Introduction
With directprint.io's IP range printer allocation, it's now possible to assign printers to users based on their workstation's IP address and/or Public IP address.
Private range-based allocation
Private range allocation is useful in organizations that have multiple subnets, e.g. 10.4.5.x 10.4.6.x.
When users move between subnets, printer lists will automatically update to give access to the printers within the range.
Public range-based allocation
Public range allocation is useful for organizations that have multiple branch offices with standard internet connections (no WAN / office interconnect). e.g. Multiple retail outlets all using private ranges of 172.16.x.x
Each retail outlet will have a unique public (Internet) IP address e.g. 45.46.47.48, printers can be allocated based on the individual IP or range of public IPs that the endpoint reports. When users to move between retail outlets their printer lists will automatically update according to the public IP of the router that connects the endpoint to the Internet.
Relationship with directory-based allocation (Workspace / Azure AD)
The IP-range allocation must be used in combination with the other allocation methods in directprint.io such as OU, group, device, or individual allocation.
Creating IP-ranges
- Navigate to the IP range allocation screen and click on 'New range'.
- Provide the IP range with a descriptive name so that you can easily reference it later.
- You now have some options. You can specify a public IP range, private IP range, or both.
- If you do not wish to specify a public IP range leave this field set to 'Any' and then define your private IP range.
- If you do not wish to specify a private IP range then define your public IP range and leave the private IP address set to 'Any'
- Once you have created your IP ranges, you can now assign printers to them, use the edit icon in the Actions column. It's worth noting that the printers you allocate do not necessarily need to be within the defined IP range.
Allocating IP ranges to OUs, Groups, Devices, or Users
To give IT admins fine-grain control on IP-based allocation, we've combined it with our other allocation methods. This means you can have two identical IP ranges containing different printer lists and allocate them to the correct user base. For example;
- IP range for Teachers
- Staff printer 1
- Staff printer 2
- Staff printer 3
- IP range for Hight School Students
- Student printer 1
- Student printer 2
- Student printer 3
If you now assign the 'IP-range for Staff' to your Staff->Teachers OU, then every time your teachers are within the IP range then they will automatically receive Staff printer 1, Staff printer 2, etc...
If you allocate 'IP-range for Students' to your Students->High School students OU, then every time your students are within the defined IP range they will receive Student printer 1, Student printer 2, etc.