Feature Request: Printer Counter Breakdown by Paper Size (A3, A4)

[hlebuschek]

Description

Currently, the GLPI Agent collects printer counters as a total count (e.g., total pages printed). However, I need the ability to collect printer counters with a breakdown by paper size, specifically for A3 and A4 formats. This is critical for my use case as my printing is outsourced to a third-party organization, and they charge based on the paper size. I would like to automate the collection of these counters to streamline billing and monitoring processes.

For example, my printer (Kyocera TASKalfa 3011i, as shown in the attached screenshots) provides counters for A3, A4, and other paper sizes separately via its web interface. However, GLPI Agent only collects the total counter (e.g., 407852 total pages in one screenshot and 407731 in another).

Feature Request

• Add support in GLPI Agent to collect printer counters with a breakdown by paper size (at least A3 and A4).
• Ensure the data is reported in the GLPI inventory for better tracking and reporting.

Environment

• Printer Model: Kyocera TASKalfa 3011i

Screenshots

1. Printer counter graph showing total pages (407852):
   [Attached screenshot of the graph]
2. Printer web interface showing breakdown by paper size (e.g., A3: 54920, A4: 351872):
   [Attached screenshot of the web interface]

Additional Context

My printing operations are managed by a third-party organization, and they charge based on the paper size (e.g., A3 and A4). Having an automated breakdown by paper size in GLPI Agent would significantly improve the accuracy of billing and usage monitoring. This feature would be highly beneficial for users with similar outsourced printing setups.

Thank you for considering this request!

[g-bougard]

Hi @hlebuschek

if glpi-agent doesn't report all counters, this is probably because we don't know where to find the data in snmp OIDs for Kyocera printers. This is probably still supported for other printer manufacturers.

Can you provide snmpwalk output in the expected format for your printer providing a screenshot of the printer web interface showing effective counters ? This way, I should be able to identify the expected OIDs.

[hlebuschek]

Hi @g-bougard,

Thank you for your response!

To be honest, I haven’t seen GLPI providing a breakdown by paper size (A4, A3, or others) for any printer, not just Kyocera. It seems like this feature might not be implemented yet, even for other printer manufacturers.

I will collect the snmpwalk output for my Kyocera TASKalfa 3011i printer tomorrow and share it along with a screenshot of the printer web interface showing the counters. Hopefully, this will help identify the correct OIDs.

[g-bougard]

I just checked inventory format for pagecounters. It seems only copyblack_a3 and copycolor_a3 counters are supported. So this will probably require an inventory format update.

I'll check the walk and will tell you if we can develop such feature.

[hlebuschek]

I understand that the current inventory format only supports copyblack_a3 and copycolor_a3 counters, and an update to the format might be needed. I appreciate you looking into this.
As requested, I’ve prepared the data for the Kyocera TASKalfa 3011i printer. Below are the details:
SNMP OIDs for Paper Size Counters
Based on the snmpwalk output and the printer’s web interface, I believe the following OIDs correspond to the counters for A3 and A4 paper sizes:

A3 Counter: .1.3.6.1.4.1.1347.42.2.1.1.1.6.1.1 = INTEGER: 54926
A4 Counter: .1.3.6.1.4.1.1347.42.2.1.1.1.6.1.3 = INTEGER: 351988

Attachments

Screenshot of the Printer Web Interface: This shows the "Printed Pages by Paper Size" section with the counters (A3: 54926, A4: 351988, etc.).

snmpwalk Output: The full snmpwalk output for the printer.

snmpwalk_output (7).txt

I hope this information helps in evaluating the feasibility of adding support for a breakdown by paper size in GLPI Agent. Let me know if you need any additional details!

[g-bougard]

Hi @hlebuschek

indeed, with the data you provided I'm able to report all counters to something like:

      <PAGECOUNTERS>
        <COPYTOTAL>46085</COPYTOTAL>
        <FAXTOTAL>0</FAXTOTAL>
        <PRINTTOTAL>361770</PRINTTOTAL>
        <PRINT_A3>54926</PRINT_A3>
        <PRINT_A4>351988</PRINT_A4>
        <PRINT_A5>7</PRINT_A5>
        <PRINT_B4>2</PRINT_B4>
        <PRINT_B5>9</PRINT_B5>
        <PRINT_FOLIO>59</PRINT_FOLIO>
        <PRINT_LEDGER>6</PRINT_LEDGER>
        <PRINT_LEGAL>3</PRINT_LEGAL>
        <PRINT_LETTER>30</PRINT_LETTER>
        <PRINT_OTHER1>88</PRINT_OTHER1>
        <PRINT_OTHER2>737</PRINT_OTHER2>
        <SCANNED>182066</SCANNED>
        <TOTAL>407855</TOTAL>
      </PAGECOUNTERS>

But this will be useless as indeed more work is required in GLPI itself: it would probably even require a large rewrite as actually page counters are hard-coded as table columns.

I'll move this issue as "Ideas" discussion to keep it in mind. You should after that open an entry on the GLPI UserEcho linking the discussion to ask for support of other counters. Of course, you can also contact a GLPI partner to obtain a quotation for such an evolution.

[g-bougard]

Just for the history and in the case updated support could be made in GLPI, I'm leaving the updated file in the following archive:
Kyocera-Coufnters-Update-v1.zip