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๐ŸชŸ Agent on Windows

In 30 seconds

  • On Windows, the agent installs like any other program: you download the installer from BolloPrint, open it and follow the wizard.
  • When it finishes, its page opens: you click Link with BolloPrint, confirm with the workshop owner's account and you're done. No codes to copy and no manifests to paste.
  • It runs as a Windows service: it keeps working even when you sign out, as long as the PC is switched on.
  • It updates itself. If you ever want to do it yourself, install the new version over the one you have.

๐Ÿงช In beta

The Windows agent is in beta: it works and we use it every day, but it may still have a few rough edges. If something doesn't go the way it's described here, write to us.

If you have a Windows PC in your workshop that's never switched off, you already have somewhere to put the local agent. It installs with a classic wizard, keeps running in the background and links to your workshop from the browser, in one click.

This page is only about installing it and looking after it on Windows. What the agent is and what it does is in The local agent, and how to add printers is in Local network printers.

What you need

  • A PC with 64-bit Windows 10 or 11, with an Intel or AMD processor.
  • For it to be always on and on the same network as the printers. If the PC switches off or goes to sleep, BolloPrint stops seeing the printers until it comes back.
  • To be able to install programs on that PC: Windows will ask you for administrator permission.
  • The BolloPrint account of the workshop owner. Only the owner can add an agent.

You don't need to create anything in BolloPrint beforehand: the agent is added to your workshop when you link it. Nor do you need to open ports on the router: the agent calls BolloPrint, not the other way round.

๐Ÿ’ก A PC with an ARM processor?

Windows 11 on ARM can install it, but we haven't tested it yet. On Windows 10 on ARM it can't be installed.

Installing it

1. Download the installer

In BolloPrint, go to Settings โ†’ Printers, open the Local agent tab and click New agent. Choose Windows and click Download for Windows.

Always download it from there: it's the right version at any given time.

If the browser warns you that the file isn't commonly downloaded, choose Keep. It's the same thing as the warning in the next step.

2. Windows will warn you: that's normal

The installer doesn't have a digital signature yet, so Windows treats it as an unknown program and, when you open it, shows a blue warning: Windows protected your PC.

  1. Click More info.
  2. Click Run anyway.

Then Windows asks whether you want to allow the app to make changes to your device. Click Yes: it's needed to install the agent as a service and to let it find your printers on the network.

If ยซRun anywayยป doesn't appear

Your Windows has Smart App Control turned on. That protection blocks unsigned programs and doesn't let you make an exception for just one. We don't recommend turning it off: it protects your PC from unknown programs, and the agent can live somewhere else.

In that case, put the agent on another always-on device on the same network: a NAS, a Raspberry Pi, another PCโ€ฆ The ways to do it are in The local agent.

3. Follow the wizard

  1. Choose the language and leave the folder it suggests.
  2. On The agent's page, leave the port at 8257. You'll only need to change it if another program on the PC is already using it (you'll notice because the agent's page doesn't open); in that case, try 8364.
  3. Click Install.
  4. At the end, leave the Open the agent's page to link it box ticked and click Finish.

The wizard leaves the agent running as a Windows service, which starts on its own with the PC, and opens just enough in the Windows firewall for it to find printers on your local network. It also puts a BolloPrint icon next to the clock and a BolloPrint agent entry in the Start menu.

Linking it to your workshop

When the installation finishes, the agent's page opens in the browser. It says "This agent does not belong to any workshop yet" and shows a short code: take note of it.

  1. Click Link with BolloPrint.
  2. BolloPrint opens. Sign in with the owner's account, if you weren't already signed in. If you own several workshops, it asks you Which workshop are you adding it to?: choose one.
  3. Under Add an agent toโ€ฆ you'll see your PC's name (Device) and a Code. Check that it's the same one the agent's page shows.
  4. If you like, change the agent's name. Better where it is than what it is: "Office", "Unit 2".
  5. Click Add to workshop.

You'll land on Settings โ†’ Printers โ†’ Local agent, with your new agent in the list. The agent's page, on your PC, will say Linked to and your workshop's name.

๐Ÿ” Only if you clicked it yourself

Only continue if you've just clicked Link with BolloPrint on your own PC. If someone has sent you a link to "add an agent", close it: you'd be letting a device that isn't yours into your workshop.

Checking that it works

In Settings โ†’ Printers โ†’ Local agent, the agent shows as Online, with the Windows logo.

Within a few minutes, further down, under Printers on the local network, the printers it has found on your network start to appear. Add the ones you want; the step-by-step for each brand is in Local network printers. If you've just switched one on and don't want to wait, click Search now.

Where to find it on your PC

  • The BolloPrint icon, next to the clock on the taskbar (if you can't see it, it may be hidden behind the ห„ arrow). One click opens the agent's page. With the right button you have:
    • Open the agent's page.
    • Whether the agent is running or not responding.
    • Uninstallโ€ฆ
    • Hide this icon. The agent keeps working just the same; the icon comes back the next time you sign in.
  • BolloPrint agent, in the Start menu, which also opens its page.

The agent's page only opens from that same PC: nobody on your network or outside it can see it.

You don't need to be signed in to Windows. The agent is a service: with the PC switched on, it works even if nobody has signed in, and it comes back on its own after every restart.

Updating it

You don't have to do anything. When a new version comes out, the agent downloads it, checks that it's ours and restarts with it. Your printers, their history and the link to your workshop are left untouched.

If you ever want to update it yourself (because BolloPrint tells you your agent is behind, or because support asks you to):

  1. Download the installer again, from the same place: Settings โ†’ Printers โ†’ Local agent โ†’ New agent โ†’ Windows.
  2. Open it and install it over the one you have. Windows will warn you again, like the first time.
  3. Click Next at each step: the wizard remembers the folder and the port you chose.

There's no need to uninstall it first, or to link it again: it's still the same agent, in the same workshop.

Moving it to another PC or starting from scratch

Reinstalling it on the same PC (uninstalling and installing again) changes nothing: the agent keeps who it is on the PC, so it comes back linked and with its printers.

Moving it to another PC means setting up a new agent:

  1. Install it on the new PC and link it, as above.
  2. Add your printers from the new agent. They move to it with their whole history.
  3. In BolloPrint, delete the old agent (its row's โ‹ฎ menu โ†’ Delete).
  4. Uninstall it from the old PC.

If you delete the agent in BolloPrint while it's still installed, the agent notices within seconds and its page offers Link with BolloPrint again. If you link it again, it comes in as a new agent.

Uninstalling it

Right-click the BolloPrint icon โ†’ Uninstallโ€ฆ, or in Windows Settings โ†’ Apps โ†’ Installed apps, find BolloPrint Agent and click Uninstall.

This removes the program, the service, the icon and its firewall permission. The agent keeps who it is on the PC, in case you install it there again.

If you're not going to use it any more, delete it in BolloPrint too, from its row's โ‹ฎ menu in Local agent.

When something isn't working

What's happeningWhat to do
Run anyway doesn't appearIt's Smart App Control: see the warning in Windows will warn you: that's normal, above.
The antivirus blocks or deletes the installerDownload it again, only from BolloPrint. If it happens again, write to us.
The agent's page doesn't openRight-click the BolloPrint icon. If it says it's not responding, restart the PC. If nothing changes, another program may be using the port: install the agent over itself and, on The agent's page, enter 8364.
When linking, it says the link has expired or was already usedThe confirmation lasts a couple of minutes. Click Link with BolloPrint on the agent's page again.
It says we could not reach BolloPrintThe PC can't reach the internet, or a company firewall or a proxy is blocking outgoing traffic.
It says the workshop is not activeCheck your subscription in BolloPrint.
The workshop you want to add it to isn't listedOnly the workshops you own are listed. Sign in with that account.
It's Online but doesn't find any printersIs the PC on the same network as the printers? A VPN, the guest network or a separate Wi-Fi prevents it. If that can't be fixed, add them with Add by IP: they work just the same.
It shows No recent signal every nightThe PC goes to sleep. In Windows Settings โ†’ System โ†’ Power, set it never to go to sleep when plugged in.
All of the agent's printers suddenly disconnectedIt isn't the printers, it's the PC: is it switched on and connected to the internet? Check the BolloPrint icon.