5    Creating ASU Printer Shares

This chapter describes how to use the ASU server to share Tru64 UNIX printers with domain users.

5.1    Before Creating a Printer Share

Before you create a printer share:

5.2    Printer Share Attributes

A printer share is made up of mandatory and optional attributes.

Table 5-1 describes the print share attributes for which you must provide a value.

Table 5-1:  Mandatory Print Share Attributes

Attribute Description

Share name

A unique name of up to 12 alphanumeric characters that users use to connect to the printer share.

A share name cannot be: COMM, PRINT, DEV, PIPE, QUEUES, SEM, MAILSLOT, SHAREMEM

Append a dollar sign ( $ ) to a share name to make it hidden when users browse the ASU server.

Device name

The name by which the Tru64 UNIX operating system software recognizes the printer.

Table 5-2 describes the print share attributes for which you can provide a value.

Table 5-2:  Optional Print Share Attributes

Attribute Description
Users The maximum number of users who can simultaneously access the share.
Remark A comment about the share. Comments must be enclosed in quotation marks.

5.3    Configuring Print Jobs

Table 5-3 describes the registry value entries in the SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Services/AdvancedServer/Parameters registry path that define the maximum number of print jobs and length of print job names.

Table 5-3:  Print Job Value Entries

Entry Specifies/Default

MaxPrintJobs

The maximum number of print jobs allowed in any class queue created by the ASU server.

Default: 1000 print jobs

MaxPrintJobName

The maximum number of characters for a print job name. Characters that exceed the value of the MaxPrintJobName entry are truncated.

Default: 0 characters (do not truncate print job names)

You use a registry editor to change the values of these keys. For example, follow these steps to use the regconfig registry editor to set the maximum number of print job names to 8 characters. The backslash ( \ ) at the end of a line indicates continuation. Enter the entire command, then press the Enter key.

  1. Enter the new value for the MaxPrintJobName entry by entering the following command:

    # regconfig SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Services/\ 
    AdvancedServer/Parameters MaxPrintJobName REG_DWORD 8
    

  2. Restart the ASU server by entering the following commands:

    # net stop server

    # net start server

5.4    Creating Printer Shares

To create a printer share you can use either:

5.4.1    Using the net share Command

You enter a net command in lowercase at the Tru64 UNIX command prompt on a system running the ASU server. Press the Enter key at the end of the entire command.

Table 5-4 shows the net share command options that you use to set attributes for printer shares.

Table 5-4:  Setting Printer Share Attributes

Attribute net share Option
Share name Enter the name after the net share command
Device name Enter the Tru64 UNIX name of the printer after the share name
Users /users:# or /unlimited
Remark /remark:"text"

To create a printer share called win_printer that is associated to a Tru64 UNIX printer called laserwriter, enter:

# net share win_printer=laserwriter /print

To view information about the win_printer print share, enter:

# net share win_printer

5.4.2    Using the Windows Printer Wizard

Follow these steps to create a print share using the Windows Printer Wizard:

  1. Log in to the system running the Windows software using an account with administrative privileges.

  2. Browse the Network Neighborhood or use the Run or Find option from the Start button to locate and double click on the ASU server on which you want to create the printer share.

    A window is displayed listing the disk shares and a Printers folder.

  3. Double click on the Printers folder.

  4. Click on the Add Printer icon and follow the instructions on the screen.

5.5    Deleting Printer Shares

Do not use the Tru64 UNIX lprsetup command or edit the /etc/printcap file to delete an ASU printer share. To delete a printer share, use the clsetup command, or enter:

# net share sharename /delete

See clsetup(8) for more information on the clsetup command.

5.6    Installing Alternate Printer Drivers

You can install alternate print drivers for a printer share so users of various Windows based systems (Alpha, PowerPC, MIPS, or x86) can automatically download the driver that they need when adding the printer share. For example, when a Windows 95 user adds to their system a printer that points to an ASU print share, the Windows 95 Printer Wizard connects to the ASU server and searches for a x86-based driver for that printer. If a driver is found, the Printer Wizard copies the driver to the Windows 95 system. If a driver is not found, the Printer Wizard requires that user provide it.

Follow these steps to install alternate print drivers for a printer share:

  1. Install the printer locally on a Windows NT system.

  2. Display the Properties dialog box for the printer share.

  3. Click on the Sharing tab.

  4. Choose to share the printer and select the alternate drivers that you want to install.

  5. Click on the OK button.

5.7    Setting Printer Share Permissions

Permissions for a print share can be No Access, Print, Manage Documents, and Full Control.

Although permissions are cumulative, the No Access permission overrides all other permissions. By default, the Full Control permission is assigned to each domain user account.

To change permissions on a print share, you must be the owner of the printer. You can change print share permissions by using either:

5.7.1    Using the net perms Command

Enter a net command in lowercase at the Tru64 UNIX command prompt on a system running the ASU server. Press the Enter key at the end of the entire command.

To prohibit a user named peter from using a printer share called win_printer, enter:

# net perms \\win_printer /grant peter:noaccess

To view permissions about the win_printer printer share, enter:

# net perms \\win_printer

5.7.2    Using the Windows Printer Properties GUI

Follow these steps to set printer share permissions:

  1. Select the printer share by clicking on the start button, selecting the Settings option, then the Printers folder.

    A window is displayed that shows the installed printers.

  2. Click on the name of the print share in the Printers window.

  3. Choose Properties from the File menu.

    The Properties dialog box for the printer is displayed.

  4. Click on the Security tab then click on the Permissions button.

    The Printer Permissions dialog is box displayed.

  5. If the user or group name for which you want to set permissions is not displayed, then click on the Add button to add it to the list. Choose the type of access for the user or group and click on the OK button.

5.8    Viewing the Status of ASU Print Jobs

On systems running the Tru64 UNIX Version 5.0 and higher operating system software, you can use the Tru64 UNIX SysMan Event Viewer to view status information about print jobs sent to the ASU server.

The ASU server uses parts of the lpd daemon. As a result, ASU printing events will appear in the SysMan Event Viewer as normal Tru64 UNIX printing events.

See System Administration for more information on the SysMan Event Viewer.

5.9    Configuring Client Printers as ASU Printer Shares

You can create an ASU printer share for a printer attached to a PC running the MS-DOS operating system software. You cannot create a printer share for a printer attached to a PC running Windows software.

You use the asuclient command to create a special disk share for a printer attached to a PC. The disk share stores print jobs that are sent to the printer. The PC connects to the disk share and retrieves the files to print. To configure a printer that is attached to a PC as an ASU printer share, you must configure the ASU server and the PC as described in the following sections.

5.9.1    Configuring the ASU Server

To configure the ASU server to recognize the printer attached to a PC, you must:

  1. Enter the lprsetup command.

  2. When the lprsetup utility prompts you for the printer type, enter clientps if the printer is a PostScript printer or clienttxt if the printer is a text printer.

  3. When the lprsetup utility prompts you for the spooler directory and error log file, enter a path and replace CLIENTNAME with the name of the PC to which the printer is attached.

    The lprsetup utility creates a print queue for it on the Tru64 UNIX system.

  4. Use the net share command to create a printer share for the printer. For example, to create a printer share called win_printer for a printer called laser, enter:

    # net share win_printer=laser /print

  5. Enter the asuclient printername -a command to create the disk share for the printer. For example, to create a disk share for a printer called laser, enter:

    # asuclient laser -a

5.9.2    Configuring the PC

To configure the PC you must:

  1. Load the spooler agent software that is provided with the ASU software onto the PC to which the printer is attached. The spooler agent software is a terminate-and-stay-resident (TSR) program that receives print jobs from the ASU server and sends them to MS-DOS TSRs for printing.

  2. Configure a persistent connection on the PC. This connection establishes a link to the ASU server and copies print jobs for the attached printer from the special file share.

These tasks are described in the next sections.

5.9.2.1    Loading Spooler Agent Software

The way you load the spooler agent software onto the PC depends on whether you are attaching a text printer or a PostScript printer, as described in the following sections:

5.9.2.1.1    Attaching a Text Printer

At the MS-DOS prompt on the PC to which the text printer is attached:

  1. Edit the autoexec.bat file and add the following entries after the call \directory\STARTNET.BAT entry:

    print /d:portid:
    use driveid: \\unix_server_name\DOSUTIL 
    driveid:\clispool /i /s:driveid
    

    The portid variable is the ID of the client's printer port. For example, LPT1 or COM1.

    The driveid variable indicates the drive where you want to install the spooler agent software.

  2. Reboot the PC.

5.9.2.1.2    Attaching a PostScript Printer

At the MS-DOS prompt on the PC to which the PostScript printer is attached:

  1. Edit the autoexec.bat file and add the following entries after the call \transport\STARTNET.BAT entry (transport is either TCP/IP or DECnet):

    c:\pcache\pcache.com 
    c:\pcache\print /d:portid:
    use driveid: \\unix_server_name\DOSUTIL 
    driveid:\clipcach /i /s:driveid
    

    The portid variable is the ID of the client's printer port. For example, LPT1 or COM1.

    The driveid variable indicates the drive where you want to install the spooler agent software.

  2. Reboot the PC.

5.9.2.2    Configuring a Persistent Connection

If, on the ASU server, the AutoDisconnect registry value entry is disabled, which it is by default, and you followed the steps in Section 5.9.2.1, then nothing more is needed to create a persistent connection.

If, on the ASU server, the AutoDisconnect registry value entry is enabled, you need to disable it.

Follow these steps to use the regconfig registry editor to disable the AutoDisconnect registry value entry. The backslash ( \ ) at the end of a line indicates continuation. Enter the entire command, then press the Enter key.

  1. Disable the AutoDisconnect entry by entering the following command:

    # regconfig SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Services/\  
    LanmanServer/Parameters \  
    AutoDisconnect REG_DWORD 0
    

  2. Restart the ASU server by entering the following commands:

    # net stop server

    # net start server