Cloud printing for business: why the Print Client does not open ports to your network

01

What the business gets

Nebulas Cloud Printing connects your management software to local print queues without requiring inbound cloud connections into the LAN. The Print Client only initiates outbound HTTPS connections to Nebulas services, downloads PDFs, and returns a verifiable outcome for every job.

02

The normal flow of a print job

Steps

1. The management software creates the PDF and specifies the exact local queue.
2. The gateway keeps the job separated by company and group.
3. The group leader picks up the job atomically.
4. The client downloads the PDF and sends it to the specified local queue.
5. The states PRINTED, FAILED, or DELIVERY_UNKNOWN make the outcome verifiable.

03

What you need before activating the client

Prerequisites

• Windows x64, macOS Intel/Apple Silicon, or Linux x64 workstations.
• Print queues already installed and visible to the operating system.
• Outbound HTTPS access to Nebulas services.
• A Nebulas user with the Cloud Printing module active.
• A recent login with strong MFA to authorize the PC.

04

A hypothetical case: two locations, one shared queue

Hypothetical example: a business with a reception desk and a warehouse installs the Print Client on two workstations that see the same printer. The administrator assigns them to the same group with different priorities. If the preferred workstation disconnects, the authorized standby automatically takes over leadership, and customer documents keep coming out of the same printer, without being redirected to other queues.

05

Checks to run before and during production use

• Verify heartbeat, status, detected queues, and active client before go-live.
• Confirm every group member uses the exact same queue names.
• A job with an uncertain physical outcome becomes DELIVERY_UNKNOWN and is not reprinted.
• A missing queue stays pending: it is not diverted to another printer.

06

What the Print Client actually does

Every workstation keeps its own identity and authorization, approved in the browser after a recent login and strong MFA; the authorization is renewable and revocable, and printing stops if the user, license, membership, or device is no longer valid. The renewal credential is protected by Windows DPAPI, macOS Keychain, or Linux Secret Service, and no AWS credentials are installed on workstations. Native packages include the Java 17 runtime, so it does not need to be installed separately.

07

How to configure an active/standby group

Steps

1. Install the Print Client on at least two workstations that can reach the same printers.
2. Complete login and MFA in the browser and authorize each PC separately.
3. Verify that each workstation exposes the exact same queue names used by the management software.
4. In the Nebulas Portal, assign the clients to the same group and set different priorities.
5. Check heartbeat, status, and active client before using the group in production.

08

Next step

If your team manages reception, warehouse, or customer support with frequent printing, consider an active/standby group: an administrator can always disable, remove, or deauthorize a client from the Nebulas Portal when a workstation changes.