LeSF Setup Guide

Objectives of the document

The purpose of this document is to assist the user with the setup and configuration of the Print Director Lexmark Embedded Solutions Framework (LeSF) application. It will detail the installation of the application on the printer and the configuration on the device and in Resource Manager.

Supported devices

At the time of publication, the support Lexmark MFPs are:

SDK2:

  • X651de, X652de, XS651, XS652
  • X738de, X736de, X734de, X738dte, XS734, XS736, XS738
  • X466dwe, X466dte, X466de, X464de, X463de*, XS463*, XS464, XS466
  • X860de, X862de, X862dte, X864de, X864dhe, XS860, XS862, XS864

SDK3:

  • X746de, X748de, X748dte, XS748
  • X792de, X792dte, XS795, XS796, XS796, XS798
  • X925de, XS925
  • X950de, X952de, X952dte, X954de, X954dhe, XS950, XS955
  • X548dte, XS548
  • 6500e

SDK4:

  • MX410 Series,MX51x,XM1145
  • MX610,MX611,XM3150
  • MX710,XM5163
  • MX711,XM5170
  • MX810 Series,XM7155,XM7155X,XM7163,XM7163X,XM7170,XM7170X
  • CX410 Series
  • CX510 Series,XC2132
  • MX6500e Series

Features of the Print Director TM LeSF application

  • Full print, copy, scan and fax tracking.
  • Billing to third-party account codes / client numbers / project numbers on the LCD panel.
  • Account credit limit enforcement.
  • Integrated print tracking. Tracking of printouts is performed by the embedded application as opposed to data stream interpretation ensuring 100% accuracy.
  • Secure Document Release: Print jobs can be released at any printer no matter which device they were originally sent to.
  • Card reader support: HID 125 kHz and Mifare 13.5 MHz proximity access cards.
  • Device login via: card swipe, user pin or user select. Passwords can be enforced and validated against the PD database or Active Directory.
  • Accounts and user search supported.
  • Card number self-registration: Card numbers can be automatically assigned to a user at the printer after the username and password is validated against the PD database or Active Directory.
  • Scan to own email: Once the users have been set up in the PD database, there is no need to add their email addresses to the address book of every Lexmark device. The Scan to Email function will default to the email address of the logged in user.

Pre-requisites

Before installing the embedded application, ensure that the Print Director software installation is complete (min version 2.2.4.2). The device does not have to be created in Resource Manager first; it will be automatically created by the embedded application when it first connects to the server.

Ensure that the IP address of the server running PDServer is on hand and that port 20115 is not blocked by any hardware or software firewalls (Windows Firewall is automatically configured).

Ensure that the licence file that has been applied to the PDDB2 database contains enough Embedded Controller licences.

Installing on the Lexmark Device

  • Open a web browser. In the Address Bar, enter the IP of the device (e.g. http://192.168.10.10).
  • In the left menu option list, click Settings.
  • Under the Other Settings header, click Apps then Apps Management (Embedded Solutions on older models).
  • Click Install a New App (Install button on older models).
  • Click the Browse button and navigate to where the PDLexmark.fls file is saved.
  • Click Start Install.
  • Once the installation process is complete click the Return button.
  • In the list of eSF applications click the Print Director Lexmark Integration link.
  • Click Configure.
  • In the Primary Server address textbox, enter the IP address of the server running PDServer. Leave the port on 20115.
  • Click Apply.

Now that the embedded application has been installed, the Welcome Screen should be displayed on the LCD panel. If there is an error shown, or if there is a clock symbol that never ends, check the following:

  • Ensure the IP address is correct.
  • Ensure that the PDServer service is running on the server.
  • Ensure that port TCP 20115 is not blocked by any firewalls.

Recommended Lexmark Device settings

There are a number of settings on the Lexmark Device that are recommended to be changed from the default. This will improve the experience after installing the Print Director embedded application.

Changing the logout timeout

Once a user has logged in to the MFP, they have a certain amount of time to select a function to perform before a timeout occurs and they have to log in again. A shorter timeout helps prevent other users from using device functions after another user has logged in and then walked away from the printer without logging out (by pressing the home button). However, the default on a new Lexmark device is very short. Here are the steps to change it:

  • Open a web browser. In the Address Bar, enter the IP of the device (e.g. http://192.168.10.10).
  • In the left menu option list, click Settings.
  • Beneath the Other Settings header, click Security.
  • Click Miscellaneous Security Settings.
  • Click Login Restrictions.
  • In the Panel Login Timeout, enter the new timeout (e.g. 30 seconds).

Prevent users from disabling the embedded application

By default there is no user name and password requirement that prevents unauthorised users from changing settings on the Lexmark Device. Without configuring the Security, users could disable the Print Director embedded application and bypass all the tracking. To prevent this, follow these steps:

  • Open a web browser. In the Address Bar, enter the IP of the device (e.g. http://192.168.10.10).
  • In the left menu option list, click Settings.
  • Beneath the Other Settings header, click Security.
  • Click Security Setup.
  • In the Basic Security Setup frame, choose an Authentication Type from the drop-down box (e.g. User ID and password).
  • Enter the required fields below the drop-down and then click the Apply button.

Now that the Basic Security Setup has been configured, the User ID and Password will be required to change any of the device settings. Keep this information safe.

Enabling scan to own email address

Once the users have been set up in Resource Manager with their email addresses, there is no need to add them to the address book of every Lexmark device. Their email address will automatically be displayed in the To field of the Email profile after they log in.

Resource Manager configuration

Once the Lexmark Integrated Application has been installed on the device and connected to the server running the PDServer service, it can be configured in Resource Manager. To access the settings, follow these steps:

  • Open Resource Manager (Start > Programs > Print Director 2 > Resource Manager).
  • Navigate to Device Management > Shared Devices.
  • Double click the Lexmark device in the right hand pane.
  • Click the Controller tab.

On the Controller tab the option in the Controller Type drop-down will be set to Lexmark Integrated. Below that are another set of tabs that dictate the behaviour of the embedded application.

General tab

Show the Welcome screen (before login)

If this is ticked a screen with a Login button will be displayed on the front panel. After this button is pressed, the authentication screen cycle will begin. This may be a card swipe, user select or user PIN screen. If this checkbox is disabled, then the first screen of the authentication cycle will be displayed (e.g. Please swipe card).

Show the User welcome screen (after login)

If this is ticked a screen will be displayed after this user has logged in, displaying their full name and the current balance of their account. If user credit limits are not enforced it is recommended to disable this screen.

Input screen timeout

Any screens that require user input (e.g. User PIN or Select Jobs for Release) will time out after the specified number of seconds.

Message screen timeout

Screens that show a message to the user (e.g. Num jobs released, User welcome screen) will time out after the specified number of seconds.

Panel search control behaviour

The user select, account select and matter select screens, have the ability to filter the objects displayed based on a search string. The Search method drop-down specifies that way in which objects are matched. They can either match objects using the starting letters (Starts with) or any letter contained (Contains)

The Search field drop-down specifies which fields to search in, when matching according to the search method above. It can either search using the Object ID (e.g. Controller User ID, Account Code, Matter Code) or the Object name (User Name, Account Name) or both.

Print Jobs tab

Enable Secure Document Release

Ticking this checkbox means that print jobs will wait at the server (or workstation under direct-to-ip printing) until the user logs in to the Lexmark device and selects the jobs they would like to release.

The options within this frame specify whether to allow the user to release jobs at the device which they may have originally sent to another device that belongs to the same PullPrint Group. Place devices that have compatible drivers into the same PullPrint Group. For example, include devices that have PCL drivers in the same PullPrint Group and exclude devices that have drivers not supported on Lexmark devices (e.g. Ricoh RPCS).

Track internal print jobs

Tick this to record print jobs initiated by the device itself, e.g. fax or scan transmission logs.

Print job tracking

These options specify whether to track jobs using data-stream interpretation or whether to use reports sent by the embedded application to record print jobs.

Tracking via Lexmark Integration is almost always recommended. This is because it is more accurate than data-stream interpretation. However, the account billing workstation popup is not supported if tracking via integration is used. If a site requires billing to third party accounts then Secure Document Release must be enabled. This will allow the user to bill print jobs to accounts and still make use of integrated print tracking.

Authentication tab

Authentication type

The User identification method drop-down specifies whether users must swipe their cards to login or whether they can log by entering their details or both. If the option is set to Card swipe or keypad login, the Card Swipe screen will be displayed with a Manual login button. If they touch the Manual login button, they will be able to login using their details. If the option is set to Card swipe only, the Manual login button is disabled.  If the option is set to Keypad login only, then the Card Swipe screen is not displayed.

The Password requirement drop-down specifies whether to require a password after a card swipe or after entering a user PIN. By default it is set to Only with keypad login which means that if a card is swiped the user will be logged in without requiring a password. This can be changed to Never required or Always required.

User name input

Some sites like to keep the user name confidential. These sites would leave the User ID input method drop-down set to Type only. Other sites can change this to Type or select which will show a list of users meaning the user just needs to select their user name. They will also be able to search for their user ID or to manually enter their user ID.

If the user ID is used more like a PIN than a user name, the characters can be hidden by asterisks by ticking the Hide characters (*) checkbox.

Account billing tab

There are not many reasons to change the settings on this tab. The default is to use the per-user popup setting. However, the per-user popup setting can be ignored by setting the Account Code requirement drop-down to No Account Code entry or Account Code required. The user popup setting will then only affect printing (under datastream-interpretation).

It may be helpful to change the label to something more meaningful to the users. If the site bills jobs to Project Numbers then enter this in the Account Code button label textbox.

Card Settings tab

User self-registration of cards

One of the most labour intensive parts of the software implementation is the assigning of card numbers to users. An efficient way of doing it is for the users to assign their cards to themselves when they first use the device. If the network uses Active Directory, the users can be authenticated on the domain and then the card that they swiped will be assigned to their record.

Card reader settings

In order to determine the correct card settings, swipe a card at the device. This will cause an Invalid Card Number prompt to be displayed. It also writes the data received to the PDServer.log file. Copy the full-string from this file or from the Software Messages window (Tools > Software Messages).

Paste the full string in the text box. Alter the Start byte position and Num bytes and click the Convert button. The output will be displayed. Once the output shows the correct card number, the settings are correct.

Appendix A: Card Self-Registration with Active Directory Authentication

Ensure that User self-registration of cards is enabled in the Controller Settings and then follow these steps.

Set the domain name in the System Configuration

  • Open Resource Manager.
  • In the menu bar, choose Tools > System Configuration.
  • On the General tab, in the Active Directory Integration frame, fill in the Domain name textbox.
  • Test it by clicking the Test Authentication button.

Ensure the PDServer is running under a Domain Account

  • Open the Service Manager (Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services)
  • In the right panel double click PDServer.
  • Click the Log On tab.
  • Change the Log on as option to This account: and enter a domain username and password.
  • Click Ok
  • Restart the PDServer service.
  • NB: Ensure this domain account has local Admin rights.