Printing Under NetWare

Novell Directory Services uses objects in the directory database to represent the functional components of the printing system. As with Windows NT, Windows 2000, and Windows 2003, some terms must be defined:

• Printer This is the physical printer, like the printer device under Windows NT.

• Print queue This is like the logical printer found in Windows NT. Unlike Windows NT, the term queue is used. Users send print jobs to a print queue, where they are retained until they print.

• Print server This can be a software print server (such as NetWare's PSERVER.NLM) loaded on a host computer on the network, or a physical print server device connected to the network.

When the administrator creates a Print Queue object in the database, a directory that will hold the spooled files is created automatically. The administrator then specifies the print server that will control the queue, and the printer (physical device) that will render the print job into a finished document. When configuring a NetWare client, you select a print queue. The user does not have to be bothered with other aspects of the system such as the printer or the print server.

Print queues hold jobs waiting to print. A queue can accept documents even if the printer is offline or out of service. The jobs wait in the queue until the printer is restored to service or another printer is assigned to the task. In a manner similar to Windows NT, NetWare print queues can send print jobs to multiple output print devices, and multiple print queues can be established to send output to the same printer.

These three entitiesthe printer, the print server, and the print queuedo not have to reside on the same host computer. However, to reduce network traffic, it's a good idea in a high-volume printing environment to locate them on the same server. Or else, when a user submits a print job, network bandwidth is used, sending the data to the print queue. Then, more bandwidth is used to send the document from the print queue to the print server, and if the printer is a networked device, additional bandwidth is used to send the document from the print server to the printer.

To create the objects needed for printing in NetWare, you use either the NetWare Administrator or the PCONSOLE utility. The PCONSOLE utility is the recommended route because it has an option that provides a quick setup for all three objects. To use the PCONSOLE utility to set up printing on a server, follow these steps:

1.	Log in as an Admin user or a user that has the create, delete, and browse privileges for the container that will hold the printing objects.
2.	Run PCONSOLE.
3.	Choose PCONSOLE, Change Context. Set your context to the container you want to use for the printing objects.
4.	Choose Available Options, Print Queues.
5.	Press the Insert (Ins) key to create a new object.
6.	Enter the name you want to give to the Print Queue object.
7.	A dialog box prompts you for the volume to use for the Print Queue object's spooling directory. Enter an object or use the Insert key to browse for available volumes. When finished, press the Escape key to return to the PCONSOLE menu.
8.	Next, create the Printer object. Choose Available Options, Printers.
9.	Press the Insert key to create a new Printer object.
10.	Enter a name for the Printer object when the dialog box prompts you.
11.	Select the newly created Printer object from the Printers list.
12.	In the Printer Configuration screen that appears, fill in the configuration information specific to the kind of printer the object representswhether it uses a parallel or serial port, address restrictions, and so on.
13.	While still in the Printer Configuration screen, select the queue you want to use from the Print Queues Assigned field. When finished, press the F10 key to save the information. Press the Escape key to return to the Available Options menu.
14.	Select Print Servers to begin creating the new Print Server object. Press the Insert key to create a new object.
15.	Enter a name for the new object when the screen prompts you. The object is created. Select it from the Print Servers list so that it can be configured.
16.	Select the Printers option from the Print Server Information list. Press the Insert key.
17.	A list of Printer objects appears. Select the Printer object you just created. You can continue to add other Print Server objects if you like. Press the Escape key until you reach the main menu of the PCONSOLE utility.

You also can use the Quick Setup feature of PCONSOLE. Choose Available Options, Quick Setup on the PCONSOLE menu. The Print Services Quick Setup screen appears and allows you to fill in the fields on this screen.

Tip

You can use the PUPGRADE utility to upgrade NetWare 3.x servers that are already configured as print servers. Select PUPGRADE, Upgrade Print Servers and Printers; then select the bindery print server you want to upgrade.

Print Queue Object Properties

The Print Queue object is a logical representation of a print queue. It uses a directory (created as a subdirectory under the /QUEUES directory) on a NetWare volume you select when you create the object to store files waiting to print. The following are significant properties of the Print Queue object:

• Volume The volume selected to hold files that are waiting in the queue to print. Choose a volume that has adequate storage for the typical printing volume on the server.

• Authorized Print Servers A list of print servers that can use this print queue.

• Printers Servicing Print Queue A list of printers to which the print queue can send output.

• Operators The users allowed to perform management functions on the queue.

• Users The users allowed to send print jobs to the print queue. Instead of listing individual users for this property, it's much easier to use container objects that include users to make administration tasks easier.

• Print Job List A list of print jobs in the queue. It includes the sequence number for each job, the job ID, the current status of the print job, the form used, and the name of the file to be printed.

Note that the Printers Servicing Print Queue property is used to link the Print Queue object to one or more Printer objects.

Printer Object Properties

The Printer object represents an actual physical printer that will accept print jobs from a print queue. The printer can be connected directly to the network, to a workstation, or to a server.

The properties of the Printer object include a name property, which is established when the Printer object is created. In addition, you can assign values to other descriptive properties:

• Other Names

• Description

• Location

• Department

• Organization

The following are more important properties that affect how the queue functions:

• Print Server Shows the Print Server object to which the printer is assigned.

• Print Queues Lists the Print Queue objects that can send print jobs to the printer.

• Printer Features Contains information such as the kind of printer language understood by the printer and the amount of memory installed. This is a useful feature because users can search Novell Directory Services (NDS) to find a printer that supports the features they need for a particular job.

• Printer Type Indicates whether the printer is a parallel, serial, or other kind of printer, such as one accessed via AppleTalk or Unix.

• Banner Type Can be either text or PostScript.

• Service Interval Defines how often the printer checks with the Print Queue object to see whether there are any jobs to print. The value can range from 1 to 255 seconds, with a default of 5 seconds.

• Buffer Size in KB Defines the size of the data segment sent to the printer. The value can range from 3KB to 255KB, with a default of 3KB.

• Network Address Restrictions Specifies the network address of the printer's network interface or the address of the host computer to which the printer is attached.

• Service Mode for Forms Indicates the policy for changing forms and can be set to Starting Form or Service Mode for Forms. The Starting Form value is the identifying number of a form that the Print Server object expects to be loaded on the printer by default. The Service Mode for Forms is used to indicate whether the form can be changed, and how, or if only the currently mounted form should be used.

• Notification A list of users who are notified when a problem occurs on the printer, such as a paper-out condition.

The Print Server property and the Print Queues property are used to link the three objects that make up the path from the user to the finished print job.

Print Server Object Properties

The Print Server object represents the print server program (PSERVER.NLM), which runs on a server to control the printing process. The only properties that are defined when the Print Server object is created are the Name property (common name) and the Advertising Name, which is used to advertise the service using the Service Advertising Protocol (SAP).

The Print Server object, like the Printer object, also enables you to define descriptive properties such as Department and Location. In addition, the Network Address field displays the address on the network of the print server when it is up and running. The Version property shows the version of PSERVER.NLM that is being used by the print server.

Other important properties include the following:

• Printers Indicates the Printer objects that the Print Server can use to render a print job into its final output form.

• Operators Specifies users who can perform management functions for the server. This can include users, groups, and user templates, as well as Organization or Organizational Unit container objects in the NDS tree.

• Users Specifies users who can use this print server. Again, the values here can also be container objects, so you don't have to list each user individually. Although users only need to be listed as users for a print queue to print, if you list them here also, they can check the status of the print queue.

• Password Allows you to assign a password to this Print Server object so that it cannot be loaded (via LOAD PSERVER) by unauthorized users.

The properties for a print server are loaded into memory when the module PSERVER.NLM is loaded. If you make changes to the object after it is loaded, they do not take effect until the print server is unloaded and loaded again.

PSERVER.NLM and NPRINTER.NLM

On a host that is acting as a print server, the PSERVER.NLM module must be loaded. When it is loaded, the module activates any printers defined by Printer objects that are listed in its Printers property. NetWare allows for both local and remote printers. Local printers are attached to the host print server. Remote printers can be serviced by this Print server but reside on other computers. The NPRINTER.NLM module controls the printer and is automatically loaded for each locally attached printer. Because of this, these printers are called Autoload printers.

To load the PSERVER module, use the LOAD PSERVER command:

LOAD PSERVER <print server object name> 

The PSERVER.NLM can support up to 256 printers, up to 5 of which can be connected locally to the server on which PSERVER.NLM is loaded.

The NPRINTER.NLM module must be manually loaded on remote servers (and the program NPRINTER.EXE for remote workstations). When multiple printers are hosted on a single remote server or workstation, NPRINTER must be loaded for each one. The syntax used depends on the computer on which the module will be loaded. For DOS machines, use this:

NPRINTER <name of print server object> <name of printer object> 

For NetWare servers, use this:

LOAD NPRINTER <name of print server object> <name of printer object> 

The NetWare 6.x iPrint Utility

NetWare 6.x introduced many new features that were as impressive as well as useful. Both iFolder and iPrint are among those new features. Because Novell is continuing to evolve its product line and break out some features as separate product offerings, you should be sure to visit its Web site to find out the latest information about any part of NetWare. iPrint, which was delivered with NetWare 6.x, uses both Novell Distributed Print Services and IPP to allow you to print to IPP-enabled printers (whether physically connected to a network or connected to an IPP-enabled server that offers printers to the network).

Although iPrint was introduced in NetWare 6.x, you can also run the software on NetWare 5.x networks if you install Support Pack 2 (or a newer support pack). Because most networks are upgraded to a newer version of the operating system for computers on the network, this backward compatibility enables you to use iPrint on your 5.x network while you contemplate whether to begin an upgrade to NetWare 6.x. Client computers that make use of iPrint need to use Windows NT 4.0/2000/XP, or Windows 95/98/Meusing Internet Explorer 5.x or above, or Netscape Navigator 4.7 or greater.

You can expect to see IPP offered on just about every operating system in the near future. This is because the Internet is becoming the de facto means of exchanging data with computers outside your network. Instead of sending a report, a catalog, or other documents to another company, you can simply establish a connection to a server that supports IPP and print directly to a printer managed by that server. Keep in mind, however, that the receiving end of this data transfer will need to grant access to the printer before you can use it.