Printer Management

[jkcz 12]

I would like to add our 2 printers to the new Digital Factory console, my question is will I still be able to send jobs to the printers when connected locally via IP or once added to the cloud only through the cloud? I can't much documentation or explanations regarding how to use the new site. And from what I can see it logs me in with the same account I use here on the forums, does that mean I need to create an ultimaker account for every coworker that needs access to the printers?

[Enigma_M4 123]

Hi,

as yet, when yo send a print job via Cura while it is logged in to the cloud, the print job will be send via cloud. If Cura is not logged in, the print job will be sent directly via network.

Regards

[jkcz 12]

Thanks! Will jobs that are sent locally also show up in the cloud? What can you tell me about user account management?

 

[Enigma_M4 123]

Hi,

 

I guess they will.

 

As described on this page:

https://support.ultimaker.com/hc/en-us/articles/360012892560

"They can make use of simple print job actions, such as starting, aborting and pausing a print job, as well as advanced features such as print queue management and reprint from history."

 

So what's in the print queue may also show up in the cloud.

 

Regards

[jkcz 12]

Thanks, that is good to know. I'm just stuck with the user account thing, I need to be able to create accounts for my team members with their proper names, this sometimes isn't the preferred user ID (some don't want their names to show up) if they want to make use of the forum (which IMO should be a separate entity/ID anyways) and the current process of sending them an invitation to create themselves an Ultimaker account and only then join the team isn't a good solution. @Ultimaker, @SandervG any official solution or recommendation?

[ctbeke 133]

Hi,

 

Some details are indeed not (yet) published on the support pages. For now I can elaborate a bit here:

 

* Print jobs in the queue and recent history are stored on the printer itself. You can send jobs to the printer via local network and cloud and they'll end up in the same queue.

* Cura switches between local network and cloud automatically depending on availability of either connection type; and if you're signed in with your Ultimaker Account. Local network always has preference over cloud for sending jobs.

* Jobs sent locally can be monitored via the cloud connection, and vice versa. However jobs sent locally will not have the preview image available in the cloud (as the UFP file never passes through the cloud in the first place, which is needed to extract that image from it).

* In order to use printing and monitoring via cloud, all users need an Ultimaker Account. From there on, the person that has connected the printer to their account (the 'owner') can share the printer via teams with those other users. Combine this with restricting local access via LAN firewall configuration to force all traffic via the cloud connection you can more strictly control who access to the printer. Also we're working on more functionality around the topic of access management so keep an eye on upcoming releases of Digital Factory.

* For concerns about the user account ID, I suggest that those users create two separate Ultimaker Accounts: a 'personal' one and a 'business' one. This is quite a normal practice in other software as well. Note that the username and full name are already separate fields, and only the username is publicly shown in the Community, Email addresses are NEVER publicly shown unless manually configured to be visible (only available in the Community).

 

Hopefully this clears some things up.

[jkcz 12]

Thanks for the clarification. For now the user account management is a no go for our company, hopefully a way to better manage users will be added in the (near) future.

[jkcz 12]

On 6/25/2020 at 11:45 AM, jkcz said:

Thanks for the clarification. For now the user account management is a no go for our company, hopefully a way to better manage users will be added in the (near) future.

So now that updates to Digital Factory and Ultimaker Essentials have been released, how does this affect my previous questions? Is user management still identical? Is the printer camera now available via the cloud service? I'm considering signing up for the Essentials trial but I'd like to know before I go through the work/risk of upgrading firmware and adding the printers to the cloud service.

[ctbeke 133]

On 7/15/2020 at 7:46 AM, jkcz said:

So now that updates to Digital Factory and Ultimaker Essentials have been released, how does this affect my previous questions? Is user management still identical? Is the printer camera now available via the cloud service? I'm considering signing up for the Essentials trial but I'd like to know before I go through the work/risk of upgrading firmware and adding the printers to the cloud service.

 

Hi,

 

At this moment we have not updated the user management yet, but the General Available version of Essentials later this year (we're in Early Access now) will contain improved user management for organizations. However the Ultimaker Account will remain unchanged, it's just that the account is part of an organization entity from there on and can access shared resources in that organization.

 

The webcam feature in the cloud has been made available via a separate firmware release for S5 and S3 today (verwsion 5.7.3). After updating your printer to that firmware version you will see the webcam images remotely as well.

 

As for the trial, there's not any risk involved to just try it out, you can choose not to continue with Essentials once we start charging for it later this year. At that time you'd loose the features specifically unlocked for Essentials, but basic remote printing workflows will always remain available.

 

 

[jkcz 12]

Thanks for the update, I installed the latest update on both of our S5's (had to do a Reset Digital Factory on both after the update) and then added one to my Digital Factory account; after that I made it the host for the second printer and it then showed up as part of the group in the cloud as well as locally. Looks good for now, the local connection is just as stable as before but with the added benefit of the remote options + camera.

Regarding Essentials, the only additions thus far have been the Cura Enterprise version, Academy and Knowledge Base, correct?  

[ctbeke 133]

Great to hear that Digital Factory is helping you with remote capabilities.

 

All the current functionality and values can be found on our Essentials product overview page. We intend to add features over time to our online products. Some of them will be in the free version, some in the Essentials subscription.