Overview of Printer Manager

Printer Manager is a graphical user interface that simplifies the setup and administration of local and remote printers across a network.

You can use Printer Manager from one system to add, modify, or delete printer information on other systems. All systems to be administered in this way must have Printer Manager software installed.

Definition of Terms

• A print server is a system that has a printer physically connected to it.
• A print client is a system that uses a print server for printing files.

Configuring Printer Services

Configuring printer services using Printer Manager involves three main tasks:

• Setting up the printer

  · Physically connecting the printer to the system.

  · Setting the printer switches and other settings.

• Setting up the print server

  · Using Printer Manager to add a local printer to the print server.

• Setting up the print client

  · Using Printer Manager to add access to a remote printer on the print client. Printer Manager enables you to set up remote printer access for a list of print clients in one session.

Printer Manager automatically configures the port monitor and service that is used to pass remote print requests between the print client's and print server's lpNet daemons.

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Note - Both print servers and print clients must have each other's host name and IP address in their local /etc/inet/hosts file or in their name service's hosts file.

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The Solaris 2.x Printing Environment

Print servers and their print clients can run different versions of the SunOS operating system. For example, a configuration can include any combination of client and server systems running the SunOS 4.1.x or 5.x operating systems.

Printer Manager, however, can run only on systems that have the SunOS 5.x operating system installed. Therefore, you have some limitations on what you can set up via Printer Manager, as summarized in Table 4.1:

Table 4-1

Server OS	Client OS	What You Can Do Through Printer Manager
4.1.x	4.1.x/4.x	Cannot be set up through Printer Manager
	5.x	The 4.1.x server must previously have been set up through lp commands. The 5.x client can be set up through Printer Manager.
5.x	4.1.x	The 5.x print server can be set up through Printer Manager; the 4.1.x client cannot.
	5.x	Both server and client can be set up through Printer Manager.

Gathering Printer Information

When Setting Up Print Servers...

Table 4-2 describes the buttons, menus, and text boxes on the window used to install a local printer on a print server.

Table 4-2

Field Name	Menu Type	Description
Printer Name	Field	A unique name for the printer (maximum of 14 characters).
Comment	Field	A description of the printer.
Printer Port	Menu	The port the printer is connected to.
Printer Type	Menu	A designation for the type of printer. (See Chapter 8, "Printer Manager Reference," for a list of printer types.)
File Contents	Menu	The particular format of the file being printed without being filtered, as long as the correct printer software is available. (See Chapter 8, "Printer Manager Reference," for a list of file content types.)
Fault Notification	Menu	The method of notifying the superuser in case of a printer error. Choices are: Write to superuser (in the console window), Mail to superuser, or None.
System Default	Button	The default printer, the printer your print requests will be sent to if you do not specify a printer.
Print Banner	Button	Used to control user permission to enable or disable banner page printing.
Register with NIS+	Button	If the button is enabled, the printer name will be added to the NIS+ printer table.
User Access List	Field	The print clients that can print to this printer. By default, all print clients have access to this printer. Use Add and Delete buttons to add and remove print clients.

Determining the File Content Types

It is important to associate the printer with the correct content type such PS for PostScript printers and ASCII for ASCII printers. See User Accounts, Printers, and Mail Administration and Chapter 8 for more information about determining the file content types.

When Setting Up Print Clients...

Table 4-3 describes the buttons and fields in the window used to enable access to a remote printer.

Table 4-3

Field Name	Menu Type	Description
Printer Clients	Field	The print client name is identified here. (This is an inactive field.)
Printer Name	Field	The remote printer name.
Print Server	Field	The name of the system the remote printer is connected to.
Comment	Field	Description of the printer that helps you identify it.
Print Server OS	Button	Used to identify the BSD or SV protocol on the print server. BSD is the default.
System Default	Button	Used to identify printer as the default printer, which is the printer your print requests will be sent to if you do not specify a printer.

Before Using Printer Manager

Verify that the following requirements are met before using Printer Manager.

• A bit-mapped display monitor is connected to the system you are using.
• The OpenWindows environment is started using the following command:

$ /usr/openwin/bin/openwin

• You have the required access privileges such as root (superuser) access to the local system or membership in the sysadmin (group ID=14) group for remote systems.

· How to Start Printer Manager

The following procedure describes how to start Printer Manager.

1. Type admintool & from a command or shell tool prompt and press Return.

   The Administration Tool main window is displayed.

2. Click on the Printer Manager icon.

   The Printer Manager main window is displayed.

· How to Install a Local Printer

The following procedure describes how to install a local printer on a print server.

1. Choose Add Local Printer from the Edit menu's Add Printer option menu.

   The Local Printer window is displayed.

2. Fill in the form by using the information described in the section called "When Setting Up Print Servers..." on page 36.

   An example of a completed form is displayed below.

3. Click on Add.

4. Verify the local printer has been added by locating the new printer entry in the Printer Manager main window.

· How to Add Access for a Remote Printer

The following procedure describes how to add access for a remote printer on a print client.

1. Choose Add Access to Remote Printer from the Edit menu's Add Printer option.

   The Access to Remote Printer window is displayed.

2. Fill in the form by using the information described in the section called "Before Using Printer Manager" on page 37.

   An example of a completed form is displayed below.

3. Click on Add.

4. Verify the printer access has been added by locating the new printer entry in the Printer Manager main window.

· How to Modify a Printer Entry

The following procedure describes how to modify a printer entry. Changing a printer entry so that it will not accept or print any new print requests is used as an example.

1. Choose Modify Printer from the Edit menu on the Printer Manager main window.

   The Modify Printer window is displayed.

2. Click on No on the Enable Print Queue option to disable the printer from printing requests.

3. Click on No on the Accept Print Jobs option to prevent any further queueing of print requests.

   An example is displayed below.

4. Click on Apply.

· How to Delete a Printer Entry

The following procedure describes how to remove a printer entry.

1. Remove all currently queued print requests to this printer with the

   cancel or lpmove commands.

2. Choose the Delete Printer command from the Edit menu on the Printer Manager main window.

   A window is displayed asking you to confirm the deletion.

3. Click on Delete when you are ready to remove the printer entry.