c# - add printer to local computer using ManagementClass

Question

I see references and hints that programmatically one can add a networked printer to a local computer using the ManagementClass and such. However I have not been able to find any actual tutorials on doing just this.

has anyone actually used the ManagementClass to do this?

I am doing this:

var connectionOption = new ConnectionOption();
var mgmScope = new ManagementScope("rootcimv2",connectionOptions);

var printerClass = new ManagementClass(mgmScope, new ManagementPath("Win32_Printer"),null);
var printerObj = printerClass.CreateInstance();

printerObj["DeviceID"] = prnName;     //
printerObj["DriverName"] = drvName;   // full path to driver
printerObj["PortName"] = "myTestPort:";

var options = new PutOptions {Type = PutType.UpdateOrCreate};
printerObj.Put(options);   

All this does is create an error "Generic Failure"

I cant figure out what I am missing..... any help or thoughts about this would be appreciated.

I think I need to better explain what I am trying to do... when the printers needed are not tied to a print server, I need to: create a tcpip raw port, connect a printer via tcp/ip, install drivers, optionally set default.

I was hoping WMI could basically take care of all of this but it doesnt appear to be the case.

thanks!

Answer 1

The WMI Win32_Printer class provides a method called AddPrinterConnection to add a network printer to the list of local printers. The code below shows how to connect a network printer using the Win32_Printer class.

Please note, that under certain conditions the AddPrinterConnection fails to connect the remote printer. In the example below I've listed the most common error cases.

using (ManagementClass win32Printer = new ManagementClass("Win32_Printer"))
{
  using (ManagementBaseObject inputParam =
     win32Printer.GetMethodParameters("AddPrinterConnection"))
  {
    // Replace <server_name> and <printer_name> with the actual server and
    // printer names.
    inputParam.SetPropertyValue("Name", "\\<server_name>\<printer_name>");

    using (ManagementBaseObject result = 
        (ManagementBaseObject)win32Printer.InvokeMethod("AddPrinterConnection", inputParam, null))
    {
      uint errorCode = (uint)result.Properties["returnValue"].Value;

      switch (errorCode)
      {
        case 0:
          Console.Out.WriteLine("Successfully connected printer.");
          break;
        case 5:
          Console.Out.WriteLine("Access Denied.");
          break;
        case 123:
          Console.Out.WriteLine("The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect.");
          break;
        case 1801:
          Console.Out.WriteLine("Invalid Printer Name.");
          break;
        case 1930:
          Console.Out.WriteLine("Incompatible Printer Driver.");
          break;
        case 3019:
          Console.Out.WriteLine("The specified printer driver was not found on the system and needs to be downloaded.");
          break;
      }
    }
  }
}