Get printer make and model

[John Morgan]

I am looking for a way to get the make, model and hardware version of a network printer. I found the following code but it only brings back the name not the information I need. Any suggestions on getting the information I need?

public class PrinterName {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // Lookup for the available print services.
        PrintService[] printServices = PrinterJob.lookupPrintServices();

        // Iterates the print services and print out its name.
        for (PrintService printService : printServices) {
            String name = printService.getName();
            System.out.println("Name = " + name);
        }
    }
}

TIA

[Ron McLeod]

You can get some queue-related information from the print services  attributes, but not what you are wanting.  Maybe there is a different API to get the actual hardware-related information?  If you knew the IP addresses, you could probably use SNMP to GET what you are looking for.
SnagIt 8   printer-is-accepting-jobs: accepting-jobs   queued-job-count: 0   printer-name: SnagIt 8   color-supported: supported HP Color LaserJet CM2320 MFP Series PCL 6   printer-is-accepting-jobs: accepting-jobs   queued-job-count: 0   printer-name: HP Color LaserJet CM2320 MFP Series PCL 6   color-supported: supported HP Color LaserJet CM2320 MFP Series Fax   printer-is-accepting-jobs: accepting-jobs   queued-job-count: 0   printer-name: HP Color LaserJet CM2320 MFP Series Fax   color-supported: not-supported HP 4100TN using PCL 6   printer-is-accepting-jobs: accepting-jobs   queued-job-count: 0   printer-name: HP 4100TN using PCL 6   color-supported: supported Apple ImageWriter - Text Only   printer-is-accepting-jobs: accepting-jobs   queued-job-count: 0   printer-name: Apple ImageWriter - Text Only   color-supported: not-supported

public static void main(String[] args) {
	// Lookup for the available print services.
	PrintService[] printServices = PrinterJob.lookupPrintServices();
	StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
	for (PrintService printService : printServices) {
		sb.append(printService.getName()).append(System.lineSeparator());
		PrintServiceAttributeSet attributes = printService.getAttributes();
		Arrays.stream(attributes.toArray())
				.map(attr -> String.format("%s: %s", attr.getName(), attributes.get(attr.getCategory())))
				.forEach(str -> sb.append("   ").append(str).append(System.lineSeparator()));
	}
	System.out.println(sb);
}

[Ron McLeod]

Here's an example of retrieving the model number and serial number using SNMP.  There are a number of standardized OIDs that most printers should support.

I used a command line tool, but there are Java libraries as well.
snmpget 192.168.100.31  1.3.6.1.2.1.25.3.2.1.3.1  1.3.6.1.2.1.43.5.1.1.17.1 .1.3.6.1.2.1.25.3.2.1.3.1 Value (OctetString): HP Color LaserJet CM2320nf MFP .1.3.6.1.2.1.43.5.1.1.17.1 Value (OctetString): CNB901MB0C snmpget 192.168.100.8  1.3.6.1.2.1.25.3.2.1.3.1  1.3.6.1.2.1.43.5.1.1.17.1 .1.3.6.1.2.1.25.3.2.1.3.1 Value (OctetString): HP LaserJet 4100 Series .1.3.6.1.2.1.43.5.1.1.17.1 Value (OctetString): USBNF99187

[Tim Holloway]

There may be an additional issue in that Java Print Services is probably going to return the logical printer names as defined to the local machine OS and not the canonical printer names and locations.

In and of itself, that's insufficient. It won't even tell you which machine the printer is on, much less the interface type (Centronics Parallel, USB, Ethernet, WiFi, etc.). Some interfaces, such as the old-style parallel were one-way and thus impossible to query. SNMP only works for direct network connections. It wouldn't work on my printer, because it's a USB device on a remote CUPS server.

So a universal solution - especially one that doesn't allow intrusion into remote systems - is probably impossible. If you have a specific set of printers - and they have direct network IP addresses - AND if you are allowed SNMP access to them, then you'll be able to use Java SNMP queries to find out more. Note that the OIDs returned for different printer models and manufacturers may vary so it's going to be more confirming your guesses than directly obtaining what you want.

As I mentioned, my own printer is presently connected as a USB device to a print server machine. Although initially I'd used a parallel-port cable. For comparison with SNMP, this is what a remote shell "lspci" command tells me about it:

Bus 004 Device 002: ID 04f9:000d Brother Industries, Ltd HL-1440 Laser Printer
Device Descriptor:
  bLength                18
  bDescriptorType         1
  bcdUSB               1.00
  bDeviceClass            0 (Defined at Interface level)
  bDeviceSubClass         0 
  bDeviceProtocol         0 
  bMaxPacketSize0         8
  idVendor           0x04f9 Brother Industries, Ltd
  idProduct          0x000d HL-1440 Laser Printer
  bcdDevice            1.00
  iManufacturer           0 
  iProduct                0 
  iSerial                 0 
  bNumConfigurations      1
  Configuration Descriptor:
    bLength                 9
    bDescriptorType         2
    wTotalLength           32
    bNumInterfaces          1
    bConfigurationValue     1
    iConfiguration          0 
    bmAttributes         0x40
      (Missing must-be-set bit!)
      Self Powered
    MaxPower                0mA
    Interface Descriptor:
      bLength                 9
      bDescriptorType         4
      bInterfaceNumber        0
      bAlternateSetting       0
      bNumEndpoints           2
      bInterfaceClass         7 Printer
      bInterfaceSubClass      1 Printer
      bInterfaceProtocol      2 Bidirectional
      iInterface              0 
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x01  EP 1 OUT
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0040  1x 64 bytes
        bInterval               0
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x82  EP 2 IN
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0040  1x 64 bytes
        bInterval               0
Device Status:     0x0001
  Self Powered

[John Morgan]

Just to clarify what I am trying to do. We have an application that sends overnight batch printing jobs to remote printers in different cities. Not all these printers have SNMP turned on for various reasons and some times the printers are changed with a different make and model without our knowledge. So what I am trying to do is reach out to the printer, grab the make and model, check that against an approved list of makes and models from our print server and if it is okay then send the print job, if not then send an email to the person in charge of that printer stating their batch print was not sent as the printer was not on the approved list. Most of this we have covered, except getting the hardware information.

Thanks for all the suggestions so far.

[Tim Holloway]

If you have sufficient authority to refuse to print, you likely can obtain authority to refuse printers that don't expose SNMP. SNMP being what it is, just using it means that you probably need a qualified technician to properly enable and secure it (think of it as Job Creation).

Modern printing systems actually don't restrict themselves to a single physical printer. If I was printing a lot, I could set up a whole bank of printers serving a single print queue and that would be done at the print server end. However, you don't see much of that anymore, since while the Paperles Office still eludes us, bulk printing is something that few concerns do unless they are bulk mailing.

[Tim Moores]

Using a library like https://github.com/4thline/cling you can try to determine information via UPnP. DNS-SD, for which Java client libraries exist as well, is another route to gathering information about network devices.