Choosing a Method to Manage Printers (System Administration Guide: Advanced Administration)

System Administration Guide: Advanced Administration

Choosing a Method to Manage Printers

Adding printer information to a name service makes access to printers available to all systems on the network and generally makes printer administration easier because all the information about printers is centralized.

Name Service Configuration	Actions to Centralize Printer Information
Use a name service	Adding the printer to the LDAP, NIS, NIS+, or NIS+ (xfn) database makes the printer available to all systems on the network.
Don't use a name service	Adding the printer adds the printer information to the printer server's configuration files only. Print clients will not know about the printer automatically. You will have to add the printer information to every print client that needs to use the printer.

Name Service Configuration

Actions to Centralize Printer Information

Use a name service

Adding the printer to the LDAP, NIS, NIS+, or NIS+ (xfn) database makes the printer available to all systems on the network.

Don't use a name service

Adding the printer adds the printer information to the printer server's configuration files only. Print clients will not know about the printer automatically.

You will have to add the printer information to every print client that needs to use the printer.

The following table describes the major printer-related tasks and the tools available to perform the printing tasks.

Table 2–1 Solaris Printing Component Features


Component	Availability	Graphical User Interface?	Configures Network Printers?	Manages Print Clients and Servers?	Uses LDAP, NIS, NIS+, or NIS+ (xfn)?
Solaris Print Manager	Solaris 9 and compatible versions and Solaris Easy Access Server 3.0	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Admintool	Solaris 9 and compatible versions	Yes	No	Yes	No
LP commands	Solaris 9 and compatible versions	No	Yes	Yes	Yes

After using the table above to determine which printing tool is best for your network environment, see Chapter 4, Setting Up Printers (Tasks) for printer setup information.

Most printing configuration tasks can be accomplished with Solaris Print Manager. However, if you have special needs, such as writing interface scripts or adding your own filters, you can use the LP print service commands, which underlie Solaris Print Manager. Performing printing administration tasks with LP commands are described in Chapter 5, Administering Printers (Tasks).