating systems.

Install manually on Windows operating system

Warning

If the gateway is used for communication between the agent and the portal, install the Gateway Connector before installing the DCA and Cloud Connector agent.

Note

The installer is customized for each customer and cannot be used for customers other than the one selected at the time of generation.

  1. Check the installation prerequisites at Prerequisites for installing the DCA and Cloud Connector agent

  2. Access the link generated by the portal to download the installer

  3. Run the downloaded file

  4. Select the desired language and click Próximo

First, the NDD - Queues Monitor, Microsoft .NET Runtime, Microsoft ASP.NET Core Runtime, and EpsonNet SDK for Windows applications will be installed. If they are already installed, steps 5 through 7 will be skipped, and the installation will proceed from step 8.

  1. Click Next on the prerequisite installation welcome screen

  2. Click Next to start installing the prerequisites

  3. Wait for installation

Once the prerequisites have been installed, the installation of the DCA and Cloud Connector agent will begin.

  1. Click Next on the agent installation welcome screen

  2. Choose the Installation folder and Work folder and click Next

  3. Click Next on the provider and customer information screen.
    The fields will be filled in automatically according to the configurations generated in the installer portal.

  4. Under Additional settings, if desired, select the type of communication (proxy or gateway) and click Next

    1. If no option is selected, communication will take place directly between the agent and the portal

    2. If Use proxy for communication with NDD Orbix servers is selected, enter the necessary proxy connection settings (address, port and authentication, if any) and click Next

    3. If Use Gateway Connector to communicate with NDD Orbix servers option is selected, enter the address (IP or hostname) and port of the computer/server where the Gateway Connector was installed and click Next
      If the address and port have been previously configured in the NDD Orbix portal when generating the installer, these fields will already be filled in.

  5. Click Install

  6. Wait for installation and click Finish

Install silently on Windows operating system

Warning

If the gateway is used for communication between the agent and the portal, install the Gateway Connector before installing the DCA and Cloud Connector agent.

Note

The installer is customized for each customer and cannot be used for customers other than the one selected at the time of generation.

  1. Check the installation prerequisites at (Current-en) essentials Agent installation prerequisites

  2. Run the downloaded file via Command Prompt

    1. Navigate to the directory where the agent executable is located via Command Prompt

    2. Enter the name of the executable (NDD - Network printer monitoring.exe or NDD - Local monitoring.exe)

    3. Enter the other desired parameters, listed below

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Example

C:\Downloads\DCA> NDD - Network printer monitoring.exe APPDIR=C:\test WORKFOLDER=C:\test /quiet

DCA and Cloud Connector silent installation parameters

The parameters with "*" are mandatory and must be observed.

The parameters with "**" may become mandatory depending on other parameters used.

Warning

The silent installation of DCA and Cloud Connector must be performed using the parameters documented below. The other options displayed in the installer help (/? or /help) should be disregarded.

APPDIR – Configures the installation directory of DCA and Cloud Connector

  • Setup option: enter the path where you want to install the agent.

  • Requirement: optional.

  • Behavior if not configured: installs in the default directory: C:\Program Files (x86)\NDD TECH\DCA and Cloud Connector.

  • Example: APPDIR=C:\test

WORKFOLDER – Configures the directory of the DCA and Cloud Connector work folder

  • Setup option: enter the path where you want to create the agent's work folder.

  • Requirement: optional.

  • Behavior if not configured: installs in the default directory: C:\NDD TECH\Workfolder.

  • Example: WORKFOLDER=C:\test

ENABLEPROXY – Enables the use of the proxy

  • Setup option: checked = enabled.

  • Requirement: optional (do not use the parameter if you do not want the proxy to be enabled).

  • Behavior if not configured: proxy will not be enabled.

  • Example: ENABLEPROXY=checked

**PROXYADDRESS – Configures the proxy server address

  • Setup option: enter the proxy address.

  • Requirement: mandatory if proxy use is enabled (ENABLEPROXY=checked).

  • Behavior if not configured: proxy will not be configured correctly.

  • Example: PROXYADDRESS=192.168.17.10

**PROXYPORT – Configures the communication port of the proxy server

  • Setup option: enter the proxy port number.

  • Requirement: mandatory if proxy use is enabled (ENABLEPROXY=checked).

  • Behavior if not configured: proxy will not be configured correctly.

  • Example: PROXYPORT=12

ENABLEGATEWAY - Enables the use of the gateway

  • Setup option: checked = enabled.

  • Requirement: optional (do not use the parameter if you do not want the gateway to be enabled).

  • Behavior if not configured: gateway will not be enabled.

  • Example: ENABLEGATEWAY=checked

**GATEWAYADDRESS - Configures the gateway address

  • Setup option: enter the address (IP or hostname) of the computer/server where the Gateway Connector was installed.

  • Requirement: mandatory if gateway use is enabled (ENABLEGATEWAY=checked).

  • Behavior if not configured: gateway will not be configured correctly.

  • Example: GATEWAYADDRESS=192.168.17.10

**GATEWAYPORT - Configures the communication port of the gateway

  • Setup option: enter the gateway port number.
    The default gateway port is 9635, but you can enter another one if you wish.

  • Requirement: mandatory if gateway use is enabled (ENABLEGATEWAY=checked).

  • Behavior if not configured: gateway will not be configured correctly.

  • Example: GATEWAYPORT=12

Step 3. Enable and configure monitoring rules

When installing the agent, no services will be enabled. The next step is to enable the service in the NDD Orbix portal according to your needs, so that the agent can take over the service and perform monitoring of the devices.

  1. Go to Installations > Enable services

  2. Locate the Network thermal printer monitoring option

  3. Click on the Edit button

  4. Enable the service
    If you enable it, all the registered rules will be activated.
    If you disable it, all the registered rules and the services that monitor network thermal printers (NDD - Thermal Monitor) will be deactivated.

  5. Click the Save button

  6. Click on the Configure Rules button

By default, the NDD Orbix portal will have a rule registered for all customers and all computers, but disabled. You therefore need to create specific rules to configure network thermal printer monitoring for the computers you want.

  1. Click the ✚ button in the top right corner

  2. In the side tab, select the computer you want to enable network thermal printer monitoring on (the agents installed on the selected computer will be monitored)

  3. Click the Add button to create the rule and remain on the add screen, or the Add and Close button to create the rule and return to the grid
    You can select and add only one computer at a time.

When the rule is created, the services of the agents linked to the computer will be synchronized. The service will then be immediately available for other configurations.

If synchronization fails when the rule is created, select the desired rule in the grid and click the Synchronize button in the top right corner. If there is no synchronization, the service will only be available when the agent is next read.

If a rule is deleted and no new rules are registered for the same computer, device monitoring will stop.

Step 4. Configure the service

Access the documentation below to define which thermal printers will be monitored:

  1. Configure addresses for searching network thermal printers for the service (mandatory configuration): to configure the addresses for searching for thermal printers.

  2. Configure network thermal printer search for the service (optional configuration): to configure the scheduled search for thermal printers or start the search immediately.

  3. Configure network thermal printer service synchronization (optional configuration): to configure service synchronization.

  4. Configure network thermal printer service monitoring (optional configuration): to configure service monitoring.

  5. Configure network thermal printer service communication (optional configuration): to configure service communication.

Step 5. Classify the thermal printers to be managed

Who can use this feature

Users with the Administrator or Manage new devices permission

After completing the previous steps, all network thermal printers identified by the agent will be automatically registered in the portal. From that point on, the system will begin collecting registration data, odometer readings, supplies, and events.

Newly identified thermal printers remain available in the Devices > New devices menu for up to 15 days. If no action is taken within this period, the printer will be automatically classified as managed.

For this reason, manual classification of thermal printers is an optional configuration. It allows the provider to evaluate newly identified printers and define which devices will be managed or unmanaged by the NDD Orbix portal before they are automatically classified as managed after the 15-day period.

Whenever the agent identifies new thermal printers on the network, they will be made available in the Devices > New devices menu for classification. At that point, the 15-day period will begin. The entry date can be found in the corresponding column of the grid.

If you want to classify the devices manually before automatic classification, follow the steps below:

  1. Go to the Devices > New devices menu

  2. Select the desired devices

    1. To access the device properties, click on its name

  3. Click the Manage or Not manage button

Depending on the classification performed:

  • Managed printers will be moved to the Devices > Inventory and Monitoring > Thermal printers menus.

  • Unmanaged printers will be moved to the Devices > Unmanaged menu.

In both cases, you can view the device’s entry date in the grid of the respective menu.

Warning

Moving a thermal printer between customers does not cause it to be considered a new device. However, when a printer is moved between providers, it is processed as a new device and will become available again in the Devices > New devices menu for classification.

As long as the thermal printer remains in the Devices > New devices menu, it will not be considered for provider billing purposes. However, the collection of registration data, odometer readings, supplies, and events will continue as usual.

Information

The initial classification defines the device’s status after it is identified, but the management status can be changed later, as instructed at Stop managing or return to managing thermal printers.

To view the inventory of managed thermal printers, access View thermal printer inventory.

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