Setting Up Printer Fault Alerts

If you choose, the print service can notify you when it detects a printer fault. You can select any of the following methods to receive printer fault notification with the lpadmin -A command or with Solaris Print Manager:

• Write a message to the terminal on which root is logged in

• Electronic mail to root

• No notification

However, the lpadmin -A command offers you an additional option of receiving a message specified by the program of your choice. It also enables you to selectively turn off notification for an error that you already know about.

Unless you specify a program to deliver fault notification, the content of the fault alert is a predefined message that says the printer has stopped printing and needs to be fixed.

The following table lists the alert values that you can set for a printer with the lpadmin -A command. These alert values can also be set for print wheels, font cartridges, and forms.

Table 5–3 Values for Printing Problem Alerts

Value for -A alert	Description
'mail [user-name]'	Send the alert message by email to root or lp on the print server, or the specified user-name, which is a name of a user.
'write [user-name]'	Send the alert message to the root or lp console window on the print server, or to the console window of the specified user-name, which is a name of a user. The specified user must be logged in to the print server to get the alert message.
'command'	Run the command file for each alert. The environment variables and current directory are saved and restored when the file is executed.
quiet	Stop alerts until the fault is fixed. Use this when you (root or specified user) receive repeated alerts.
none	Do not send any alerts. This is the default if you don't specify fault alerts for a printer.