HP EasyStart over VPN

[bjojade]

Hi.  Trying to install the printer drivers with HP EasyStart on a client machine that is connecting via a VPN.  On machines on the local network, the software installs just fine and then the printer works over the VPN.  However, I've got a client machine now that isn't on the local network that I need to get the printer drivers installed for.

Is there any way to manually tell the software what I want installed??  Please tell me there is and 'advanced' button somewhere where I can manually configure it!!!

Thanks.

[John_Getzke]

VPNs mess with your local network traffic unless otherwise configured to allow it.  

I suggest installing the printer as USB to get the drivers and queue setup on the client machine.  Then convert the USB install into a network install later.  All you should have to do is switch the port from USB to TCP/IP with the correct IP.  The driver and queue should work from there.

[bjojade]

How do I install the software as USB?  I run the installer and it simply says it cant find ANY printer.  The problem is, the computer I am trying to set up is in a different location than the computer is, so physically connecting it isn't an option.

In days of old, you could simply install the software and not it try and walk you through setup. I want to do setup on my own!

[John_Getzke]

> I run the installer and it simply says it cant find ANY printer.  

I suspect your VPN policy disables local traffic when the VPN client is engaged.  When you complete a VPN connection you are essentially removing the client machine from its local network and placing it on the VPN server.  If those printers you are attempting to connect to do not exist on the same network as the VPN server then you are out of luck.

Lets run an experiment to confirm. First you need to confirm if the Client Machine can even contact the printer over the network with the VPN engaged.  Start by printing off the configuration page from the printers control panel.  Confirm the IPv4 address of the printer in the networking section of the report.  Then either try to PING the IPv4 Address or enter it into a web browser.  

If something responds then you know the client machine can communicate with the printer over the network. Something else must be the problem.

If not then you know either the IPv4 address is incorrect or the VPN is interfering with your traffic.  You would then need to rule out the VPN in the situation by temporarily disabling it and trying to communicate with the printer again. This will require some user assistance.

> How do I install the software as USB?

Ask the user to physically move the printer to the PC or the PC to the printer, attach the USB cable and then run the installation.

> In days of old, you could simply install the software and not it try and walk you through setup. I want to do setup on my own!

Can't help you here.  Pre-installing the hp software and drivers is a pain in the butt to setup and manage in the long run.  We do not preinstall anything where I work.  We provide the installation files and instructions to users on where to find them.  Users click through the wizard on their own and contact our Help Desk if they get stuck.  

[bjojade]

I think you're missing the point.  The printer is in a different city from the customer. If I were to go get the computer and drag it to the physical network that the printer is on, it would work.  Great.

All I want to do is install the software without the printer being present on the same network.  The software is trying to do auto discovery to 'find' the printer to make it easier to set up.  I know it can't, but still want it to proceed to install the software so I can manually configure the printer to work.

No, auto discovery doesn't work over a VPN. That's normal and expected and I don't care. I can enter the IP address and connect to the printer, but the installer simply doesn't let me go on if it can't see it on its own. It doesn't give me an option to say I know it's not on the same network, but install it anyway.

Another way to think about it would be if I wanted to pre-install the software on a computer I'm deploying versus having to do the setup of the machine onsite.  It's crazy if I can't do that easily.