How to Enable/Disable All PaperCut Applications Debug Logging

Enabling debug logging in PaperCut can help you troubleshoot issues, gather more detailed information, and provide valuable logs to support teams. PaperCut offers debug logging options for various components, including the Print Provider, User Client, general application logs, and Web Print. This guide will walk you through enabling debug logging for each of these areas, with step-by-step instructions and links for more details.

Why Enable Debug Logging?

Debug logging provides a deeper level of detail about what's happening behind the scenes in PaperCut. While regular logs capture standard events, debug mode records extra information that can be crucial for diagnosing tricky problems. Just remember to turn off debug logging once you've gathered the information you need—leaving it on can fill up disk space quickly.

Enabling Debug Logging for the Print Provider

The Print Provider handles the core print job processing in PaperCut. If you're troubleshooting issues related to print jobs, printers, or print servers, enabling debug here is a good first step.

1. Locate the Print Provider configuration file:

   • On Windows: C:\Program Files\PaperCut MF\providers\print\win\print-provider.conf

   • On macOS/Linux: /usr/local/papercut/providers/print/[platform]/print-provider.conf

2. Edit the configuration file: Open print-provider.conf in a text editor.

3. Enable debug logging: Find the line that says LogLevel=INFO and change it to LogLevel=DEBUG.

4. Save the file and restart the Print Provider service for the changes to take effect.

For more details, see the PaperCut KB article on enabling Print Provider debug.

Enabling Debug Logging for the User Client

If you’re experiencing issues with the PaperCut User Client application on workstations, enabling debug logging here will help capture more detailed logs.

1. Locate the client configuration file:

   • Windows: C:\Program Files\PaperCut MF\client\config.properties

   • macOS: /Applications/PCClient.app/Contents/Resources/config.properties

2. Edit the config.properties file: Open it in a text editor.

3. Add or update the debug line: Set debug=true (add this line if it’s not present).

4. Save the file and restart the User Client application.

Full instructions are in the PaperCut KB article on User Client debug logging.

Enabling General Debug Logging in PaperCut

If you need more information about the core PaperCut services or the application server, you can enable general debug logging.

1. Edit the main configuration file:

   • On the PaperCut server, find server.properties (usually in the [app-path]/server/ directory).

2. Set debug mode: Add or update the line debug=true.

3. Restart the PaperCut Application Server for the change to take effect.

Find step-by-step help in the general debug logging KB article.

Enabling Debug Logging for Web Print

If you’re using the Web Print feature and need to troubleshoot issues with uploading or processing jobs, you can turn on debug logging just for this component.

1. Locate the Web Print configuration file:

   • On the Web Print server, find web-print.conf in the install directory.

2. Edit the file: Open web-print.conf in a text editor.

3. Enable debug: Add or update the line LogLevel=DEBUG.

4. Save the file and restart the Web Print service.

Detailed guidance is available in the Web Print debug logging KB article.

After Debugging: Turning Debug Logging Off

Once you've collected the logs you need, remember to turn debug logging back off to avoid filling your disk with large log files. Simply reverse the steps above—set LogLevel=INFO or debug=false in the relevant configuration files and restart the services.