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What is IPP?

The Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) provides a modern standardized form of communication between a printer and printing client. Windows supports this protocol through its inbox "Microsoft IPP Class Driver". This is also the protocol over which Universal Print functions.

Why use IPP?

The "Microsoft IPP Class Driver" is a universal, inbox driver that can communicate via IPP with any Mopria certified printer. Using it provides the following benefits:

  • Security: Removes the need for installing traditional third-party drivers on Windows, making it more secure (Read more).
  • Reliability: Avoids driver-specific issues such as: crashes, memory leaks, and translation failures between custom driver-based print configurations and IPP (which may result in failed jobs or undesired outputs).
  • Print Management Simplification: No need to worry about finding the “right” print driver and its version for a given Windows SKU and device architecture.
  • Future-proofing: Microsoft will be deprecating traditional third-party print drivers on Windows soon. Additionally, future performance and functionality improvements in the Connector may only be available through IPP printing.

IPP printers with the Universal Print Connector

Before registering your printers with the Universal Print Connector, you must first install them on the Connector host machine. It is recommended to install the printer via IPP Directed Discovery whenever possible.

Pre-requisites

  • The Connector must be installed on a machine with one of the following operating systems
    • Windows Server 2025 or higher
    • Windows 11 version 24H2 or higher
  • Printer must be Mopria certified.
  • IPP support must be enabled on the physical printer (some printers may ship with IPP disabled. Refer to the printer's documentation to enable it).
  • Printer must be configured with a static IP address.

NOTE: It’s recommended to use the highest possible Windows version to ensure Connector can leverage the latest IPP updates in Windows.

Installing a printer via IPP Directed Discovery

  • Under Windows Settings, go to “Bluetooth & devices” > "Printers & Scanners"
  • Navigate to "Add device" > "Add new device manually" > "Add a printer using an IP address or hostname"
  • For "Device type" select "IPP Device"
  • For "Hostname or IP address" type the IP address of the printer (e.g. 192.160.1.110)
  • Finish the remaining steps and ensure printer is installed successfully.
  • Some printers may be automatically associated with a Print Support Application (PSA), which is not yet supported on the Connector (although support will be added soon). You can identify this association by opening the "Printing Preferences" for the IPP printer; if it displays an OEM-specific UI instead of the Windows default UI, a PSA is in use. If this occurs, remove the PSA from the Connector host machine. To do this, search for the app in the Windows search bar and uninstall it from the device. After removal, reopening "Printing Preferences" should display the Windows default UI.

Note: Once the printer is installed, it is recommended to navigate to “Printing Preferences” to ensure all the print options your setup requires are present. Some printers may have functionality that is only available through the OEM driver and/or PSAs.

Migrating from third-party drivers to IPP

If you have an existing setup using OEM drivers, you can migrate it to IPP. The steps below will install a new instance of the printer using IPP, register it to Universal Print, and update the Universal Print share to point to the newly registered printer.

Note

The previous instance of the printer that uses the OEM driver still exists and remains registered, but there is no Universal Print share pointing to it.

  1. On the Connector host machine that is using the third-party drivers, run:

    This script will generate the file PrintersToMove.txt containing a list in the following format:

    cloudDeviceId1 => ipAddress1
cloudDeviceId2 => ipAddress2
cloudDeviceId3 => ipAddress3

    If there are some printers you do not wish to migrate, remove them from the list.

  2. You can perform the next steps on either the same Connector host machine or a new one. If using a new machine:

    • Download and register a new Universal Print Connector.
    • Copy the PrintersToMove.txt file generated in the previous step.

    Tip

    Here are a few reasons to consider using a new host machine for your migration:

    1. If you are using an older OS version, this is a good opportunity to upgrade to the latest Windows OS.
    2. If you want a fresh environment without any third-party drivers installed.
    3. If not all your printers support IPP, this can help you separate your IPP environment from your third-party environment.

  3. On the machine that you want to install the printers as IPP, run the following commands in a PowerShell window:

    • Install-Module "Microsoft.Identity.Client"
    • Install-Module "UniversalPrintManagement"
    • Sample reinstall printers as IPP script.ps1
      • The script takes as parameters:
      1. FilePath: A text file containing the printer mappings. (Provide the full path to PrintersToMove.txt).
      2. Verify: Indicates whether to pause and verify capabilities before each swap (y/n).
        • y: The script will wait for manual confirmation after installing each printer using IPP and before swapping the printer underneath the Universal Print share. This gives you a chance to navigate to the printer's "Printing Preferences" to ensure all required functionality is available through IPP before proceeding.
        • n: The script will perform all IPP printer installations and Universal Print share swaps without pausing.
      • When prompted to sign in, use the same credentials used for the Connector.

  4. After validating the new environment, you may choose to either revert the changes or perform a cleanup. The Sample reinstall printers as IPP script.ps1 script will generate two files:

    • revert.ps1: Contains commands to swap the Universal Print shares back to the original OEM printer instances.
    • cleanup.ps1: Contains commands to unregister the old Universal Print printers (note that you still need to remove the printers locally).

    Tip

    The cleanup and revert scripts have a very simple format (just one command per printer), so you can easily modify them to clean up or revert only the printers you choose.

Troubleshooting:

If the printer installation fails it may be due to one of the following reasons:

  • Printer is not Mopria certified

    • Solution: Please refer to the printer's documentation.

  • IPP may not be enabled on the printer

    • Solution: Please refer to the printer's documentation.

  • IP address may be incorrect or unreachable

    • Solution: Verify the IP address on the printer's console and ensure it can be pinged from the Connector host machine.

  • The printer uses a different IPP url other than the default one

    • Solution: Instead of entering the IP address in "Hostname or IP address", add the full IPP URL that the printer may be expecting. Typically, URL is in the following format (please refer to the printer's documentation to identify the parts needed to construct it):
    <service>://<ip address>:<port>/<resource path>

    e.g.

    • ipp://192.160.1.110:631/ipp/print
    • ipps://192.160.1.110:443/ipp/print
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