System Administration Guide: Printing

Setting Up Directly Attached Printers by Using Solaris Print Manager

You can add, modify, and delete a printer, as well as add printer access by using Solaris Print Manager. Most of the options that you can specify by using the lpadmin command can also be specified by using Solaris Print Manager.

Note –

You must become superuser or assume a role that has equivalent privileges to gain access to some of the options that are in Solaris Print Manager. Options and selectable attributes within the tool vary, depending on the user's role.

For a detailed description of all the printer definitions that you can set or reset by using Solaris Print Manager, see Setting Printer Definitions by Using Solaris Print Manager.

Setting Printer Definitions by Using Solaris Print Manager

The following table describes the printer definitions that you can set for a printer by using Solaris Print Manager. You can set the same definitions for a printer by using LP print commands.

Table 4–2 Printer Definition Descriptions


Printer Definition	Description	Example	Default	Required or Optional?
`Printer Name`	Name of printer	`laser1`	N/A	Required to install an attached or network-attached printer and to add access to a printer
`Print server`	Name of print server	`venus`	`Use localhost for Printer Server` attribute check box selected by default	Required to install an attached or network-attached printer and to add access to a printer This field is filled in by the tool
`Description`	User defined string	`laser printer near breakroom`	N/A	Optional
`Printer Port`	Device that the printer is attached to	`/dev/term/a`	`/dev/term/a`	Required to install an attached printer
`Printer Type`	Type of printer	`unknown`	`PostScript`	Required to install an attached printer or a network-attached printer without PPD files
`File Content Type`	Content to be printed	`any`	`PostScript`	Required to install an attached printer or a network-attached printer without PPD files
`Printer Make`	Make of printer	Lexmark	N/A	Required to install an attached printer or a network-attached printer with PPD files
`Printer Model`	Model of printer	Lexmark Optra E312	N/A	Required to install an attached printer or a network-attached printer with PPD files
`Printer Driver`	Driver that is used by specifying PPD file	Foomatic/PostScript	N/A	Required to install an attached printer or a network-attached printer with PPD files
`Fault Notification`	Specifies how to notify user of errors	`Mail to superuser`	`Write to superuser`	Optional
Default Printer	Identifies the default printer	N/A	N/A	Optional
Banner Page Drop-Down Menu:	Specifies to print a banner page.	N/A	Banner is printed unless turned off by using `lp` command with appropriate option	Optional
`User Access List`	List of users allowed to print on the print server	`rimmer,lister`	All users can print	Optional

Specifying PPD Files When Setting Up a Printer by Using Solaris Print Manager

Solaris Print Manager includes a Use PPD files option that enables you to specify a PPD file when creating a new print queue or modifying an existing print queue. If you do not want to specify a PPD file, you can deselect this option.

Note –

PPD files are not required for printers that already contain the RIP feature.

When setting up a printer that uses a PPD file, you are required to specify following information:

Printer make
Printer model
Printer driver

How to Add a New Directly Attached Printer by Using Solaris Print Manager

The following procedure describes how to add a new attached printer by using Solaris Print Manager with the Use PPD files default attribute is selected. To add a new attached printer without PPD files, deselect this attribute by removing the checkmark from the check box.

Select the system to be the print server.

Connect the printer to the print server. Turn on the power to the printer.

Consult the printer vendor's installation documentation for information about the hardware switches and cabling requirements.

Start Solaris Print Manager on the print server where you connected the printer.

For instructions, see How to Start Solaris Print Manager.

You can specify localhost as the host name in the print system's databases. This modification was made to enable print servers to maintain the same print host name, localhost, independent of the machine host name. This option is the default in Solaris Print Manager. You can deselect this check box to revert to earlier behavior for this option. Note that this option applies exclusively to the set up of local print queues. For more information, see Specifying PPD Files When Setting Up a Printer by Using Solaris Print Manager.

To set up a local print queue specifying localhost as the host name by using the lpadmin command with the -s option, see How to Add a Print Queue With localhost Specified as the Host Name (LP Print Commands).

Select New Attached Printer from the Printer menu.

The New Attached Printer window is displayed.

Fill in the required fields with the appropriate information.

If you need information to complete a field, click the Help button.

For example, to add a new attached printer with PPD files, provide the appropriate information in the following fields:
Printer Name: Description: Printer Port: Printer Make: Printer Model: Printer Driver: Fault Notification: Options: Default Printer Always Print Banner User Access List:
The Printer Server field is filled in by Solaris Print Manager.

To add a new attached printer without PPD files, provide the appropriate information in the following fields:
Printer Name: Description: Printer Port: Printer Type: File Contents: Fault Notification: Options: Default Printer Always Print Banner User Access List:
The Printer Server field is filled in by Solaris Print Manager.

Click OK.

Verify that the printer has been installed. Check for the new printer entry in the Solaris Print Manager main window.

Verify that the printer can print requests.
# lp -d printer-name filename

Verify that the new Solaris Print Manager feature is working.

When you are using Solaris Print Manager to create or modify a print queue, choose the files option as the naming service. Select the New Attached Printer option from the menu. If the drop-down menu displays the printer make and printer model, the new feature is working.

Verifying That the RIP Feature Is Working

The RIP enables you to print to printers that do not have resident PostScript processing capabilities.

To ensure that the RIP feature is working you need to create a new print queue by selecting one of the make and model combinations that is available in the New Attached Printer and New Network Printer screens used by Solaris Print Manager. Then, try printing to the new printer. If the output of the print job is recognizable, the RIP feature is working. If the output of the print job is unrecognizable, then the RIP feature is not working.

How to Add a Print Queue With `localhost` Specified as the Host Name (Solaris Print Manager)

This procedure shows how to use Solaris Print Manager to add a local print queue with localhost specified as the host name in the print system databases. This modification was added to enable print servers to maintain the same print host name, independent of the machine host name. Note that you can also modify a print queue by using these commands.

Become superuser or assume an equivalent role.

Roles contain authorizations and privileged commands. For more information about roles, see Configuring RBAC (Task Map) in System Administration Guide: Security Services.

Start Solaris Print Manager as described in the procedure, How to Start Solaris Print Manager.

Set the print host name to localhost in Solaris Print Manager.

For instructions, see Setting Printer Definitions by Using Solaris Print Manager.

Check the entry in the /etc/printers.conf file.
# lpget new-print-queue new-print-queue: bsdaddr=abc,new-print-queue,Solaris
If the print queue was created or modified successfully, the output of the lpget command returns the name of the new or modified print queue.