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Solaris Easy Access Server 3.0 Print Manager Administration Guide

Setting Up Printers With Solaris Print Manager

The information in this chapter supplements System Administration Guide, Volume II, for managing printers in your network.

This chapter describes how to set up a printer and make it accessible to systems on the network with Solaris Print Manager, which is available in the SolarisTM Easy Access Server 3.0 release. This is a list of the step-by-step instructions in this chapter.

For general overview information about printers, see System Administration Guide, Volume II in the Solaris 7 System Administrator Collection.

Solaris Print Manager Features

Features of Solaris Print Manager include:

Determining Which Tools to Use for Managing 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.

If You ... 

To Centralize Printer Information, Then ... 

Use a name service 

Adding the printer to the NIS or NIS+ 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 1-1 Solaris Printing Component Features

Component 

Available ... 

Graphical User Interface? 

Configures Network Printers? 

Manages Print Clients and Servers? 

Uses NIS or NIS+? 

Solaris Print Manager 

Solaris Easy Access Server 3.0 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Admintool 

Solaris 7 and compatible versions 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

No 

lp commands  

Solaris 7 and compatible versions 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

After using the table above to determine which printing tool is best for your network environment, use the following table to determine where to go to find information on setting up your printers.

Table 1-2 Where to Find Printer Setup Information

For Information on Setting Up Printers Using ... 

See ... 

Admintool 

System Administration Guide, Volume II

Solaris Print Manager with or without using a name service 

"Setting Up Printing Task Map"

lp commands 

System Administration Guide, Volume II

Solaris Print Manager Interoperability Issues

The new Solaris Print Manager recognizes existing printer information on the printer servers, print clients, and in the name service databases. There are no conversion tasks required to use the new Solaris Print Manager as long as the print clients are running either the Solaris 2.6 or Solaris 7 release.

Using Solaris Print Manager With a Name Service

See the following sections if you will be using Solaris Print Manager with either NIS+ with FNS or NIS.

NIS+ With FNS Considerations

Solaris Print Manager can manage printer information if you are running NIS+ with FNS using the NIS+ table, fns.ctx_dir.<domain>, if the table was created when FNS was set up.

Additional NIS+ with FNS considerations include:

NIS+ Running in NIS Compatibility Mode Considerations

Solaris Print Manager is not able to update a NIS+ master name server running in NIS (yp) compatability mode from a system running the NIS name service.

The NIS+ daemon running in NIS-compatability mode only responds to requests for a limited set of NIS maps that does not include printers.conf.byname.

The only name service choice available in this scenario is files.

See rpc.nisd(1M) for information about NIS compatiblity (the -Y option).

NIS Considerations

Keep the following in mind if you are using Solaris Print Manager to update printer information in the NIS name service:

Default Printer Considerations

You can use Solaris Print Manager to define a default printer when setting up local or remote printer access. A default printer is the printer your print requests are sent to if you do not specify a printer destination.

Refer to the following table when setting up a default printer in a name service environment because the default printer designation varies depending on the name service selected and whether the printer is local or remote.

If Your Name Service Is ... 

And The Printer Is ... 

Then ... 

NIS or NIS+ (xfn) 

Remote 

The default printer is set in the name service only. The default printer is not set for the local system. 

NIS or NIS+ (xfn) 

Attached to the local system 

The default printer is set in both the name service and for the local system. 

files 

N/A 

The default printer is set for the local system as expected.  

See "Setting Up a .printers File" for information on setting a default printer on per-user basis.

Setting Up Printers With Solaris Print Manager

When you use Solaris Print Manager to set up a printer on a system, you define the characteristics of the printer and identify the users who are permitted to access it. The system on which you install the printer becomes the printer (or print) server. A locally connected printer is one which is physically attached to the printer server with a cable. A network printer is physically attached to the network but is considered a local printer to the printer server. Adding access to a printer, or adding remote access, is the process of giving print clients (all those machines which are not the server) access to the printer.

The following table describes each printer attribute to help you determine the information needed to set up a printer.

Printer Attribute 

Description 

Example 

Default Setting 

Required or Optional? 

Printer Name 

Name of printer 

laser1

N/A 

Required to install an attached or network printer and to add access to a printer 

Printer server 

Name of printer server 

venus

The local system 

Required to install an attached or network printer and to add access to a printer 

Description 

User defined string 

laser printer near breakroom

N/A 

Optional 

Printer Port 

Device 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 or network printer  

File Contents 

Content to be printed 

any

PostScript

Required to install an attached or network printer  

Destination 

Destination name for network printers 

See "Selecting the Network Printer Destination Name" for examples

N/A 

Required to install a network printer  

Protocol 

Protocol used to communicate with printer 

TCP

BSD

Required to install a network printer  

Fault Notification 

How to notify user of errors 

Mail to superuser

Write to superuser

Optional 

Default Printer 

Identifies the default printer 

N/A 

N/A 

Optional 

Always Print Banner 

Print banner with print job? 

N/A 

Banner is printed 

Optional 

User Access List 

List of users allowed to print 

rimmer,lister

All users can print 

Optional 

Setting Up Printing Task Map

Use this table to find the tasks you need to set up printers using Solaris Print Manager.

Table 1-3 Task Map: Setting Up Printing

Task 

Description 

For Instructions, Go To 

Determine Which Print Tool to Use For Setting Up Printers 

There are several printer tools available for settting up printers in the Solaris network environment. 

"Determining Which Tools to Use for Managing Printers"

Install an Attached Printer 

Using Solaris Print Manager

After physically attaching the printer to a system, use Solaris Print Manager to install a local printer and make it available for printing.  

"How to Install an Attached Printer With Solaris Print Manager"

Install a Network Printer 

Using Solaris Print Manager

After physically connecting the printer to the network, use Solaris Print Manager to install the network printer.  

"How to Install a Network Printer With Solaris Print Manager"

Add Access to a Printer 

Using Solaris Print Manager

Add printer access on a print client using Solaris Print Manager. 

"How to Add Printer Access With Solaris Print Manager"

Set Up a .printers File

Optional. Using a $HOME/.printers file enables users to establish their own custom printer aliases.

"How to Set Up a .printers File"

Disable or Enable Printing Banner Pages 

Optional. Using Solaris Print Manager

Determine whether users can turn off the banner page.  

"How to Disable or Enable Printing Banner Pages"

Set Up Printer Fault Notification 

Optional. Using Solaris Print Manager

Set up printer fault notification. 

"How to Set Up Printer Fault Notification"

Limit User Access to the Printer 

Optional. By default, all users have access to a printer. To limit a few users' access to the printer, you may want to set up a deny list.

See System Administration Guide, Volume II

Delete a Printer 

Optional. Using Solaris Print Manager

Use the Delete Printer option from the Printer menu to delete a printer. 

"How to Delete a Printer"

Starting Solaris Print Manager

To use Solaris Print Manager to set up your printers, start Solaris Print Manager from the Solaris Management ConsoleTM.

How to Start Solaris Print Manager

  1. Verify that the following prerequisites are met. To use Solaris Print Manager, you must:

    • Have a bit-mapped display monitor. Solaris Print Manager can be used only on a system with a console that is a bit-mapped screen, such as a standard display monitor that comes with a Sun workstation.

    • Be running an X Window System, such as the CDE environment, or be using the remote display feature on a system running an xhost environment.

    • Be logged in as superuser on the printer server to install an attached or network printer, or on the print client to add access to a printer.

    • Have the required access privileges for managing the NIS or NIS+ database:

      • If your name service is NIS, you must have the root password for the NIS master.

      • If your name service is NIS+ with FNS, you may need to do the following:

        1. Log in to the NIS+ master as superuser.

        2. Identify the group that owns the federated naming table:


          # niscat -o fns.ctx_dir.domain_name.com
            .
            .
            .
         Group		: "admin.domain_name.com"

        3. If necessary, add the system that runs Solaris Print Manager to the NIS+ admin group authorized to update the fns.ctx_dir.<domain> file.


          # nisgrpadm -a admin.domain_name.com host_name

        4. Log in to the system that runs Solaris Print Manager as superuser. Depending on your NIS+ configuration, you may also need to run the /usr/bin/keylogin command. See keylogin(1) for more information.

    • Have the SUNWppm package installed.


      # pkginfo | grep SUNWppm
system      SUNWppm        Solaris Print Manager

  2. Start Solaris Management Console.


    # smc &

    The Solaris Management Console (SMC) window is displayed.

  3. Click the Solaris Print Manager icon in the SMC window.

    The Select Naming Service window overlays the Solaris Print Manager main window.

    If the Solaris Print Manager icon does not appear in the SMC window, set the DISPLAY environment variable, and start Solaris Print Manager:


    # DISPLAY=hostname
# export DISPLAY
# /usr/sadm/admin/bin/printmgr &

  4. Select the name service used in your network from the Select Naming Service window. Choices are: NIS+ (xfn), NIS, or files.

  5. Check that the domain name is correct.

    The Solaris Print Manager main menu is displayed after the name service is loaded successfully.

Setting Up a Printer Server

When you install an attached printer and/or a network printer to a system, the printer is made accessible to the local system. The system on which you install the printer becomes the printer server.

The following sections describe how to use the new Solaris Print Manager to install an attached printer or a network printer on a printer server.

How to Install an Attached Printer With Solaris Print Manager

  1. Select the system which is to be the printer server.

  2. Connect the printer to the printer server and turn on the power to the printer.

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

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

    See "How to Start Solaris Print Manager" for instructions.

  4. Select New Attached Printer from the Printer menu.

    The New Attached Printer window is displayed.

  5. Fill in the window.

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

  6. Click OK.

  7. Verify that the printer has been installed by checking for the new printer entry in the Solaris Print Manager main window. Verify the printer can print requests by using the following command:


    $ lp -d printer-name filename

  8. Exit Solaris Print Manager.

    Choose Exit from the Print Manager Menu.

Where to Go From Here

Use the following table to determine which tasks to complete next.

If You Need To ... 

See ... 

Add access to the newly installed printer on the print clients because you did not add the printer information to the name service database 

"How to Add Printer Access With Solaris Print Manager"

Set up a .printers file

"Setting Up a .printers File"

Installing a Network Printer

A network printer is a hardware device that provides printing services to print clients without being directly cabled to a printer server. It has its own system name and IP address, and is connected directly to the network. Even though a network printer is not connected to a printer server, it is necessary to set up a printer server for it. The printer server provides queuing capabilities, filtering, and printing administration for the network printer.

Network printers use one or more special protocols that require a vendor-supplied printing program. The procedures to set up the vendor-supplied printing program can vary. If the printer does not come with vendor supplied support, the Solaris Print Manager may be used; it is strongly advised to use the print vendor supplied software when possible. See System Administration Guide, Volume II in the Solaris 7 System Administrator Collection for more information about vendor-supplied printing programs.

Terms used by Solaris Print Manager for network printer installation are:

Selecting the Network Printer Destination Name

The print subsystem requires access information for the printer. This is the name that the subsystem uses when making the network connection to the printer. This name is supplied by the system administrator to the Solaris Print Manager Install Network Printer screen. It becomes part of the printer configuration database. The destination is the name of the printer node, sometimes qualified by a port name. Port designation varies across printer vendors. You will find information about port designation in the documentation that is provided by the printer vendor. The format of the printer access name is:

printer_node-name[:port_designation]

Example 1--Network Printer Destination Name With Port Designation (Number)

A common port designation with TCP is 9100. If the printer node name is pn1, and the printer vendor defines the port as 9100, then the network printer destination name is:

pn1:9100

Example 2--Network Printer Destination Name With Port Designation (Name)

When using the BSD protocol, the port designation may not be a number, but some name defined by the printer vendor, for example: xxx_parallel_1. If the printer node name is cardboard, then the printer access name is:

cardboard:xxx_parallel_1

Example 3--Network Printer Destination Name With No Port Designation

If there is no port designation, and the printer name is newspaper, then printer destination name is the printer name:

newspaper

How to Install a Network Printer With Solaris Print Manager

Follow the procedure below to install a network printer.

  1. Select the system which is to be the printer server.

  2. Connect the printer to the network and turn on the power to the printer.

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

  3. Start Solaris Print Manager.

    See "How to Start Solaris Print Manager" for instructions.

  4. Select New Network Printer from the Printer menu.

    The New Network Printer window is displayed.

  5. Fill in the window.

    If you need information to complete a field, click the Help button. For more information on determining the network printer destination and protocol, see "Selecting the Network Printer Destination Name".

  6. Click OK.

  7. Verify that the printer has been installed by checking for the new printer entry in the Solaris Print Manager main window. Verify the printer can print requests by using the following command:


    $ lp -d printer-name filename

  8. Exit Solaris Print Manager.

    Choose Exit from the Print Manager Menu.

Where to Go From Here

Use the following table to determine which tasks to complete next.

If You Need To ... 

See ... 

Add access to the newly installed printer on the print clients because you did not add the printer information to the name service database 

"How to Add Printer Access With Solaris Print Manager"

Set up a .printers file

"Setting Up a .printers File"

Setting Up a Print Client

A print client is a system that is not the server for the printer, yet has access to the printer. A print client uses the services of the printer server to spool, schedule, and filter the print jobs. Note that a system may be a printer server for one printer and be a print client for another printer.

Access to a printer may be configured on a domain-wide basis or on a per-machine basis depending on whether you add the printer information to the name service database.

How to Add Printer Access With Solaris Print Manager

  1. Start Solaris Print Manager on the system where you want to add access to a remote printer.

    See "How to Start Solaris Print Manager" for instructions.

  2. Select Add Access to Printer from the Edit menu.

    The Add Access to Printer window is displayed.

  3. Fill in the window.

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

  4. Click OK.

  5. Verify that access to the printer is added by checking for the new printer entry in the Solaris Print Manager main window. Verify the printer can print requests by using the following command:


    $ lp -d printer-name filename

  6. Exit Solaris Print Manager.

    Choose Exit from the Print Manager Menu.

Setting Up a .printers File

There is no need to set up a .printers file in your users' home directories if they don't need customized printer information. However, the .printers file enables users to establish their own custom printer aliases. You can use the _default alias to make a printer the default. You can also set up a special _all alias to define a list of printers affected when you cancel a print request or check the status of printers.

Keep in mind that the lp commands check a user's home directory to locate printer configuration information before they check the name service. This means you can tailor a user's printer configuration file to use custom printer information rather than the shared information in the name service.

See printers(4) for instructions about the .printers file.

How to Set Up a .printers File

  1. Log in to the user's system as superuser.

  2. Start the file editor you want to use to create a .printers file in the user's home directory.

  3. (Optional) Set up the _default alias to make a specific printer your default printer, using an entry similar to the one shown in the following example. 


    # _default printer_name

  4. (Optional) Set up the _all alias to define the printers affected when you cancel a print request or check the status of printers, using an entry similar to the one shown in the next example. 


    # _all printer1,printer2,printer3

  5. Save the file as .printers.

Modifying Printer Properties

The following sections describe how to use Solaris Print Manager to modify printer properties such as disabling banner-page printing, setting up printer fault notification, and granting access to the printer.

How to Disable or Enable Printing Banner Pages

Users can choose not to print a banner page if the Always Print Banner option is deselected from the New Attached Printer, New Network Printer, or Modify Printer Properties screens. The default setting is that users can turn off printing banner pages. If you wish to always have a banner page printed after the printer has been added with Solaris Print Manager, select this option from the Modify Printer Properties screen.

  1. Start Solaris Print Manager on the printer server where you want to disable or enable banner-page printing.

    See "How to Start Solaris Print Manager" for instructions.

  2. Select the printer to enable or disable printing banner pages in the Solaris Print Manager main window.

  3. Choose Modify Printer Properties from the Printer menu.

  4. Select one of the following:

    1. Select the Always Print Banner option if you want to have banner pages always printed.

    2. Deselect the Always Print Banner option if you want users to decide whether a banner page is printed by using the lp -o banner command.

  5. Click OK.

  6. Exit Solaris Print Manager.

    Choose Exit from the Print Manager Menu.

How to Set Up Printer Fault Notification

Setting up printer fault notification determines how superuser is notified when a printer fault occurs. The choices are: write to superuser, mail to superuser, or none, which is the default setting in Solaris Print Manager. The lpadmin -A command provides more flexibility in setting printer fault alerts. See lpadmin(1M) for more information.

  1. Start Solaris Print Manager on the printer server where you want to set up printer fault notification.

    See "How to Start Solaris Print Manager" for instructions.

  2. Select the printer to set fault notification from the Solaris Print Manager main window.

  3. Choose Modify Printer Properties from the Printer menu.

  4. Select the fault notification option from the Fault Notification menu.

  5. Click OK.

  6. Exit Solaris Print Manager.

    Choose Exit from the Print Manager Menu.

How to Delete a Printer

If you are disconnecting a printer from a printer server, you should either disable the printer's services first or move the print requests to another printer. See System Administration Guide, Volume II for more information. If you want to remove access to a printer on a print client, use the procedure below.

  1. Start Solaris Print Manager on the print client where you want to delete access to a printer.

    See "How to Start Solaris Print Manager" for instructions.

  2. Select the printer to be deleted from the Solaris Print Manager main window.

  3. Choose the Delete Printer option from the Printer menu.

  4. Click OK to delete the printer.

    The printer entry is removed from the Solaris Print Manager main window.

  5. Exit Solaris Print Manager.

    Choose Exit from the Solaris Print Manager Menu.

Using Solaris Print Manager's Mouseless Navigation Features

This section describes how to use keyboard features instead of the mouse to navigate and activate the Solaris Print Manager application.

Overview of Mouseless Keyboard Navigation

You can use the keyboard to activate screen components without having to use the computer mouse. The standard alphanumeric keys are available, along with the following:

The modifier keys (Shift, Control, and Alt) do not produce a character but can be used in combination with other keys to modify an action.

The functionality described in this section has been verified on the Common Desktop Environment (CDE) 1.1 and 1.2 versions only. Using Solaris Print Manager's mouseless navigation with other window managers may cause unpredictable results.

Keyboard Focus Management

Keyboard focus activates the Solaris Print Manager window or the component in which your next keystrokes will take effect. Most components indicate keyboard focus by displaying a surrounding dashed rectangle, and editable text components show a blinking insertion point.

When a window opens, keyboard focus is assigned to the most logical component. Typically, this is the component that would be used first or the component in the upper left of the window, but in some cases, keyboard focus is assigned to a button.

In general, pressing the Tab key cycles keyboard focus through the major components. Pressing the Shift-Tab keys cycles keyboard focus through the components in the reverse direction. Arrow keys are used to manipulate focus within groups of components. For example, pressing the Tab key moves the focus to a set of buttons, and then pressing the arrow keys moves the focus among the individual buttons. Once an element has focus, pressing the Space bar usually activates it.

Common Navigation Keys

Some of the keyboard navigation operations in the following table may be temporarily incomplete or unimplemented.

Table 1-4 Keyboard Navigation

Key 

Use This Key To ... 

Tab 

Navigate in or out of a component 

Shift-Tab  

Navigate in the opposite direction of the Tab key 

Left Arrow  

Move focus left one character or component within a group 

Right Arrow  

Move focus right one character or component within a group 

Up Arrow  

Move focus up one line or component within a group 

Down Arrow 

Move focus down one line or component within a group 

Page Up  

Move up one view 

Page Down 

Move down one view  

Home 

Move to the beginning of data; in a table, move to the beginning of a row 

End 

Move to the end of data; in a table, move to the last cell in a row 

Enter or Return 

Activate default button 

Escape 

Dismiss menu or dialog box without changes 

Space bar 

Activate or select the component which has keyboard focus 

Using Mnemonics

Mnemonics provide keyboard alternatives to the mouse for displaying Solaris Print Manager menus or choosing commands. A mnemonic is an underlined letter in a menu title, menu item, or command button. It reminds you how to activate the equivalent command by simultaneously pressing the Alt key and the character key that corresponds to the underlined letter. Once you have displayed a menu with a keyboard sequence, the subsequent letter you press is unique to that menu.

For example, to display the Printer menu and use the Add Access to Printer menu, press the Alt and P keys simultaneously, then press the A key to choose the Add Access to Printer menu. Press the Alt and H keys to display the Help menu.

There are also mnemonics for controls within Solaris Print Manager dialog boxes such as the Select Naming Service menu. Buttons have mnemonics indicated on their labels. Once you have moved keyboard focus into the dialog box, you may simply press a button's mnemonic to activate it.

Solaris Print Manager's Default Buttons

Each Solaris Print Manager dialog box that contains buttons has an associated default button. This button, indicated by a heavy black border, is activated if you press the Return key when focus is anywhere in the dialog box.

When focus is within a combo box such as the Naming Service menu, pressing the Return key doesn't activate the default button nor will pressing the Esc (Escape) key cancel a menu. Instead, you'll see the following behavior:

As you move focus among the available buttons, the border which indicates the default surrounds the button which currently has focus. This means that pressing the Return key activates whatever button has focus. Pressing the Space bar also activates a button which has focus. When focus moves from a button to another component in the dialog, the original default button is restored.