Legacy Windows Print Servers are among the most fragile on-premises infrastructure components. They suffer from PrintNightmare vulnerabilities, require complex point-and-print driver staging, and break when cloud-native workstations lack direct line-of-sight to local subnets. Microsoft Universal Print eliminates on-premises print servers by routing all spooling through Entra ID and the Microsoft 365 cloud.
Universal Print Deployment via Intune Settings Catalog
Rather than managing complex driver packs, modern Windows 11 devices natively discover and connect to Universal Print queues using the Mopria standard.
Universal Print Connector vs Direct Cloud Printers
Modern enterprise printers (Canon, HP, Xerox, Konica Minolta) natively register with Universal Print. For older legacy hardware, deploy the lightweight Universal Print Connector on a single management VM to bridge local IPP queues to Entra ID.
Automated PowerShell Printer Queue Provisioning Script
# ==============================================================================
# Universal Print Queue Assignment Script via Intune
# ==============================================================================
[CmdletBinding()]
param(
[string]$PrinterShareId = "7a8b9c0d-1234-5678-90ab-cdef12345678",
[string]$PrinterShareName = "Paris-HQ-FollowMe-Print"
)
Write-Host ">>> Installing Universal Print Provisioning Tool..." -ForegroundColor Cyan
# Install Universal Print Printer Provisioning Client
$printerUri = "https://print.microsoft.com/printers/$PrinterShareId"
Add-Printer -Name $PrinterShareName -PortName $printerUri -DriverName "Microsoft Universal Print Class Driver"
Write-Host "Universal Print Queue [$PrinterShareName] mapped successfully." -ForegroundColor Green
