PrinterLogic Virtual Appliance or SaaS? Analyzing Your Options After Web Stack End-of-Life

It’s been a minute since PrinterLogic Web Stack reached its end-of-life. 

Since February 28, 2023, to be exact. 

And if you’ve been holding onto the product for dear life, we understand—it’s a great product. However, we have alternatives that simplify print management and keep jobs on the local network while still giving you the control Web Stack provided. 

Below, we’ll cover our on-premise and cloud-native solutions, how they enhance security, and the benefits of upgrading to our next-gen software. 

PrinterLogic offers two ways to manage print after migrating from Web Stack: PrinterLogic SaaS and the PrinterLogic Virtual Appliance (VA).

PrinterLogic SaaS is easy to manage, eliminates legacy infrastructure, scales on demand, and rolls out automatic updates to keep your data secure. Our SaaS platform is ISO 27001:2013- and SOC 2 Type 2-certified, which encompasses the protection of your confidential data and enables us to better satisfy your unique business requirements.

The PrinterLogic Virtual Appliance is our latest on-premise, self-contained solution for customers who want the latest functionality but who need to host the solution in their data center or private cloud. It’s a complete, unitized solution that’s ready to install, including a server OS, web services, network environment, and the PrinterLogic application.

Since we discontinued engineering support for Web Stack customers in August 2022, new features have been developed that aren’t accessible within Web Stack.

Extend and enhance your printing capabilities by migrating to our VA or SaaS solution: 

• Simplified Scanning features that enhance document collaboration in hybrid environments (SaaS only, with Virtual Appliance support upcoming)

• Modernized and automated Output Management tools to ensure efficient document delivery 

• Cloud-based Identity Provider support (e.g., Okta, Azure AD, and more)

• Chrome-OS Client Extension to manage Chromebooks like any other OS

• Printer-agnostic, intuitive Control Panel Application (CPA) that supports your print release, copy, and scanning capabilities  

• Zero Trust-supported Off-Network Printing solution for hybrid workplaces 

• Offline Secure Release Printing for Windows–close your laptop and still receive print jobs

• Native direct IP Mobile Printing on iOS and Android 

• Secure Release Printing with touchless QR code using mobile devices, simple badge release, or from the CPA
  

Like any on-prem solution, some facets of security are determined by your organization’s security policies. As a general rule, the Virtual Appliance is considered to be highly secure for several reasons: 

• The VA’s low-profile operating environment is less exposed as an attack surface

• The OS and platform elements are updated regularly, reducing vulnerabilities 

• VAs offer content verification and integrity checking based on public-key cryptography

There are a couple other security benefits worth mentioning. First, your database and file storage locations are controlled by you, so you can apply your own security policies. Second, the latest PrinterLogic platforms use centrally managed direct IP, so by default, all print job data stays on the local network.

Our SaaS solution is ISO 27001:2013- and SOC 2 Type 2-compliant and offers the same security features and benefits as our VA offering. All communication between workstation clients and the AWS-hosted PrinterLogic SaaS instance is encrypted over HTTPS and TLS 443 with an OAuth2 security token. PrinterLogic SaaS utilizes the security features of Amazon Web Services and Azure Cloud to ensure that PrinterLogic systems and data are secure.

PrinterLogic SaaS integrates with one or more IdP services to authenticate and authorize users, groups, and computers. Confidential data is also protected through a choice of secure pull-printing capabilities, which are included in the core license.

You’ll receive full support from our team to migrate from Web Stack. In five simple steps, you’ll have PrinterLogic SaaS and additional features up and running.

1. We’ll ensure you’re using the latest Web Stack software (v19.1.1.13 SP3 and MySQL 8.0 or later) 

2. After spinning up your SaaS instance, you’ll upload your database to a secure location using a URL we provide

3. Transfer settings from your database (e.g., config options, printers, and users) to your SaaS instance 

4. Build a script that removes, then reinstalls, our current client software on all user endpoints 

5. Reinstall all Control Panel Applications if you’re using our CPAs

As a starting point, you need to be running Web Stack v19.1 SP3 with MySQL 8.0 or later. The VA includes an upgrade tool that allows you to migrate data into the VA from your Web Stack instance. You can do a migration on your own or reach out to Product Support for assistance. 

This upgrade does not overwrite your existing Web Stack install, which allows you to spin up the VA and test it before you cut over to the new solution. We recommend uninstalling your CPAs from Web Stack before doing the migration and then reinstalling the latest CPAs from the VA once it’s up and running.

As we complete our transition to a complete SaaS-first company, we invite all of our current Web Stack users to increase security and enjoy all the features and functionality provided by our Virtual Appliance and SaaS print management solutions. 

If you’re a current customer and would like to discuss your upgrade options, reach out to your PrinterLogic representative.

For more details about PrinterLogic Web Stack End-of-Life, check out our FAQ.

Tanner has been traveling the world since 2012 and gained a lot of experience in B2C marketing overseas and domestically. He got his start in South Korea as a linguist and educator for six years before transitioning to the science and tech field where he has written blogs and created fun content for start-up franchises. After finishing up his M.A. at Southern Utah University, he has placed focus on delivering easy-to-read content with a splash of personality to his readers.