Jefferson Lab Printing System

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Jefferson Lab Printing System
Sherman White Jr.
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Jefferson Lab Print Services

• 200-250 printers
• gt1500 systems (UnixWindows)
• 2 Windows print servers
• 1 Unix print server

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History

• Different print servers for Unix and Windows
  platforms
• Unix printing primitive by modern standards
• Incompatibilities found between Unix vendor
  client/server software All options not
  recognized by all client/server combinations.

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Old configuration (Windows)
Formatted Data (Client)
Windows Client
Print Server
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Old Configuration (Unix)
Formatted Data (Client)
Unix Client
Print Server
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Old Configuration (Overview)

• Windows Systems Smart print client software
  knows printer details and pre-formats data
  allowing for simplified handling by dumb printer
  server.
• Unix Systems Dumb print client relies on smart
  printer server to know printer details and to
  pre-format data prior to printing job.

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New Configuration
Formatted Data (Client)
Windows Client
Print Server
Unix Client
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New Configuration (Overview)

• Windows Systems Smart client software
  pre-formats data for simplified handling by a
  dumb print server.
• Unix Systems Smart client software pre-formats
  data allowing intelligence to be moved away from
  the print server.

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New Configuration (Software)

• Samba Available for Linux as well as other Unix
  platforms, the software supports the Windows
  networking protocol SMB.
• PDQ (Print Dont Queue) This software provides a
  simplified client side user interface for
  printing.
• LprNG Print server software available for Linux
  and other Unix platforms

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New Configuration (Contd)

• Ppdfilt Client side software used to provide
  access to printer specific features. Integrated
  into PDQ print drivers.
• GlibC Link library needed to build public domain
  packages and to provide compatibility lair
  between CUE platforms (HP, Linux, Solaris).
• Gtk Public domain X widget library, used to
  compile Xpdq- the graphical version of pdq.

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New Configuration (Contd)

• Perl- Used to write scripts and to tie various
  packages together including application start up
  and device driver interfaces.
• Printtool Redhat tool for remotely
  administering printers. Comes with Redhat.
  (optional)
• Sambatool Public domain tool for remotely
  managing Samba configuration (optional)

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Advantages

• One place to manage the addition and
  configuration of printers for both Windows and
  Unix.
• Remotely manageable.
• Flexible design allows print services to be
  easily moved to another system if needed.
• Highly backward compatible for both Windows and
  Unix users.

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Advantages (Contd)

• Scripting capabilities of Unix allow for creation
  of intelligent management programs.
• Open Source- allows for easy customization.
• PPD support makes for easy addition of new
  printer models.

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Currently Unimplemented

• Failover
• Load balancing
• Accounting/Reporting

Supported via LprNG
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Example Adding a Printer.

• Add printer to /etc/printcap of server
  (automatically exported via Samba)
• Add printer to client-side printrc (may be added
  using vi or by GUI as root)
• Upload Windows device driver using Microsoft Add
  Printer Wizard. (Same as updating Windows Print
  Servers)

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Screen Shots
Samba/Windows Network Neighborhood
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Screen Shots
Xpdq printer selection window
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Screen Shots
Xpdq printer feature selection menu (driver
options)
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Screen Shots
Xpdq print job status window
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Jefferson Labs
http//cc.jlab.org/products