yesterday’s script<\/a>. <\/p>\nIt is used to create the Win32_Printer<\/strong> WMI management object. To do this, you use the Get-WmiObject<\/strong> cmdlet. This is seen here: <\/p>\nFunction Get-Printer($computer)
{
Get-WmiObject -class Win32_Printer -computer $computer
} #end Get-Printer<\/p>\n<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n
The Format-LocalPrinter<\/strong> function is used to format the information that is displayed about the local printer. This function is also the same as the function that was used yesterday. The Format-LocalPrinter<\/strong> function accepts Win32_Printer<\/strong> WMI management object that was created in the Get-Printer<\/strong> function as input. Then it uses the Format-Table<\/strong> cmdlet to display four properties in a table. The Format-LocalPrinter<\/strong> function is shown here. <\/p>\nFunction Format-LocalPrinter($printObject)
{
Write-Host -foregroundcolor cyan “Local printers on $computer”
$printObject |
Format-Table -property deviceID, location, default, comment -autosize -wrap
} #end Format-Printer<\/p>\n<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n
When the SetDefaultPrinterDeletePrinterConnection.ps1 script is run with the –computer<\/strong> parameter and the –list <\/strong>switch, the Format-LocalPrinter<\/strong> function will be called. This command line is seen here:<\/p>\nPS bp:> .SetDefaultPrinterDeletePrinterConnection.ps1 -list -computer localhost<\/p>\n<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n
The resulting output from the Format-LocalPrinter function is seen in the following image.<\/p>\n
\n
![\"Image](\"http:\/\/img.microsoft.com\/library\/media\/1033\/technet\/images\/scriptcenter\/qanda\/hsg\/2009\/may\/hey0520\/hsg-05-20-09-01.jpg\" "\\"Image")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Next, the Set-DefaultPrinter<\/strong> function is created. This function is used to set the printer named in the –printerpath <\/strong>parameter to be the default printer on the computer. The SetdefaultPrinter <\/strong>method is an instance method. This means that it is available when you have a single instance of a printer. To obtain an instance of the win32_Printer <\/strong>WMI class, the printer object that is stored in the $printObject <\/strong>variable is piped to the Where-Object <\/strong>cmdlet. The Where-Object <\/strong>cmdlet is used to find an instance of a printer that has a value that is contained in the deviceID <\/strong>property that will match the value supplied through the –printerpath <\/strong>parameter. When the match is found, the instance is stored in the $dp <\/strong>variable. It is this instance that contains the SetDefaultPrinter<\/strong> WMI method. The Set-DefaultPrinter<\/strong> function is seen here: <\/p>\nFunction Set-DefaultPrinter($printObject, [string]$printerPath)
{
Write-Host -foregroundcolor cyan “Setting $printerPath to default printer”
$dp = $printObject |
Where-Object { $_.deviceID -match $printerPath }
$dp.SetDefaultPrinter()
} #end Set-DefaultPrinter<\/p>\n<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n
The command line to set the default printer is seen here. The computername<\/strong> parameter, the setdefault<\/strong> switched parameter, and the printerpath<\/strong> parameters must be supplied. <\/p>\nPS bp:> .SetDefaultPrinterDeletePrinterConnection.ps1 -setDefault -printer testprinter -computer localhost<\/p>\n<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n
When the script is run, the output shown in the following image is displayed. <\/p>\n
\n
![\"Image](\"http:\/\/img.microsoft.com\/library\/media\/1033\/technet\/images\/scriptcenter\/qanda\/hsg\/2009\/may\/hey0520\/hsg-05-20-09-02.jpg\" "\\"Image")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
It is time create the function that deletes the printer. To do this, create a function named Remove-Printer<\/strong> and pass it the Win32_Printer<\/strong> WMI object that is stored in the $printobject<\/strong> variable and a string that represents the path of the printer to be deleted. Inside the function use the Write-Host<\/strong> cmdlet to display a message in cyan that indicates which printer is being removed. The Win32_Printer <\/strong>object that is stored in the $printobject <\/strong>variable is piped to the Where-Object<\/strong> cmdlet. Inside the script block for the Where-Object <\/strong>cmdlet the deviceID <\/strong>property is examined to find a match for the string that was supplied through the printerpath <\/strong>parameter. When a match is found, the resulting Win32_Printer <\/strong>instance is stored in the $dp <\/strong>variable. To delete the instance, you have to access the underlying Win32_Printer<\/strong> WMI object by using the psbase<\/strong> property. As soon as you have the underlying base WMI object, you can call the delete<\/strong> method. The Remove-Printer <\/strong>function is shown here. <\/p>\nFunction Remove-Printer($printObject, [string]$printerPath)
{
Write-Host -foregroundcolor cyan “Removing $printerPath”
$dp = $printObject |
Where-Object { $_.deviceID -match $printerPath }
<\/span>$dp.psbase.Delete()
}<\/p>\n<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n
The command line used to delete a printer connection involves passing the –deleteprinter<\/strong> switched printer, specifying the printer to delete and the computer upon which to operate. This is shown here: <\/p>\nPS bp:> .SetDefaultPrinterDeletePrinterConnection.ps1 -delete -printer testprinter -computer localhost
Removing testprinter
PS bp:><\/p>\n<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n
Now it is time to evaluate the return code from calling the method. This is the same function that was in yesterday’s script. The return code is passed through the –code<\/strong> parameter of the Get-SuccessCode<\/strong> function. If it is equal to 0, the method call succeeded. If it is equal to something, an error occurred. The Get-SuccessCode <\/strong>function is seen here:<\/p>\nFunction Get-SuccessCode($code)
{
if($code.ReturnValue -eq 0)
<\/span>{ Write-Host -foregroundcolor green “Operation suceeded!” }
Else
<\/span>{ Write-Host -foregroundcolor red “Operation failed with $($code.returnvalue)” }
} #end get-successcode<\/p>\n<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n
Now you reach the entry point to the script. The first thing that is performed is to check for the presence of the –list <\/strong>switched parameter. If it is found, the Get-Printer <\/strong>function is called, and the resulting printer object is passed to the Format-LocalPrinter <\/strong>function that creates a formatted list of all local printers on the target system. The script then exits. This is seen here: <\/p>\nif($list) { Format-LocalPrinter(Get-Printer($computer)) ; exit }<\/p>\n<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n
If the –setDefault<\/strong> switched parameter is called, the script calls the Get-Printer <\/strong>function and retrieves a printer <\/strong>object. This printer <\/strong>object is passed to the Set-DefaultPrinter <\/strong>function, which takes the printer referenced in the $printerPath<\/strong> variable and sets it to the default printer. The return code from calling the SetDefaultPrinter <\/strong>method is passed to the Get-SuccessCode <\/strong>function, which interprets the return value. The script then exits. This line of code is seen here: <\/p>\nif($setDefault)
{
<\/span>Get-SuccessCode -code `
<\/span>(Set-DefaultPrinter -printObject(Get-Printer($computer)) -printerPath $printerPath)
exit
}<\/p>\n<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n
You can also use the SetDefaultPrinterDeletePrinterConnection.ps1 script to delete a local printer connection. If the script is run with the –deletePrinter<\/strong> switched parameter, the script calls the Get-Printer<\/strong> function and creates a printer<\/strong> object. It passes the printer<\/strong> object to the Remove-Printer<\/strong> function, which will delete the printer that is named in the $printerPath<\/strong> variable. This is seen here: <\/p>\nIf($deletePrinter)
{
<\/span>Remove-Printer -printObject (Get-Printer($computer)) -printerPath $printerPath
<\/span>exit
}<\/p>\n<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Well, BP, we have successfully set the default printer, deleted printer connections, and obtained a listing of local printers. Along the way, we used a couple of functions that we had created previously. Join us tomorrow as we continue with Printer Week. Until then, peace. <\/p>\n
<\/font><\/font> <\/p>\nEd Wilson and Craig Liebendorfer, Scripting Guys<\/p>\n<\/font><\/strong><\/font><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hey, Scripting Guy! Well it finally happened. Our budget request for new printers was approved. We have gotten them unboxed, distributed, and hooked up to the LAN. We have even downloaded the latest drivers from the Internet, and updated the firmware on several of the printers. The drivers are installed on the print servers, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":595,"featured_media":87096,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[445,404,3,45],"class_list":["post-53713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-scripting","tag-client-side-printing","tag-printing","tag-scripting-guy","tag-windows-powershell"],"acf":[],"blog_post_summary":"
Hey, Scripting Guy! Well it finally happened. Our budget request for new printers was approved. We have gotten them unboxed, distributed, and hooked up to the LAN. We have even downloaded the latest drivers from the Internet, and updated the firmware on several of the printers. The drivers are installed on the print servers, and […]<\/p>\n","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/scripting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/scripting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/scripting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/scripting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/595"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/scripting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53713"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/scripting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53713\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/scripting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/scripting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/scripting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/scripting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Hey,](\"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2019\/02\/q-for-powertip.jpg\" "\\"Hey,")
Hey, Scripting Guy! Well it finally happened. Our budget request for new printers was approved. We have gotten them unboxed, distributed, and hooked up to the LAN. We have even downloaded the latest drivers from the Internet, and updated the firmware on several of the printers. The drivers are installed on the print servers, and the shares have been created. Now I have to remove the old printer connections from the client workstations, and set new default printers. Can I do this in Windows PowerShell?<\/p>\n![\"Spacer\"](\"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/scripting\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2019\/05\/spacer.gif\")
![\"Hey,](\"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2019\/02\/a-for-powertip.jpg\" "\\"Hey,")
<\/p>\n