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Penneo Installation in Remote Desktop / Citrix

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Compatibility Mode

In managed remote desktops, it is common for the Penneo Printer and the Penneo Desktop Application to be installed in different "machines".

In a normal setup, the printer and the desktop application communicate to each other via URL Protocol, which can only be triggered if both communicating parties are installed in the same machine.

Compatibility mode disables this URL communication and uses the file system instead, which is accessible to both server and terminal in remote setups.

It works by enabling the Penneo Printer to print to %appdata%/penneo/print, and making Penneo Desktop scan this directory for changes to detect new printing jobs.

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This feature is used in cases where attempting to print documents from the Penneo Printer does not trigger the Penneo Desktop. (if "nothing happens" when printing)

Enabling Compatibility Mode

Manually

  • In the Penneo desktop application click on "Application" in the menu at the top and select "Preferences" (CTRL+P)
  • Click on the "Compatibility" tab
  • Click on "Enable Printing Folder"

Via MSI installation

Administrators can install the application with "Compatibility mode" enabled. Run the MSI file with msiexec tool using the command CombatibilityMode=True. Below example will install the application silently with compatibility mode enabled:

msiexec /i Penneo-Desktop.msi /qn CompatibilityMode=True

Registry Keys and Group Policies (Windows GPO)

The settings for opening the application via the Penneo Printer and Compatibility Mode are saved in the Windows Registry.

For environments where very restrictive rules are enforced, registry keys may not be persisted across sessions. Which means that users may experience that the Desktop Application loses some settings and ability to print if they log out of Windows and log back in.

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If the application loses settings between restarts or if the user needs to open the application every time before printing to Penneo. This is definitely the cause and an IT administrator needs to push the following registry settings via Group Policy.

URL Protocol Registration

This key is saved in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\penneo\shell\open\command and controls the registration of the penneo: URL protocol that allows the communication between the Penneo Printer and other integrations to the Penneo Desktop.

Note that the registry value @, in penneo\shell\open\command must be the actual path to the Penneo executable. The example below displays the default directory.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\penneo]
"URL Protocol"=""
@="URL:penneo"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\penneo\shell]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\penneo\shell\open]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\penneo\shell\open\command]
@="\"C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Penneo\\Penneo.exe\" \"%1\""

Compatibility Mode

This key is saved in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Penneo and controls whether Compatibility Mode is active.

The registry value found is called compatibilityEnabled and can be set to either true or false as a string (REG_SZ). If no value is set, it defaults to false.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Penneo]
"compatibilityEnabled"="true"

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Pro Tip

You can copy these code blocks into their own .reg file, and import it directly to the registry or use them in your Group Policy settings

Updated 2 months ago