Chapter 13. Printing Support

Gerald (Jerry) Carter

Samba Team

<jerry@samba.org>

Patrick Powell

<papowell@lprng.org>

(3 May 2001)

Introduction

Beginning with the 2.2.0 release, Samba supports -the native Windows NT printing mechanisms implemented via -MS-RPC (i.e. the SPOOLSS named pipe). Previous versions of -Samba only supported LanMan printing calls.

The additional functionality provided by the new -SPOOLSS support includes:

Support for downloading printer driver - files to Windows 95/98/NT/2000 clients upon demand. -
Uploading of printer drivers via the - Windows NT Add Printer Wizard (APW) or the - Imprints tool set (refer to http://imprints.sourceforge.net). -
Support for the native MS-RPC printing - calls such as StartDocPrinter, EnumJobs(), etc... (See - the MSDN documentation at http://msdn.microsoft.com/ - for more information on the Win32 printing API) -
Support for NT Access Control Lists (ACL) - on printer objects
Improved support for printer queue manipulation - through the use of an internal databases for spooled job - information

-There has been some initial confusion about what all this means -and whether or not it is a requirement for printer drivers to be -installed on a Samba host in order to support printing from Windows -clients. As a side note, Samba does not use these drivers in any way to process -spooled files. They are utilized entirely by the clients. -

-The following MS KB article, may be of some help if you are dealing with -Windows 2000 clients: How to Add Printers with No User -Interaction in Windows 2000 -

-http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q189/1/05.ASP -

Configuration

[print$] vs. [printer$]

-Previous versions of Samba recommended using a share named [printer$]. -This name was taken from the printer$ service created by Windows 9x -clients when a printer was shared. Windows 9x printer servers always have -a printer$ service which provides read-only access via no -password in order to support printer driver downloads. -

-However, the initial implementation allowed for a -parameter named printer driver location -to be used on a per share basis to specify the location of -the driver files associated with that printer. Another -parameter named printer driver provided -a means of defining the printer driver name to be sent to -the client. -

Creating [print$]

-In order to support the uploading of printer driver -files, you must first configure a file share named [print$]. -The name of this share is hard coded in Samba's internals so -the name is very important (print$ is the service used by -Windows NT print servers to provide support for printer driver -download). -

You should modify the server's smb.conf file to add the global -parameters and to create the -following file share (of course, some of the parameter values, -such as 'path' are arbitrary and should be replaced with -appropriate values for your site):

-[global]
-    ; members of the ntadmin group should be able
-    ; to add drivers and set printer properties
-    ; root is implicitly a 'printer admin'
-    printer admin = @ntadmin
-
-[print$]
-    path = /usr/local/samba/printers
-    guest ok = yes
-    browseable = yes
-    read only = yes
-    ; since this share is configured as read only, then we need
-    ; a 'write list'.  Check the file system permissions to make
-    ; sure this account can copy files to the share.  If this
-    ; is setup to a non-root account, then it should also exist
-    ; as a 'printer admin'
-    write list = @ntadmin,root
-

The -write list is used to allow administrative -level user accounts to have write access in order to update files -on the share. See the smb.conf(5) -man page for more information on configuring file shares.

The requirement for guest -ok = yes depends upon how your -site is configured. If users will be guaranteed to have -an account on the Samba host, then this is a non-issue.

Author's Note

-The non-issue is that if all your Windows NT users are guaranteed to be -authenticated by the Samba server (such as a domain member server and the NT -user has already been validated by the Domain Controller in -order to logon to the Windows NT console), then guest access -is not necessary. Of course, in a workgroup environment where -you just want to be able to print without worrying about -silly accounts and security, then configure the share for -guest access. You'll probably want to add map to guest = Bad User - in the [global] section as well. Make sure -you understand what this parameter does before using it -though. --jerry -

In order for a Windows NT print server to support -the downloading of driver files by multiple client architectures, -it must create subdirectories within the [print$] service -which correspond to each of the supported client architectures. -Samba follows this model as well.

Next create the directory tree below the [print$] share -for each architecture you wish to support.

ATTENTION! REQUIRED PERMISSIONS

-In order to currently add a new driver to you Samba host, -one of two conditions must hold true: -

The account used to connect to the Samba host - must have a uid of 0 (i.e. a root account)
The account used to connect to the Samba host - must be a member of the printer - admin list.

-Of course, the connected account must still possess access -to add files to the subdirectories beneath [print$]. Remember -that all file shares are set to 'read only' by default. -

-Once you have created the required [print$] service and -associated subdirectories, simply log onto the Samba server using -a root (or printer admin) account -from a Windows NT 4.0/2k client. Open "Network Neighbourhood" or -"My Network Places" and browse for the Samba host. Once you have located -the server, navigate to the "Printers..." folder. -You should see an initial listing of printers -that matches the printer shares defined on your Samba host. -

Setting Drivers for Existing Printers

The initial listing of printers in the Samba host's -Printers folder will have no real printer driver assigned -to them. This defaults to a NULL string to allow the use -of the local Add Printer Wizard on NT/2000 clients. -Attempting to view the printer properties for a printer -which has this default driver assigned will result in -the error message:

-Device settings cannot be displayed. The driver -for the specified printer is not installed, only spooler -properties will be displayed. Do you want to install the -driver now? -

-Click "No" in the error dialog and you will be presented with -the printer properties window. The way to assign a driver to a -printer is to either -

Use the "New Driver..." button to install - a new printer driver, or
Select a driver from the popup list of - installed drivers. Initially this list will be empty.

If you wish to install printer drivers for client -operating systems other than "Windows NT x86", you will need -to use the "Sharing" tab of the printer properties dialog.

Assuming you have connected with a root account, you -will also be able modify other printer properties such as -ACLs and device settings using this dialog box.

A few closing comments for this section, it is possible -on a Windows NT print server to have printers -listed in the Printers folder which are not shared. Samba does -not make this distinction. By definition, the only printers of -which Samba is aware are those which are specified as shares in -smb.conf.

Another interesting side note is that Windows NT clients do -not use the SMB printer share, but rather can print directly -to any printer on another Windows NT host using MS-RPC. This -of course assumes that the printing client has the necessary -privileges on the remote host serving the printer. The default -permissions assigned by Windows NT to a printer gives the "Print" -permissions to the "Everyone" well-known group. -

Support a large number of printers

One issue that has arisen during the development -phase of Samba 2.2 is the need to support driver downloads for -100's of printers. Using the Windows NT APW is somewhat -awkward to say the list. If more than one printer are using the -same driver, the rpcclient's -setdriver command can be used to set the driver -associated with an installed driver. The following is example -of how this could be accomplished:

-$ rpcclient pogo -U root%secret -c "enumdrivers" -

 
-Domain=[NARNIA] OS=[Unix] Server=[Samba 2.2.0-alpha3]
- 
-[Windows NT x86]
-Printer Driver Info 1:
-     Driver Name: [HP LaserJet 4000 Series PS]
- 
-Printer Driver Info 1:
-     Driver Name: [HP LaserJet 2100 Series PS]
- 
-Printer Driver Info 1:
-     Driver Name: [HP LaserJet 4Si/4SiMX PS]
-

-$ rpcclient pogo -U root%secret -c "enumprinters" +Chapter 18. Classical Printing Support

Chapter 18. Classical Printing Support
Prev	Part III. Advanced Configuration	Next

Chapter 18. Classical Printing Support

Kurt Pfeifle

Danka Deutschland GmbH

<kpfeifle@danka.de>

Gerald (Jerry) Carter

Samba Team

<jerry@samba.org>

May 32, 2003

Table of Contents

Features and Benefits

Technical Introduction

What happens if you send a Job from a Client
Printing Related Configuration Parameters
Parameters Recommended for Use
Parameters for Backwards Compatibility
Parameters no longer in use

A simple Configuration to Print with Samba-3

Verification of "Settings in Use" with testparm
A little Experiment to warn you

Extended Sample Configuration to Print with Samba-3

Detailed Explanation of the Example's Settings

The [global] Section
The [printers] Section
Any [my_printer_name] Section
Print Commands
Default Print Commands for various Unix Print Subsystems
Setting up your own Print Commands

Innovations in Samba Printing since 2.2

Client Drivers on Samba Server for Point'n'Print
The [printer$] Section is removed from Samba-3
Creating the [print$] Share
Parameters in the [print$] Section
Subdirectory Structure in [print$]

Installing Drivers into [print$]

Setting Drivers for existing Printers with a Client GUI
Setting Drivers for existing Printers with +rpcclient

"The Proof of the Pudding lies in the Eating" (Client Driver Install +Procedure)

The first Client Driver Installation
IMPORTANT! Setting Device Modes on new Printers
Further Client Driver Install Procedures
Always make first Client Connection as root or "printer admin"

Other Gotchas

Setting Default Print Options for the Client Drivers
Supporting large Numbers of Printers
Adding new Printers with the Windows NT APW
Weird Error Message Cannot connect under a +different Name
Be careful when assembling Driver Files
Samba and Printer Ports
Avoiding the most common Misconfigurations of the Client Driver

The Imprints Toolset

What is Imprints?
Creating Printer Driver Packages
The Imprints Server
The Installation Client

Add Network Printers at Logon without User Interaction

The addprinter command

Migration of "Classical" printing to Samba-3

Publishing Printer Information in Active Directory or LDAP

Common Errors and Problems

I give my root password but I don't get access
My printjobs get spooled into the spooling directory, but then get lost

Features and Benefits

+Printing is often a mission-critical service for the users. Samba can +provide this service reliably and seamlessly for a client network +consisting of Windows workstations. +

+A Samba-3.0 print service may be run on a Standalone or a Domain +member server, side by side with file serving functions, or on a +dedicated print server. It can be made as tight or as loosely secured +as needs dictate. Configurations may be simple or complex. Available +authentication schemes are essentially the same as described for file +services in previous chapters. Overall, Samba's printing support is +now able to replace an NT or Windows 2000 print server full-square, +with additional benefits in many cases. Clients may download and +install drivers and printers through their familiar "Point'n'Print" +mechanism. Printer installations executed by "Logon Scripts" are no +problem. Administrators can upload and manage drivers to be used by +clients through the familiar "Add Printer Wizard". As an additional +benefit, driver and printer management may be run from the command line +or through scripts, making it more efficient in case of large numbers +of printers. If a central accounting of print jobs (tracking every +single page and supplying the raw data for all sorts of statistical +reports) is required, this is best supported by CUPS as the print +subsystem underneath the Samba hood. +

+This chapter deals with the foundations of Samba printing, as they +implemented by the more traditional UNIX (BSD- and System V-style) +printing systems. Many things apply to CUPS, the newer Common UNIX +Printing System, too; so if you use CUPS, you might be tempted to jump +to the next chapter -- but you will certainly miss a few things if you +do so. Better read this chapter too. +

Note

+Most of the given examples have been verified on Windows XP +Professional clients. Where this document describes the responses to +commands given, bear in mind that Windows 2000 clients are very +similar, but may differ in details. Windows NT is somewhat different +again. +

Technical Introduction

+Samba's printing support always relies on the installed print +subsystem of the Unix OS it runs on. Samba is a "middleman". It takes +printfiles from Windows (or other SMB) clients and passes them to the +real printing system for further processing. Therefore it needs to +"talk" to two sides: to the Windows print clients and to the Unix +printing system. Hence we must differentiate between the various +client OS types each of which behave differently, as well as the +various UNIX print subsystems, which themselves have different +features and are accessed differently. This part of the Samba HOWTO +Collection deals with the "traditional" way of Unix printing first; +the next chapter covers in great detail the more modern +Common UNIX Printing System +(CUPS). + +

Important

CUPS users, be warned: don't just jump on to the next +chapter. You might miss important information contained only +here!

What happens if you send a Job from a Client

+To successfully print a job from a Windows client via a Samba +print server to a UNIX printer, there are 6 (potentially 7) +stages: +

Windows opens a connection to the printershare
Samba must authenticate the user
Windows sends a copy of the printfile over the network +into Samba's spooling area
Windows closes the connection again
Samba invokes the print command to hand the file over +to the UNIX print subsystem's spooling area
The Unix print subsystem processes the print +job
The printfile may need to be explicitly deleted +from the Samba spooling area.

Printing Related Configuration Parameters

+There are a number of configuration parameters in + controlling Samba's printing +behaviour. Please also refer to the man page for smb.conf to +acquire an overview about these. As with other parameters, there are +Global Level (tagged with a "G" in the listings) and +Service Level ("S") parameters. +

Service Level Parameters: These may go into the +[global] section of +. In this case they define the default +behaviour of all individual or service level shares (provided those +don't have a different setting defined for the same parameter, thus +overriding the global default).
Global Parameters: These may not go into individual +shares. If they go in by error, the "testparm" utility can discover +this (if you run it) and tell you so.

Parameters Recommended for Use

The following smb.conf parameters directly +related to printing are used in Samba-3. See also the +smb.conf man page for detailed explanations: +

List of printing related parameters in Samba-3. +

Global level parameters:

addprinter command (G)
deleteprinter command (G)
disable spoolss (G)
enumports command (G)
load printers (G)
lpq cache time (G)
os2 driver map (G)
printcap name (G), printcap (G)
show add printer wizard (G)
total print jobs (G)
use client driver (G)

+ +

Service level parameters:

hosts allow (S)
hosts deny (S)
lppause command (S)
lpq command (S)
lpresume command (S)
lprm command (S)
max print jobs (S)
min print space (S)
print command (S)
printable (S), print ok (S)
printer name (S), printer (S)
printer admin (S)
printing = [cups|bsd|lprng...] (S)
queuepause command (S)
queueresume command (S)
total print jobs (S)

+Samba's printing support implements the Microsoft Remote Procedure +Calls (MS-RPC) methods for printing. These are used by Windows NT (and +later) print servers. The old "LanMan" protocol is still supported as +a fallback resort, and for older clients to use. More details will +follow further beneath. +

Parameters for Backwards Compatibility

+Two new parameters that were added in Samba 2.2.2, are still present +in Samba-3.0. Both of these options are described in the +smb.conf man page and are disabled by +default. Use them with caution! +

disable spoolss(G): This is +provided for better support of Samba 2.0.x backwards capability. It +will disable Samba's support for MS-RPC printing and yield identical +printing behaviour to Samba 2.0.x.
use client driver (G): was provided +for using local printer drivers on Windows NT/2000 clients. It does +not apply to Windows 95/98/ME clients.

Parameters "for backward compatibility only", use with caution. +

disable spoolss (G)
use client driver (S)

Parameters no longer in use

+Samba users upgrading from 2.2.x to 3.0 need to be aware that some +previously available settings are no longer supported (as was +announced some time ago). Here is a list of them: +

"old" parameters, removed in Samba-3. +The following smb.conf parameters have been +deprecated already in Samba 2.2 and are now completely removed from +Samba-3. You cannot use them in new 3.0 installations: + +

printer driver file (G)
total print jobs (G)
postscript (S)
printer driver (S)
printer driver location (S)

A simple Configuration to Print with Samba-3

+Here is a very simple example configuration for print related settings +in the file. If you compare it with your +own system's , you probably find some +additional parameters included there (as pre-configured by your OS +vendor). Further below is a discussion and explanation of the +parameters. Note, that this example doesn't use many parameters. +However, in many environments these are enough to provide a valid + which enables all clients to print.

-Domain=[NARNIA] OS=[Unix] Server=[Samba 2.2.0-alpha3]
-     flags:[0x800000]
-     name:[\\POGO\hp-print]
-     description:[POGO\\POGO\hp-print,NO DRIVER AVAILABLE FOR THIS PRINTER,]
-     comment:[]
-				  
+ [global]
+         printing = bsd
+         load printers = yes
+
+ [printers]
+         path = /var/spool/samba
+         printable = yes
+         public = yes
+         writable = no

-$ rpcclient pogo -U root%secret -c "setdriver hp-print \"HP LaserJet 4000 Series PS\"" -

-Domain=[NARNIA] OS=[Unix] Server=[Samba 2.2.0-alpha3]
-Successfully set hp-print to driver HP LaserJet 4000 Series PS.
-

Adding New Printers via the Windows NT APW

-By default, Samba offers all printer shares defined in smb.conf -in the "Printers..." folder. Also existing in this folder is the Windows NT -Add Printer Wizard icon. The APW will be show only if -

The connected user is able to successfully - execute an OpenPrinterEx(\\server) with administrative - privileges (i.e. root or printer admin). -
show - add printer wizard = yes (the default). -

-In order to be able to use the APW to successfully add a printer to a Samba -server, the add -printer command must have a defined value. The program -hook must successfully add the printer to the system (i.e. -/etc/printcap or appropriate files) and -smb.conf if necessary. -

-When using the APW from a client, if the named printer share does -not exist, smbd will execute the add printer -command and reparse to the smb.conf -to attempt to locate the new printer share. If the share is still not defined, -an error of "Access Denied" is returned to the client. Note that the -add printer program is executed under the context -of the connected user, not necessarily a root account. -

-There is a complementary delete -printer command for removing entries from the "Printers..." -folder. -

-The following is an example add printer command script. It adds the appropriate entries to /etc/printcap.local (change that to what you need) and returns a line of 'Done' which is needed for the whole process to work. -

-#!/bin/sh
-
-# Script to insert a new printer entry into printcap.local
-#
-# $1, printer name, used as the descriptive name
-# $2, share name, used as the printer name for Linux
-# $3, port name
-# $4, driver name
-# $5, location, used for the device file of the printer
-# $6, win9x location
-
-#
-# Make sure we use the location that RedHat uses for local printer defs
-PRINTCAP=/etc/printcap.local
-DATE=`date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S`
-LP=lp
-RESTART="service lpd restart"
-
-# Keep a copy
-cp $PRINTCAP $PRINTCAP.$DATE
-# Add the printer to $PRINTCAP
-echo ""				 			>> $PRINTCAP
-echo "$2|$1:\\" 					>> $PRINTCAP
-echo "  :sd=/var/spool/lpd/$2:\\" 			>> $PRINTCAP
-echo "  :mx=0:ml=0:sh:\\" 				>> $PRINTCAP
-echo "  :lp=/usr/local/samba/var/print/$5.prn:" 	>> $PRINTCAP
-
-touch "/usr/local/samba/var/print/$5.prn" >> /tmp/printadd.$$ 2>&1
-chown $LP "/usr/local/samba/var/print/$5.prn" >> /tmp/printadd.$$ 2>&1
-
-mkdir /var/spool/lpd/$2
-chmod 700 /var/spool/lpd/$2
-chown $LP /var/spool/lpd/$2
-#echo $1 >> "/usr/local/samba/var/print/$5.prn"
-#echo $2 >> "/usr/local/samba/var/print/$5.prn"
-#echo $3 >> "/usr/local/samba/var/print/$5.prn"
-#echo $4 >> "/usr/local/samba/var/print/$5.prn"
-#echo $5 >> "/usr/local/samba/var/print/$5.prn"
-#echo $6 >> "/usr/local/samba/var/print/$5.prn"
-$RESTART >> "/usr/local/samba/var/print/$5.prn"
-# Not sure if this is needed
-touch /usr/local/samba/lib/smb.conf
-#
-# You need to return a value, but I am not sure what it means.
-#
-echo "Done"
-exit 0
-

Samba and Printer Ports

-Windows NT/2000 print servers associate a port with each printer. These normally -take the form of LPT1:, COM1:, FILE:, etc... Samba must also support the -concept of ports associated with a printer. By default, only one printer port, -named "Samba Printer Port", exists on a system. Samba does not really a port in -order to print, rather it is a requirement of Windows clients. -

-Note that Samba does not support the concept of "Printer Pooling" internally -either. This is when a logical printer is assigned to multiple ports as -a form of load balancing or fail over. -

-If you require that multiple ports be defined for some reason, -smb.conf possesses a enumports -command which can be used to define an external program -that generates a listing of ports on a system. -

The Imprints Toolset

The Imprints tool set provides a UNIX equivalent of the - Windows NT Add Printer Wizard. For complete information, please - refer to the Imprints web site at - http://imprints.sourceforge.net/ as well as the documentation - included with the imprints source distribution. This section will - only provide a brief introduction to the features of Imprints.

What is Imprints?

Imprints is a collection of tools for supporting the goals - of

Providing a central repository information - regarding Windows NT and 95/98 printer driver packages
Providing the tools necessary for creating - the Imprints printer driver packages.
Providing an installation client which - will obtain and install printer drivers on remote Samba - and Windows NT 4 print servers.

Creating Printer Driver Packages

The process of creating printer driver packages is beyond - the scope of this document (refer to Imprints.txt also included - with the Samba distribution for more information). In short, - an Imprints driver package is a gzipped tarball containing the - driver files, related INF files, and a control file needed by the - installation client.

The Imprints server

The Imprints server is really a database server that - may be queried via standard HTTP mechanisms. Each printer - entry in the database has an associated URL for the actual - downloading of the package. Each package is digitally signed - via GnuPG which can be used to verify that package downloaded - is actually the one referred in the Imprints database. It is - not recommended that this security check - be disabled.

The Installation Client

More information regarding the Imprints installation client - is available in the Imprints-Client-HOWTO.ps - file included with the imprints source package.

The Imprints installation client comes in two forms.

a set of command line Perl scripts
a GTK+ based graphical interface to - the command line perl scripts

The installation client (in both forms) provides a means - of querying the Imprints database server for a matching - list of known printer model names as well as a means to - download and install the drivers on remote Samba and Windows - NT print servers.

The basic installation process is in four steps and - perl code is wrapped around smbclient - and rpcclient.

	
-foreach (supported architecture for a given driver)
-{
-     1.  rpcclient: Get the appropriate upload directory 
-         on the remote server
-     2.  smbclient: Upload the driver files
-     3.  rpcclient: Issues an AddPrinterDriver() MS-RPC
-}
-	
-4.  rpcclient: Issue an AddPrinterEx() MS-RPC to actually
-    create the printer
-

One of the problems encountered when implementing - the Imprints tool set was the name space issues between - various supported client architectures. For example, Windows - NT includes a driver named "Apple LaserWriter II NTX v51.8" - and Windows 95 calls its version of this driver "Apple - LaserWriter II NTX"

The problem is how to know what client drivers have - been uploaded for a printer. As astute reader will remember - that the Windows NT Printer Properties dialog only includes - space for one printer driver name. A quick look in the - Windows NT 4.0 system registry at

HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Environment -

will reveal that Windows NT always uses the NT driver - name. This is ok as Windows NT always requires that at least - the Windows NT version of the printer driver is present. - However, Samba does not have the requirement internally. - Therefore, how can you use the NT driver name if is has not - already been installed?

The way of sidestepping this limitation is to require - that all Imprints printer driver packages include both the Intel - Windows NT and 95/98 printer drivers and that NT driver is - installed first.

Diagnosis

Introduction

-This is a short description of how to debug printing problems with -Samba. This describes how to debug problems with printing from a SMB -client to a Samba server, not the other way around. For the reverse -see the examples/printing directory. -

-Ok, so you want to print to a Samba server from your PC. The first -thing you need to understand is that Samba does not actually do any -printing itself, it just acts as a middleman between your PC client -and your Unix printing subsystem. Samba receives the file from the PC -then passes the file to a external "print command". What print command -you use is up to you. -

-The whole things is controlled using options in smb.conf. The most -relevant options (which you should look up in the smb.conf man page) -are: -

- [global] - print command - send a file to a spooler - lpq command - get spool queue status - lprm command - remove a job - [printers] - path = /var/spool/lpd/samba +This is only an example configuration. Many settings, if not +explicitly set to a specific value, are used and set by Samba +implicitly to its own default, because these have been compiled in. +To see all settings, let root use the testparm +utility. testparm also gives warnings if you have +mis-configured certain things. Its complete output is easily 340 lines +and more. You may want to pipe it through a pager program. +

+The syntax for the configuration file is easy to grasp. You should +know that is not very picky about its +syntax. It has been explained elsewhere in this document. A short +reminder: It even tolerates some spelling errors (like "browsable" +instead of "browseable"). Most spelling is case-insensitive. Also, you +can use "Yes|No" or "True|False" for boolean settings. Lists of names +may be separated by commas, spaces or tabs. +

Verification of "Settings in Use" with testparm

+To see all (or at least most) printing related settings in Samba, +including the implicitly used ones, try the command outlined below +(hit "ENTER" twice!). It greps for all occurrences of "lp", "print", +"spool", "driver", "ports" and "[" in testparm's output and gives you +a nice overview about the running smbd's print configuration. (Note +that this command does not show individually created printer shares, +or the spooling paths in each case). Here is the output of my Samba +setup, with exactly the same settings in +as shown above: +

+root# testparm -v | egrep "(lp|print|spool|driver|ports|\[)"
+ Load smb config files from /etc/samba/smb.conf.simpleprinting
+ Processing section "[homes]"
+ Processing section "[printers]"
+ 
+ [global]
+        smb ports = 445 139
+        lpq cache time = 10
+        total print jobs = 0
+        load printers = Yes
+        printcap name = /etc/printcap
+        disable spoolss = No
+        enumports command =
+        addprinter command = 
+        deleteprinter command = 
+        show add printer wizard = Yes
+        os2 driver map =
+        printer admin =
+        min print space = 0
+        max print jobs = 1000
+        printable = No
+        printing = bsd
+        print command = lpr -r -P'%p' %s
+        lpq command = lpq -P'%p'
+        lprm command = lprm -P'%p' %j
+        lppause command =
+        lpresume command =
+        printer name =
+        use client driver = No
+
+ [homes]
+
+ [printers]
+        path = /var/spool/samba
+        printable = Yes
+

-The following are nice to know about: -

- queuepause command - stop a printer or print queue - queueresume command - start a printer or print queue +You can easily verify which settings were implicitly added by Samba's +default behaviour. Don't forget about this point: it may +be important in your future dealings with Samba. +

Note

testparm in Samba-3.0 behaves differently from 2.2.x: used +without the "-v" switch it only shows you the settings actually +written into ! To see the complete +configuration used, add the "-v" parameter to testparm.

A little Experiment to warn you

+Should you need to troubleshoot at any stage, please always come back +to this point first and verify if "testparm" shows the parameters you +expect! To give you an example from personal experience as a warning, +try to just "comment out" the load printers" +parameter. If your 2.2.x system behaves like mine, you'll see this: +

+root# grep "load printers" /etc/samba/smb.conf
+ #      load printers = Yes
+        # This setting is commented ooouuuuut!!
+
+root# testparm -v /etc/samba/smb.conf | egrep "(load printers)"
+        load printers = Yes
+

-Example: -

- print command = /usr/bin/lpr -r -P%p %s - lpq command = /usr/bin/lpq -P%p %s - lprm command = /usr/bin/lprm -P%p %j - queuepause command = /usr/sbin/lpc -P%p stop - queuepause command = /usr/sbin/lpc -P%p start +Despite my imagination that the commenting out of this setting should +prevent Samba from publishing my printers, it still did! Oh Boy -- it +cost me quite some time to find out the reason. But I am not fooled +any more... at least not by this ;-) +

+root# grep -A1 "load printers" /etc/samba/smb.conf
+        load printers = No
+        # This setting is what I mean!!
+ #      load printers = Yes
+        # This setting is commented ooouuuuut!!
+
+root# testparm -v smb.conf.simpleprinting | egrep "(load printers)"
+        load printers = No
+

-Samba should set reasonable defaults for these depending on your -system type, but it isn't clairvoyant. It is not uncommon that you -have to tweak these for local conditions. The commands should -always have fully specified pathnames, as the smdb may not have -the correct PATH values. -

-When you send a job to Samba to be printed, it will make a temporary -copy of it in the directory specified in the [printers] section. -and it should be periodically cleaned out. The lpr -r option -requests that the temporary copy be removed after printing; If -printing fails then you might find leftover files in this directory, -and it should be periodically cleaned out. Samba used the lpq -command to determine the "job number" assigned to your print job -by the spooler. -

-The %>letter< are "macros" that get dynamically replaced with appropriate -values when they are used. The %s gets replaced with the name of the spool -file that Samba creates and the %p gets replaced with the name of the -printer. The %j gets replaced with the "job number" which comes from -the lpq output. -

Debugging printer problems

-One way to debug printing problems is to start by replacing these -command with shell scripts that record the arguments and the contents -of the print file. A simple example of this kind of things might -be: -

- print command = /tmp/saveprint %p %s - - #!/bin/saveprint - # we make sure that we are the right user - /usr/bin/id -p >/tmp/tmp.print - # we run the command and save the error messages - # replace the command with the one appropriate for your system - /usr/bin/lpr -r -P$1 $2 2>>&/tmp/tmp.print +Only when setting the parameter explicitly to +"load printers = No" +would Samba recognize my intentions. So my strong advice is: +

Never rely on "commented out" parameters!
Always set it up explicitly as you intend it to +behave.
Use testparm to uncover hidden +settings which might not reflect your intentions.

+You can have a working Samba print configuration with this +minimal : +

+root# cat /etc/samba/smb.conf-minimal
+        [printers]
+

-Then you print a file and try removing it. You may find that the -print queue needs to be stopped in order to see the queue status -and remove the job: -

+This example should show you that you can use testparm to test any
+filename for fitness as a Samba configuration. Actually, we want to
+encourage you not to change your
+ on a working system (unless you know
+exactly what you are doing)! Don't rely on an assumption that changes
+will only take effect after you re-start smbd!  This is not the
+case. Samba re-reads its  every 60
+seconds and on each new client connection. You might have to face
+changes for your production clients that you didn't intend to apply at
+this time! You will now note a few more interesting things. Let's now
+ask testparm what the Samba print configuration
+would be, if you used this minimalistic file as your real
+:
+
+root#  testparm -v /etc/samba/smb.conf-minimal | egrep "(print|lpq|spool|driver|ports|[)"
+ Processing section "[printers]"
+ WARNING: [printers] service MUST be printable!
+ No path in service printers - using /tmp
+
+        lpq cache time = 10
+        total print jobs = 0
+        load printers = Yes
+        printcap name = /etc/printcap
+        disable spoolss = No
+        enumports command =
+        addprinter command =
+        deleteprinter command =
+        show add printer wizard = Yes
+        os2 driver map =
+        printer admin =
+        min print space = 0
+        max print jobs = 1000
+        printable = No
+        printing = bsd
+        print command = lpr -r -P%p %s
+        lpq command = lpq -P%p
+        printer name =
+        use client driver = No
+ [printers]
+        printable = Yes
 
-h4: {42} % echo hi >/tmp/hi
-h4: {43} % smbclient //localhost/lw4
-added interface ip=10.0.0.4 bcast=10.0.0.255 nmask=255.255.255.0
-Password: 
-Domain=[ASTART] OS=[Unix] Server=[Samba 2.0.7]
-smb: \> print /tmp/hi
-putting file /tmp/hi as hi-17534 (0.0 kb/s) (average 0.0 kb/s)
-smb: \> queue
-1049     3            hi-17534
-smb: \> cancel 1049
-Error cancelling job 1049 : code 0
-smb: \> cancel 1049
-Job 1049 cancelled
-smb: \> queue
-smb: \> exit
 

-The 'code 0' indicates that the job was removed.  The comment
-by the  smbclient is a bit misleading on this.
-You can observe the command output and then and look at the
-/tmp/tmp.print file to see what the results are.  You can quickly
-find out if the problem is with your printing system.  Often people
-have problems with their /etc/printcap file or permissions on
-various print queues.
-

What printers do I have?

-You can use the 'testprns' program to check to see if the printer -name you are using is recognized by Samba. For example, you can -use: +testparm issued 2 warnings: +

because we didn't specify the +[printers] section as printable, +and
because we didn't tell it which spool directory to +use.

+However, this was not fatal, and Samba-3.0 will default to values that +will work here. But, please!, don't rely on this and don't use this +example! This was only meant to make you careful to design and specify +your setup to be what you really want it to be. The outcome on your +system may vary for some parameters, since you may have a Samba built +with a different compile-time configuration. +Warning: don't put a comment sign at +the end of a valid line. It +will cause the parameter to be ignored (just as if you had put the +comment sign at the front). At first I regarded this as a bug in my +Samba version(s). But the man page states: “Internal whitespace +in a parameter value is retained verbatim.” This means that a +line consisting of, for example, +

+printing = lprng     #This defines LPRng as the printing system"
+

+will regard the whole of the string after the "=" +sign as the value you want to define. And this is an invalid value +that will be ignored, and a default value used instead.] +

Extended Sample Configuration to Print with Samba-3

+Here we show a more verbose example configuration for print related +settings in an . Below is a discussion +and explanation of the various parameters. We chose to use BSD-style +printing here, because we guess it is still the most commonly used +system on legacy Linux installations (new installs now predominantly +have CUPS, which is discussed entirely in the next chapter of this +document). Note, that this example explicitly names many parameters +which don't need to be stated because they are set by default. You +might be able to do with a leaner .

Tip

+if you read access it with the Samba Web Administration Tool (SWAT), +and then write it to disk again, it will be optimized in a way such +that it doesn't contain any superfluous parameters and comments. SWAT +organizes the file for best performance. Remember that each smbd +re-reads the Samba configuration once a minute, and that each +connection spawns an smbd process of its own, so it is not a bad idea +to optimize the in environments with +hundreds or thousands of clients.

+ [global]
+         printing = bsd
+         load printers = yes
+         show add printer wizard = yes
+         printcap name = /etc/printcap
+         printer admin = @ntadmin, root
+         total print jobs = 100
+         lpq cache time = 20
+         use client driver = no
+
+ [printers]
+         comment = All Printers
+         printable = yes
+         path = /var/spool/samba
+         browseable = no
+         guest ok = yes
+         public = yes
+         read only = yes
+         writable = no       
+
+ [my_printer_name]
+         comment = Printer with Restricted Access
+         path = /var/spool/samba_my_printer
+         printer admin = kurt
+         browseable = yes
+         printable = yes
+         writeable = no
+         hosts allow = 0.0.0.0
+         hosts deny = turbo_xp, 10.160.50.23, 10.160.51.60
+         guest ok = no
+

+This also is only an example configuration. You +may not find all the settings in your own + (as pre-configured by your OS +vendor). Many configuration parameters, if not explicitly set to a +specific value, are used and set by Samba implicitly to its own +default, because these have been compiled in. To see all settings, let +root use the testparm +utility. testparm also gives warnings if you have +mis-configured certain things.. +

Detailed Explanation of the Example's Settings

+Following is a discussion of the settings from above shown example. +

The [global] Section

+The [global] section is one of 4 special +sections (along with [[homes], +[printers] and +[print$]...) It contains all parameters which +apply to the server as a whole. It is the place for parameters which +have only a "global" meaning (G). It may also contain service level +parameters (S) which then define default settings for all other +sections and shares. This way you can simplify the configuration and +avoid setting the same value repeatedly. (Within each individual +section or share you may however override these globally set "share +level" settings and specify other values). +

printing = bsd: this causes Samba to use default print commands +applicable for the BSD (a.k.a. RFC 1179 style or LPR/LPD) printing +system. In general, the "printing" parameter informs Samba about the +print subsystem it should expect. Samba supports CUPS, LPD, LPRNG, +SYSV, HPUX, AIX, QNX and PLP. Each of these systems defaults to a +different print command (and other queue control +commands).
Caution
The printing parameter is +normally a service level parameter. Since it is included here in the +[global] section, it will take effect for all +printer shares that are not defined differently. Samba-3.0 no longer +supports the SOFTQ printing system.
load printers = yes: this tells Samba to create automatically all +available printer shares. "Available" printer shares are discovered by +scanning the printcap file. All created printer shares are also loaded +for browsing. If you use this parameter, you do not need to specify +separate shares for each printer. Each automatically created printer +share will clone the configuration options found in the +[printers] section. (A load printers += no setting will allow you to specify each UNIX printer +you want to share separately, leaving out some you don't want to be +publicly visible and available).
show add printer wizard = +yes: this setting is normally +enabled by default (even if the parameter is not written into the +). It makes the Add Printer Wizard icon +show up in the Printers folder of the Samba host's +share listing (as shown in Network Neighbourhood or +by the net view command). To disable it, you need to +explicitly set it to no (commenting it out +will not suffice!). The Add Printer Wizard lets you upload printer +drivers to the [print$] share and associate it +with a printer (if the respective queue exists there before the +action), or exchange a printer's driver against any other previously +uploaded driver.
total print jobs = 100: this setting sets the upper limit to 100 print jobs +being active on the Samba server at any one time. Should a client +submit a job which exceeds this number, a “no more space +available on server” type of error message will be returned by +Samba to the client. A setting of "0" (the default) means there is +no limit at all! +
printcap name = /etc/printcap: this tells Samba where to look for a list of +available printer names. (If you use CUPS, make sure that a printcap +file is written: this is controlled by the "Printcap" directive of +cupsd.conf). +
printer admin = @ntadmin: members of the ntadmin group should be able to add +drivers and set printer properties ("ntadmin" is only an example name, +it needs to be a valid UNIX group name); root is implicitly always a +printer admin. The "@" sign precedes group names in +. A printer admin can do anything to +printers via the remote administration interfaces offered by MS-RPC +(see below). Note that the printer admin +parameter is normally a share level parameter, so you may associate +different groups to different printer shares in larger installations, +if you use the printer admin parameter on the +share levels). +
lpq cache time = 20: this controls the cache time for the results of the +lpq command. It prevents the lpq command being called too often and +reduces load on a heavily used print server. +
use client driver = no: if set to yes, this setting only +takes effect for Win NT/2k/XP clients (and not for Win 95/98/ME). Its +default value is No (or False). +It must not be enabled on print shares +(with a yes or true setting) which +have valid drivers installed on the Samba server! For more detailed +explanations see the man page of smb.conf. +

The [printers] Section

+This is the second special section. If a section with this name +appears in the smb.conf, users are able to +connect to any printer specified in the Samba host's printcap file, +because Samba on startup then creates a printer share for every +printername it finds in the printcap file. You could regard this +section as a general convenience shortcut to share all printers with +minimal configuration. It is also a container for settings which +should apply as default to all printers. (For more details see the +smb.conf man page.) Settings inside this +container must be share level parameters (S). +

comment = All printers

the comment is shown next to +the share if a client queries the server, either via Network +Neighbourhood or with the net view command to list +available shares. +

printable = yes

please note well, that the +[printers] service must be +declared as printable. If you specify otherwise, smbd will refuse to +load at startup. This parameter allows +connected clients to open, write to and submit spool files into the +directory specified with the path parameter for +this service. It is used by Samba to differentiate printer shares from +file shares.

path = /var/spool/samba

this must point to a directory used by Samba to spool +incoming print files. It must not be the same as the spool +directory specified in the configuration of your UNIX print +subsystem! The path would typically point to a directory +which is world writeable, with the "sticky" bit set to it. +

browseable = no

this is always set to no if +printable = yes. It makes the +[printer] share itself invisible in the +list of available shares in a net view command or +in the Explorer browse list. (Note that you will of course see the +individual printers). +

guest ok = yes

+if set to yes, then no password is required to +connect to the printers service. Access will be granted with the +privileges of the guest account. On many systems the +guest account will map to a user named "nobody". This user is in the UNIX +passwd file with an empty password, but with no valid UNIX login. +(Note: on some systems the guest account might not have the +privilege to be able to print. Test this by logging in as your +guest user using su - guest and run a system print +command like +

lpr -P printername /etc/motd

public = yes

this is a synonym for guest ok = +yes. Since we have guest ok = yes, +it really doesn't need to be here! (This leads to the interesting +question: “What, if I by accident have to contradictory settings +for the same share?” The answer is: the last one encountered by +Samba wins. The "winner" is shown by testparm. Testparm doesn't +complain about different settings of the same parameter for the same +share! You can test this by setting up multiple lines for the "guest +account" parameter with different usernames, and then run testparm to +see which one is actually used by Samba.) +

read only = yes

this normally (for other types of shares) prevents +users creating or modifying files in the service's directory. However, +in a "printable" service, it is always allowed to +write to the directory (if user privileges allow the connection), but +only via print spooling operations. "Normal" write operations are not +allowed.

writeable = no

+synonym for read only = yes +

Any [my_printer_name] Section

+If a section appears in the , which is +tagged as printable = yes, Samba presents it as +a printer share to its clients. Note, that Win95/98/ME clients may +have problems with connecting or loading printer drivers if the share +name has more than 8 characters! Also be very careful if you give a +printer the same name as an existing user or file share name: upon a +client's connection request to a certain sharename, Samba always tries +to find file shares with that name first; if it finds one, it will +connect to this and will never ultimately connect to a printer with +the same name! +

comment = Printer with Restricted Access: the comment says it all. +
path = /var/spool/samba_my_printer: here we set the spooling area for this printer to +another directory than the default. It is not a requirement to set it +differently, but the option is available. +
printer admin = kurt: the printer admin definition is different for this +explicitly defined printer share from the general +[printers] share. It is not a requirement; we +did it to show that it is possible if you want it. +
browseable = yes: we also made this printer browseable (so that the +clients may conveniently find it when browsing the Network +Neighbourhood). +
printable = yes: see explanation in last subsection. +
writeable = no: see explanation in last subsection. +
hosts allow = 10.160.50.,10.160.51.: here we exercise a certain degree of access control +by using the hosts allow and hosts deny parameters. Note, that +this is not by any means a safe bet. It is not a way to secure your +printers. This line accepts all clients from a certain subnet in a +first evaluation of access control +
hosts deny = turbo_xp,10.160.50.23,10.160.51.60 +: all listed hosts are not allowed here (even if they +belong to the "allowed subnets"). As you can see, you could name IP +addresses as well as NetBIOS hostnames +here. +
guest ok = no: this printer is not open for the guest account! +

Print Commands

+In each section defining a printer (or in the +[printers] section), a print +command parameter may be defined. It sets a command to +process the files which have been placed into the Samba print spool +directory for that printer. (That spool directory was, if you +remember, set up with the path +parameter). Typically, this command will submit the spool file to the +Samba host's print subsystem, using the suitable system print +command. But there is no requirement that this needs to be the +case. For debugging purposes or some other reason you may want to do +something completely different than "print" the file. An example is a +command that just copies the print file to a temporary location for +further investigation when you need to debug printing. If you craft +your own print commands (or even develop print command shell scripts), +make sure you pay attention to the need to remove the files from the +Samba spool directory. Otherwise your hard disk may soon suffer from +shortage of free space. +

Default Print Commands for various Unix Print Subsystems

+You learned earlier on, that Samba in most cases uses its built-in +settings for many parameters if it can not find an explicitly stated +one in its configuration file. The same is true for the +print command. The default print command varies +depending on the printing =... parameter +setting. In the commands listed below, you will notice some parameters +of the form %X where X is +p, s, J etc. These letters stand for +"printername", "spoolfile" and "job ID" respectively. They are +explained in more detail further below. Here is an overview (excluding +the special case of CUPS, which is discussed in the next chapter): +

If this setting is active...	...this is used in lieu of an explicit command:
`printing = bsd\|aix\|lprng\|plp`	print command is lpr -r -P%p %s
`printing = sysv\|hpux`	print command is lp -c -P%p %s; rm %s
`printing = qnx`	print command is lp -r -P%p -s %s
`printing = bsd\|aix\|lprng\|plp`	lpq command is lpq -P%p
`printing = sysv\|hpux`	lpq command is lpstat -o%p
`printing = qnx`	lpq command is lpq -P%p
`printing = bsd\|aix\|lprng\|plp`	lprm command is lprm -P%p %j
`printing = sysv\|hpux`	lprm command is cancel %p-%j
`printing = qnx`	lprm command is cancel %p-%j
`printing = bsd\|aix\|lprng\|plp`	lppause command is lp -i %p-%j -H hold
`printing = sysv\|hpux`	lppause command (...is empty)
`printing = qnx`	lppause command (...is empty)
`printing = bsd\|aix\|lprng\|plp`	lpresume command is lp -i %p-%j -H resume
`printing = sysv\|hpux`	lpresume command (...is empty)
`printing = qnx`	lpresume command (...is empty)

+We excluded the special CUPS case here, because it is discussed in the +next chapter. Just a short summary. For printing = +CUPS: If SAMBA is compiled against libcups, it uses the +CUPS API to submit jobs, etc. (It is a good idea also to set +printcap = cups in case your +cupsd.conf is set to write its autogenerated +printcap file to an unusual place). Otherwise Samba maps to the System +V printing commands with the -oraw option for printing, i.e. it uses +lp -c -d%p -oraw; rm %s With printing = +cups , and if SAMBA is compiled against libcups, any +manually set print command will be ignored! +

+Having listed the above mappings here, you should note that there used +to be a bug in recent 2.2.x versions which +prevented the mapping from taking effect. It lead to the +"bsd|aix|lprng|plp" settings taking effect for all other systems, for +the most important commands (the print command, the +lpq command and the lprm +command). The lppause command and the +lpresume command remained empty. Of course, these +commands worked on bsd|aix|lprng|plp but they didn't work on +sysv|hpux|qnx systems. To work around this bug, you need to +explicitly set the commands. Use testparm -v to +check which command takes effect. Then check that this command is +adequate and actually works for your installed print subsystem. It is +always a good idea to explicitly set up your configuration files the +way you want them to work and not rely on any built-in defaults. +

Setting up your own Print Commands

+After a print job has finished spooling to a service, the +print command will be used by Samba via a +system() call to process the spool file. Usually +the command specified will submit the spool file to the host's +printing subsystem. But there is no requirement at all that this must +be the case. The print subsystem will probably not remove the spool +file on its own. So whatever command you specify on your own you +should ensure that the spool file is deleted after it has been +processed. +

+There is no difficulty with using your own customized print commands +with the traditional printing systems. However, if you don't wish to +"roll your own", you should be well informed about the default +built-in commands that Samba uses for each printing subsystem (see the +table above). In all the commands listed in the last paragraphs you +see parameters of the form %X These are +macros, or shortcuts, used as place holders for +the names of real objects. At the time of running a command with such +a placeholder, Samba will insert the appropriate value +automatically. Print commands can handle all Samba macro +substitutions. In regard to printing, the following ones do have +special relevance: +

%s, %f - the path to the spool +file name
%p - the appropriate printer +name
%J - the job name as +transmitted by the client.
%c - the number of printed +pages of the spooled job (if known).
%z - the size of the spooled +print job (in bytes)

+The print command MUST contain at least one occurrence of +%s or %f. -- The +%p is optional. If no printer name is supplied, +the %p will be silently removed from the print +command. In this case the job is sent to the default printer. +

+If specified in the [global] section, the print +command given will be used for any printable service that does not +have its own print command specified. If there is neither a specified +print command for a printable service nor a global print command, +spool files will be created but not processed! And (most importantly): +print files will not be removed, so they will start filling your Samba +hard disk. +

+Note that printing may fail on some UNIXes from the "nobody" +account. If this happens, create an alternative guest account and +supply it with the privilege to print. Set up this guest account in +the [global] section with the guest +account parameter. +

+You can form quite complex print commands. You need to realize that +print commands are just passed to a UNIX shell. The shell is able to +expand the included environment variables as usual. (The syntax to +include a UNIX environment variable $variable +in or in the Samba print command is +%$variable.) To give you a working +print command example, the following will log a +print job to /tmp/print.log, print the file, then +remove it. Note that ';' is the usual separator for commands in shell +scripts:

-    testprns printer /etc/printcap
+
+ print command = echo Printing %s >> /tmp/print.log; lpr -P %p %s; rm %s
+

-Samba can get its printcap information from a file or from a program. -You can try the following to see the format of the extracted -information: +You may have to vary your own command considerably from this example +depending on how you normally print files on your system. The default +for the print command parameter varies depending on the setting of +the printing parameter. Another example is:

-    testprns -a printer /etc/printcap
+ print command = /usr/local/samba/bin/myprintscript %p %s
+

Innovations in Samba Printing since 2.2

+Before version 2.2.0, Samba's print server support for Windows clients +was limited to the level of LanMan printing +calls. This is the same protocol level as Windows 9x PCs offer when +they share printers. Beginning with the 2.2.0 release, Samba started +to support the native Windows NT printing mechanisms. These are +implemented via MS-RPC (RPC = Remote +Procedure Calls ). MS-RPCs use the +SPOOLSS named pipe for all printing. +

+The additional functionality provided by the new SPOOLSS support includes: +

Support for downloading printer driver files to Windows +95/98/NT/2000 clients upon demand (Point'n'Print); +
Uploading of printer drivers via the Windows NT +Add Printer Wizard (APW) or the +Imprints tool set (refer to http://imprints.sourceforge.net); +
Support for the native MS-RPC printing calls such as +StartDocPrinter, EnumJobs(), etc... (See the MSDN documentation +at http://msdn.microsoft.com/ +for more information on the Win32 printing API);
Support for NT Access Control +Lists (ACL) on printer objects;
Improved support for printer queue manipulation +through the use of internal databases for spooled job information +(implemented by various *.tdb +files).

+One other benefit of an update is this: Samba-3 is able to publish +all its printers in Active Directory (or LDAP)! +

+One slight difference is here: it is possible on a Windows NT print +server to have printers listed in the Printers folder which are +not shared. Samba does not make this +distinction. By definition, the only printers of which Samba is aware +are those which are specified as shares in +. The reason is that Windows NT/200x/XP Professional +clients do not normally need to use the standard SMB printer share; +rather they can print directly to any printer on another Windows NT +host using MS-RPC. This of course assumes that the printing client has +the necessary privileges on the remote host serving the printer. The +default permissions assigned by Windows NT to a printer gives the +"Print" permissions to the well-known Everyone +group. (The older clients of type Win9x can only print to "shared" +printers). +

Client Drivers on Samba Server for Point'n'Print

+There is still confusion about what all this means: Is it or +is it not a requirement for printer drivers to be installed on a Samba +host in order to support printing from Windows clients? The +answer to this is: No, it is not a +requirement. Windows NT/2000 clients can, of +course, also run their APW to install drivers +locally (which then connect to a Samba served +print queue). This is the same method as used by Windows 9x +clients. (However, a bug existed in Samba 2.2.0 +which made Windows NT/2000 clients require that the Samba server +possess a valid driver for the printer. This was fixed in Samba +2.2.1). +

+But it is a new option to install the printer +drivers into the [print$] share of the Samba +server, and a big convenience too. Then all +clients (including 95/98/ME) get the driver installed when they first +connect to this printer share. The uploading or +depositing of the driver into this +[print$] share, and the following binding of +this driver to an existing Samba printer share can be achieved by +different means: +

running the APW on an +NT/200x/XP Professional client (this doesn't work from 95/98/ME +clients);
using the Imprints +toolset;
using the smbclient and +rpcclient commandline tools;
using cupsaddsmb(only works for +the CUPS printing system, not for LPR/LPD, LPRng +etc.).

+Please take additional note of the following fact: Samba +does not use these uploaded drivers in any way to process spooled +files. Drivers are utilized entirely by the clients, who +download and install them via the "Point'n'Print" mechanism supported +by Samba. The clients use these drivers to generate print files in the +format the printer (or the Unix print system) requires. Print files +received by Samba are handed over to the Unix printing system, which +is responsible for all further processing, if needed. +

The [printer$] Section is removed from Samba-3

+[print$] vs. [printer$] +. +Versions of Samba prior to 2.2 made it possible to use a share +named [printer$]. This name was taken from the +same named service created by Windows 9x clients when a printer was +shared by them. Windows 9x printer servers always have a +[printer$] service which provides read-only +access (with no password required) in order to support printer driver +downloads. However, Samba's initial implementation allowed for a +parameter named printer driver location to be +used on a per share basis. This specified the location of the driver +files associated with that printer. Another parameter named +printer driver provided a means of defining the +printer driver name to be sent to the client. These parameters, +including the printer driver file parameter, +are now removed and can not be used in installations of Samba-3.0. +Now the share name [print$] is used for the +location of downloadable printer drivers. It is taken from the +[print$] service created by Windows NT PCs when +a printer is shared by them. Windows NT print servers always have a +[print$] service which provides read-write +access (in the context of its ACLs) in order to support printer driver +down- and uploads. Don't fear -- this does not mean Windows 9x +clients are thrown aside now. They can use Samba's +[print$] share support just fine. +

Creating the [print$] Share

+In order to support the up- and downloading of printer driver files, +you must first configure a file share named +[print$]. The "public" name of this share is +hard coded in Samba's internals (because it is hard coded in the MS +Windows clients too). It cannot be renamed since Windows clients are +programmed to search for a service of exactly this name if they want +to retrieve printer driver files. +

+You should modify the server's file to +add the global parameters and create the +[print$] file share (of course, some of the +parameter values, such as 'path' are arbitrary and should be replaced +with appropriate values for your site): +

+ [global]
+      ; members of the ntadmin group should be able to add drivers and set
+      ; printer properties. root is implicitly always a 'printer admin'.
+      printer admin = @ntadmin
+      [....]
 
-    testprns -a printer '|/bin/cat printcap'
-

Setting up printcap and print servers

-You may need to set up some printcaps for your Samba system to use. -It is strongly recommended that you use the facilities provided by -the print spooler to set up queues and printcap information. + [printers] + [....] + + [print$] + comment = Printer Driver Download Area + path = /etc/samba/drivers + browseable = yes + guest ok = yes + read only = yes + write list = @ntadmin, root +

+Of course, you also need to ensure that the directory named by the +path parameter exists on the Unix file system. +

Parameters in the [print$] Section

+[print$] is a special section in +. It contains settings relevant to +potential printer driver download and local installation by clients. +

comment = Printer Driver +Download Area: the comment appears next to the share name if it is +listed in a share list (usually Windows clients won't see it often but +it will also appear up in a smbclient -L sambaserver + output).
path = /etc/samba/printers: this is the path to the location of the Windows +driver file deposit from the UNIX point of +view.
browseable = no: this makes the [print$] share +"invisible" in Network Neighbourhood to clients. However, you can +still "mount" it from any client using the net use +g:\\sambaserver\print$ command in a "DOS box" or the +"Connect network drive" menu from Windows +Explorer.
guest ok = yes: this gives read only access to this share for all +guest users. Access may be used to download and install printer +drivers on clients. The requirement for guest ok = +yes depends upon how your site is configured. If users +will be guaranteed to have an account on the Samba host, then this is +a non-issue.
Note
+The non-issue is this: if all your Windows NT users are guaranteed to +be authenticated by the Samba server (for example if Samba +authenticates via an NT domain server and the NT user has already been +validated by the Domain Controller in order to logon to the Windows NT +session), then guest access is not necessary. Of course, in a +workgroup environment where you just want to be able to print without +worrying about silly accounts and security, then configure the share +for guest access. You'll probably want to add map to guest += Bad User in the [global] section +as well. Make sure you understand what this parameter does before +using it. +
read only = yes: as we don't want everybody to upload driver files (or +even change driver settings) we tagged this share as not +writeable.
write list = @ntadmin,root: since the [print$] was made +read only by the previous setting, we need to create a "write list" +also. UNIX groups (denoted with a leading "@" character) and users +listed here are allowed write access (as an exception to the general +public's "read-only" access), which they need to update files on the +share. Normally you will want to only name administrative level user +accounts in this setting. Check the file system permissions to make +sure these accounts can copy files to the share. If this is a non-root +account, then the account should also be mentioned in the global +printer admin parameter. See the + man page for more information on +configuring file shares.

Subdirectory Structure in [print$]

+In order for a Windows NT print server to support the downloading of +driver files by multiple client architectures, you must create several +subdirectories within the [print$] service +(i.e. the Unix directory named by the path +parameter). These correspond to each of the supported client +architectures. Samba follows this model as well. Just like the name of +the [print$] share itself, the subdirectories +*must* be exactly the names listed below (you may leave out the +subdirectories of architectures you don't want to support).

-Samba requires either a printcap or program to deliver printcap -information. This printcap information has the format: +Therefore, create a directory tree below the +[print$] share for each architecture you wish +to support.

-  name|alias1|alias2...:option=value:...
+[print$]--+--
+          |--W32X86           # serves drivers to "Windows NT x86"
+          |--WIN40            # serves drivers to "Windows 95/98"
+          |--W32ALPHA         # serves drivers to "Windows NT Alpha_AXP"
+          |--W32MIPS          # serves drivers to "Windows NT R4000"
+          |--W32PPC           # serves drivers to "Windows NT PowerPC"
+

Required permissions

+In order to add a new driver to your Samba host, one of two conditions +must hold true: +

The account used to connect to the Samba host must +have a UID of 0 (i.e. a root account)
The account used to connect to the Samba host must be +named in the printer adminlist.

+Of course, the connected account must still possess access to add +files to the subdirectories beneath +[print$]. Remember that all file shares are set +to 'read only' by default. +

+Once you have created the required [print$] +service and associated subdirectories, go to a Windows NT 4.0/2k/XP +client workstation. Open Network Neighbourhood or +My Network Places and browse for the Samba host. +Once you have located the server, navigate to its Printers and +Faxes folder. You should see an initial listing of printers +that matches the printer shares defined on your Samba host. +

Installing Drivers into [print$]

+You have successfully created the [print$] +share in ? And Samba has re-read its +configuration? Good. But you are not yet ready to take off. The +driver files need to be present in this share, +too! So far it is still an empty share. Unfortunately, it is not enough +to just copy the driver files over. They need to be set +up too. And that is a bit tricky, to say the least. We +will now discuss two alternative ways to install the drivers into +[print$]: +

using the Samba commandline utility +rpcclient with its various subcommands (here: +adddriver and setdriver) from +any UNIX workstation;
running a GUI (Printer +Properties and Add Printer Wizard) +from any Windows NT/2k/XP client workstation.

+The latter option is probably the easier one (even if the only +entrance to this realm seems a little bit weird at first). +

Setting Drivers for existing Printers with a Client GUI

+The initial listing of printers in the Samba host's +Printers folder accessed from a client's Explorer +will have no real printer driver assigned to them. By default, in +Samba-3 (as in 2.2.1 and later) this driver name is set to a NULL +string. This must be changed now. The local Add Printer +Wizard, run from NT/2000/XP clients, will help us in this +task. +

+However, the job to set a valid driver for the printer is not a +straightforward one: You must attempt to view the printer properties +for the printer to which you want the driver assigned. Open the +Windows Explorer, open Network Neighbourhood, browse to the Samba +host, open Samba's Printers folder, right-click the printer icon and +select Properties.... You are now trying to view printer and driver +properties for a queue which has this default NULL driver +assigned. This will result in an error message (this is normal here): +

Device settings cannot be displayed. The driver +for the specified printer is not installed, only spooler properties +will be displayed. Do you want to install the driver +now?

+Important:Don't click Yes! Instead, +click No in the error dialog. +Only now you will be presented with the printer properties window. From here, +the way to assign a driver to a printer is open to us. You have now the choice +either: +

select a driver from the pop-up list of installed +drivers. Initially this list will be empty. +Or
use the New Driver... button to +install a new printer driver (which will in fact start up the +APW).

+Once the APW is started, the procedure is exactly the same as the one +you are familiar with in Windows (we assume here that you are +familiar with the printer driver installations procedure on Windows +NT). Make sure your connection is in fact setup as a user with +printer admin privileges (if in doubt, use +smbstatus to check for this). If you wish to +install printer drivers for client operating systems other than +Windows NT x86, you will need to use the +Sharing tab of the printer properties dialog. +

+Assuming you have connected with an administrative (or root) account +(as named by the printer admin parameter), +you will also be able to modify other printer properties such as ACLs +and default device settings using this dialog. For the default device +settings, please consider the advice given further below. +

Setting Drivers for existing Printers with +rpcclient

+The second way to install printer drivers into +[print$] and set them up in a valid way can be +done from the UNIX command line. This involves four distinct steps: +

gathering the info about the required driver files +and collecting the files together;
deposit the driver files into the +[print$] share's correct subdirectories +(possibly by using smbclient);
running the rpcclient +commandline utility once with the adddriver +subcommand,
running rpcclient a second +time with the setdriver +subcommand.

+We will provide detailed hints for each of these steps in the next few +paragraphs. +

Identifying the Driver Files

+To find out about the driver files, you have two options: you could +investigate the driver CD which comes with your printer. Study the +*.inf file on the CD, if it is contained. This +may not be the possible, since the *.inf file might be +missing. Unfortunately, many vendors have now started to use their own +installation programs. These installations packages are often some +sort of Windows platform archive format, plus, the files may get +re-named during the installation process. This makes it extremely +difficult to identify the driver files you need. +

+Then you only have the second option: install the driver first on a +Windows client *locally* and investigate which file names and paths it +uses after they are installed. (Note, that you need to repeat this +procedure for every client platform you want to support. We are going +to show it here for the W32X86 platform only, a +name used by Microsoft for all WinNT/2k/XP clients...) +

+A good method to recognize the driver files this is to print the test +page from the driver's Properties Dialog +(General tab). Then look at the list of driver +files named on the printout. You'll need to recognize what Windows +(and Samba) are calling the Driver File , the +Data File, the Config File, +the Help File and (optionally) the +Dependent Driver Files (this may vary slightly +for Windows NT). You need to remember all names (or better take a +note) for the next steps. +

+Another method to quickly test the driver filenames and related paths +is provided by the rpcclient utility. Run it with +enumdrivers or with the +getdriver subcommand, each in the +3 level. In the following example, +TURBO_XP is the name of the Windows PC (in this +case it was a Windows XP Professional laptop, BTW). I had installed +the driver locally to TURBO_XP while kde-bitshop is +the name of the Linux host from which I am working. We could run an +interactive rpcclient session; +then we'd get an rpcclient /> prompt and would +type the subcommands at this prompt. This is left as a good exercise +to the reader. For now we use rpcclient with the +-c parameter to execute a single subcommand +line and exit again. This is the method you would use if you want to +create scripts to automate the procedure for a large number of +printers and drivers. Note the different quotes used to overcome the +different spaces in between words: +

+root# rpcclient -U'Danka%xxxx' -c 'getdriver "Heidelberg Digimaster 9110 (PS)" 3' TURBO_XP
+  cmd = getdriver "Heidelberg Digimaster 9110 (PS)" 3
+
+  [Windows NT x86]
+  Printer Driver Info 3:
+          Version: [2]
+          Driver Name: [Heidelberg Digimaster 9110 (PS)]
+          Architecture: [Windows NT x86]
+          Driver Path: [C:\WINNT\System32\spool\DRIVERS\W32X86\2\HDNIS01_de.DLL]
+          Datafile: [C:\WINNT\System32\spool\DRIVERS\W32X86\2\Hddm91c1_de.ppd]
+          Configfile: [C:\WINNT\System32\spool\DRIVERS\W32X86\2\HDNIS01U_de.DLL]
+          Helpfile: [C:\WINNT\System32\spool\DRIVERS\W32X86\2\HDNIS01U_de.HLP]
+  
+          Dependentfiles: [C:\WINNT\System32\spool\DRIVERS\W32X86\2\Hddm91c1_de.DLL]
+          Dependentfiles: [C:\WINNT\System32\spool\DRIVERS\W32X86\2\Hddm91c1_de.INI]
+          Dependentfiles: [C:\WINNT\System32\spool\DRIVERS\W32X86\2\Hddm91c1KMMin.DLL]
+          Dependentfiles: [C:\WINNT\System32\spool\DRIVERS\W32X86\2\Hddm91c1_de.dat]
+          Dependentfiles: [C:\WINNT\System32\spool\DRIVERS\W32X86\2\Hddm91c1_de.cat]
+          Dependentfiles: [C:\WINNT\System32\spool\DRIVERS\W32X86\2\Hddm91c1_de.def]
+          Dependentfiles: [C:\WINNT\System32\spool\DRIVERS\W32X86\2\Hddm91c1_de.hre]
+          Dependentfiles: [C:\WINNT\System32\spool\DRIVERS\W32X86\2\Hddm91c1_de.vnd]
+          Dependentfiles: [C:\WINNT\System32\spool\DRIVERS\W32X86\2\Hddm91c1_de.hlp]
+          Dependentfiles: [C:\WINNT\System32\spool\DRIVERS\W32X86\2\Hddm91c1_de_reg.HLP]
+          Dependentfiles: [C:\WINNT\System32\spool\DRIVERS\W32X86\2\HDNIS01Aux.dll]
+          Dependentfiles: [C:\WINNT\System32\spool\DRIVERS\W32X86\2\HDNIS01_de.NTF]
+  
+          Monitorname: []
+          Defaultdatatype: []
+
+

+You may notice, that this driver has quite a big number of +Dependentfiles (I know worse cases however). Also, +strangely, the Driver File is here tagged as +Driver Path.... oh, well. Here we don't have yet +support for the so-called WIN40 architecture +installed. This name is used by Microsoft for the Win95/98/ME platforms. +If we want to support these, we need to install the Win95/98/ME driver +files in addition to those for W32X86 +(i.e. the WinNT72000/XP clients) onto a Windows PC. This PC +can also host the Win9x drivers, even if itself runs on Windows NT, +2000 or XP. +

+Since the [print$] share is usually accessible +through the Network Neighbourhood, you can also use the UNC notation +from Windows Explorer to poke at it. The Win9x driver files will end +up in subdirectory "0" of the "WIN40" directory. The full path to +access them will be +\\WINDOWSHOST\print$\WIN40\0\. +

Note

more recent drivers on Windows 2000 and Windows XP are +installed into the "3" subdirectory instead of the "2". The version 2 +of drivers, as used in Windows NT, were running in Kernel Mode. +Windows 2000 changed this. While it still can use the Kernel Mode +drivers (if this is enabled by the Admin), its native mode for printer +drivers is User Mode execution. This requires drivers designed for +this. These type of drivers install into the "3" subdirectory. +

Collecting the Driver Files from a Windows Host's +[print$] Share

+Now we need to collect all the driver files we identified. in our +previous step. Where do we get them from? Well, why not retrieve them +from the very PC and the same [print$] share +which we investigated in our last step to identify the files? We can +use smbclient to do this. We will use the paths and +names which were leaked to us by getdriver. The +listing is edited to include linebreaks for readability: +

+root# smbclient //TURBO_XP/print\$ -U'Danka%xxxx'	\ 
+	-c 'cd W32X86/2;mget HD*_de.*             \
+	hd*ppd Hd*_de.* Hddm*dll HDN*Aux.DLL'
+  added interface ip=10.160.51.60 bcast=10.160.51.255 nmask=255.255.252.0
+  Got a positive name query response from 10.160.50.8 ( 10.160.50.8 )
+  Domain=[DEVELOPMENT] OS=[Windows 5.1] Server=[Windows 2000 LAN Manager]
+  Get file Hddm91c1_de.ABD? n
+  Get file Hddm91c1_de.def? y
+  getting file \W32X86\2\Hddm91c1_de.def of size 428 as Hddm91c1_de.def (22.0 kb/s) (average 22.0 kb/s)
+  Get file Hddm91c1_de.DLL? y
+  getting file \W32X86\2\Hddm91c1_de.DLL of size 876544 as Hddm91c1_de.DLL (737.3 kb/s) (average 737.3 kb/s)
+  [...]
+
+

+After this command is complete, the files are in our current local +directory. You probably have noticed that this time we passed several +commands to the -c parameter, separated by semi-colons. This +effects that all commands are executed in sequence on the remote +Windows server before smbclient exits again. +

+Don't forget to repeat the procedure for the WIN40 +architecture should you need to support Win95/98/XP clients. Remember, the +files for these architectures are in the WIN40/0/ subdir. Once we are +complete, we can run smbclient ... put to store +the collected files on the Samba server's +[print$] share. +

Depositing the Driver Files into [print$]

+So, now we are going to put the driver files into the +[print$] share. Remember, the UNIX path to this +share has been defined previously in your +. You also have created subdirectories +for the different Windows client types you want to support. Supposing +your [print$] share maps to the UNIX path +/etc/samba/drivers/, your driver files should now +go here: +

for all Windows NT, 2000 and XP clients into +/etc/samba/drivers/W32X86/ but +*not*(yet) into the "2" subdir!
for all Windows 95, 98 and ME clients into +/etc/samba/drivers/WIN40/ -- but *not* +(yet) into the "0" subdir!

+We again use smbclient to transfer the driver files across the +network. We specify the same files and paths as were leaked to us by +running getdriver against the original +Windows install. However, now we are going to +store the files into a Samba/UNIX print server's +[print$] share... +

+root# smbclient //SAMBA-CUPS/print\$ -U'root%xxxx' -c 'cd W32X86; put HDNIS01_de.DLL; \
+  put Hddm91c1_de.ppd; put HDNIS01U_de.DLL;        \
+  put HDNIS01U_de.HLP; put Hddm91c1_de.DLL;        \
+  put Hddm91c1_de.INI; put Hddm91c1KMMin.DLL;      \
+  put Hddm91c1_de.dat; put Hddm91c1_de.dat;        \
+  put Hddm91c1_de.def; put Hddm91c1_de.hre;        \
+  put Hddm91c1_de.vnd; put Hddm91c1_de.hlp;        \
+  put Hddm91c1_de_reg.HLP; put HDNIS01Aux.dll;     \
+  put HDNIS01_de.NTF'
+ added interface ip=10.160.51.60 bcast=10.160.51.255 nmask=255.255.252.0
+ Got a positive name query response from 10.160.51.162 ( 10.160.51.162 )
+ Domain=[CUPS-PRINT] OS=[Unix] Server=[Samba 2.2.7a]
+ putting file HDNIS01_de.DLL as \W32X86\HDNIS01_de.DLL (4465.5 kb/s) (average 4465.5 kb/s)
+ putting file Hddm91c1_de.ppd as \W32X86\Hddm91c1_de.ppd (12876.8 kb/s) (average 4638.9 kb/s)
+ putting file HDNIS01U_de.DLL as \W32X86\HDNIS01U_de.DLL (20249.8 kb/s) (average 5828.3 kb/s)
+ putting file HDNIS01U_de.HLP as \W32X86\HDNIS01U_de.HLP (9652.8 kb/s) (average 5899.8 kb/s)
+ putting file Hddm91c1_de.DLL as \W32X86\Hddm91c1_de.DLL (23777.7 kb/s) (average 10400.6 kb/s)
+ putting file Hddm91c1_de.INI as \W32X86\Hddm91c1_de.INI (98.6 kb/s) (average 10329.0 kb/s)
+ putting file Hddm91c1KMMin.DLL as \W32X86\Hddm91c1KMMin.DLL (22931.5 kb/s) (average 10501.7 kb/s)
+ putting file Hddm91c1_de.dat as \W32X86\Hddm91c1_de.dat (2462.8 kb/s) (average 10393.0 kb/s)
+ putting file Hddm91c1_de.dat as \W32X86\Hddm91c1_de.dat (4925.3 kb/s) (average 10356.3 kb/s)
+ putting file Hddm91c1_de.def as \W32X86\Hddm91c1_de.def (417.9 kb/s) (average 10290.1 kb/s)
+ putting file Hddm91c1_de.hre as \W32X86\Hddm91c1_de.hre (22571.3 kb/s) (average 11338.5 kb/s)
+ putting file Hddm91c1_de.vnd as \W32X86\Hddm91c1_de.vnd (3384.6 kb/s) (average 10754.3 kb/s)
+ putting file Hddm91c1_de.hlp as \W32X86\Hddm91c1_de.hlp (18406.8 kb/s) (average 10839.8 kb/s)
+ putting file Hddm91c1_de_reg.HLP as \W32X86\Hddm91c1_de_reg.HLP (20278.3 kb/s) (average 11386.3 kb/s)
+ putting file HDNIS01Aux.dll as \W32X86\HDNIS01Aux.dll (14994.6 kb/s) (average 11405.2 kb/s)
+ putting file HDNIS01_de.NTF as \W32X86\HDNIS01_de.NTF (23390.2 kb/s) (average 13170.8 kb/s)
+
+

+Phewww -- that was a lot of typing! Most drivers are a lot smaller -- +many only having 3 generic PostScript driver files plus 1 PPD. Note, +that while we did retrieve the files from the "2" subdirectory of the +"W32X86" directory from the Windows box, we don't +put them (for now) in this same subdirectory of the Samba box! This +re-location will automatically be done by the +adddriver command which we will run shortly (and +don't forget to also put the files for the Win95/98/ME architecture +into the WIN40/ subdirectory should you need +them). +

Check if the Driver Files are there (with smbclient)

+For now we verify that our files are there. This can be done with +smbclient too (but of course you can log in via SSH +also and do this through a standard UNIX shell access too): +

+root# smbclient //SAMBA-CUPS/print\$ -U 'root%xxxx' -c 'cd W32X86; pwd; dir; cd 2; pwd; dir'
+ added interface ip=10.160.51.60 bcast=10.160.51.255 nmask=255.255.252.0
+ Got a positive name query response from 10.160.51.162 ( 10.160.51.162 )
+ Domain=[CUPS-PRINT] OS=[Unix] Server=[Samba 2.2.7a]
+
+  Current directory is \\SAMBA-CUPS\print$\W32X86\
+  .                                   D        0  Sun May  4 03:56:35 2003
+  ..                                  D        0  Thu Apr 10 23:47:40 2003
+  2                                   D        0  Sun May  4 03:56:18 2003
+  HDNIS01Aux.dll                      A    15356  Sun May  4 03:58:59 2003
+  Hddm91c1KMMin.DLL                   A    46966  Sun May  4 03:58:59 2003
+  HDNIS01_de.DLL                      A   434400  Sun May  4 03:58:59 2003
+  HDNIS01_de.NTF                      A   790404  Sun May  4 03:56:35 2003
+  Hddm91c1_de.DLL                     A   876544  Sun May  4 03:58:59 2003
+  Hddm91c1_de.INI                     A      101  Sun May  4 03:58:59 2003
+  Hddm91c1_de.dat                     A     5044  Sun May  4 03:58:59 2003
+  Hddm91c1_de.def                     A      428  Sun May  4 03:58:59 2003
+  Hddm91c1_de.hlp                     A    37699  Sun May  4 03:58:59 2003
+  Hddm91c1_de.hre                     A   323584  Sun May  4 03:58:59 2003
+  Hddm91c1_de.ppd                     A    26373  Sun May  4 03:58:59 2003
+  Hddm91c1_de.vnd                     A    45056  Sun May  4 03:58:59 2003
+  HDNIS01U_de.DLL                     A   165888  Sun May  4 03:58:59 2003
+  HDNIS01U_de.HLP                     A    19770  Sun May  4 03:58:59 2003
+  Hddm91c1_de_reg.HLP                 A   228417  Sun May  4 03:58:59 2003
+                40976 blocks of size 262144. 709 blocks available
+
+  Current directory is \\SAMBA-CUPS\print$\W32X86\2\
+  .                                   D        0  Sun May  4 03:56:18 2003
+  ..                                  D        0  Sun May  4 03:56:35 2003
+  ADOBEPS5.DLL                        A   434400  Sat May  3 23:18:45 2003
+  laserjet4.ppd                       A     9639  Thu Apr 24 01:05:32 2003
+  ADOBEPSU.DLL                        A   109568  Sat May  3 23:18:45 2003
+  ADOBEPSU.HLP                        A    18082  Sat May  3 23:18:45 2003
+  PDFcreator2.PPD                     A    15746  Sun Apr 20 22:24:07 2003
+                40976 blocks of size 262144. 709 blocks available
+

-For almost all printing systems, the printer 'name' must be composed -only of alphanumeric or underscore '_' characters. Some systems also -allow hyphens ('-') as well. An alias is an alternative name for the -printer, and an alias with a space in it is used as a 'comment' -about the printer. The printcap format optionally uses a \ at the end of lines -to extend the printcap to multiple lines. -

-Here are some examples of printcap files: -

-pr just printer name -
-pr|alias printer name and alias -
-pr|My Printer printer name, alias used as comment -
-pr:sh:\ Same as pr:sh:cm= testing - :cm= \ - testing -
-pr:sh Same as pr:sh:cm= testing - :cm= testing +Notice that there are already driver files present in the +2 subdir (probably from a previous +installation). Once the files for the new driver are there too, you +are still a few steps away from being able to use them on the +clients. The only thing you could do *now* is to retrieve them from a +client just like you retrieve ordinary files from a file share, by +opening print$ in Windows Explorer. But that wouldn't install them per +Point'n'Print. The reason is: Samba doesn't know yet that these files +are something special, namely printer driver +files and it doesn't know yet to which print queue(s) these +driver files belong. +

Running rpcclient with +adddriver

+So, next you must tell Samba about the special category of the files +you just uploaded into the [print$] share. This +is done by the adddriver command. It will +prompt Samba to register the driver files into its internal TDB +database files. The following command and its output has been edited, +again, for readability: +

+root# rpcclient -Uroot%xxxx -c 'adddriver "Windows NT x86" "dm9110:HDNIS01_de.DLL: \
+  Hddm91c1_de.ppd:HDNIS01U_de.DLL:HDNIS01U_de.HLP:   \
+  NULL:RAW:Hddm91c1_de.DLL,Hddm91c1_de.INI,          \
+  Hddm91c1_de.dat,Hddm91c1_de.def,Hddm91c1_de.hre,   \
+  Hddm91c1_de.vnd,Hddm91c1_de.hlp,Hddm91c1KMMin.DLL, \
+  HDNIS01Aux.dll,HDNIS01_de.NTF,                     \
+  Hddm91c1_de_reg.HLP' SAMBA-CUPS
+
+ cmd = adddriver "Windows NT x86" "dm9110:HDNIS01_de.DLL:Hddm91c1_de.ppd:HDNIS01U_de.DLL:    \
+  HDNIS01U_de.HLP:NULL:RAW:Hddm91c1_de.DLL,Hddm91c1_de.INI, \
+  Hddm91c1_de.dat,Hddm91c1_de.def,Hddm91c1_de.hre,          \
+  Hddm91c1_de.vnd,Hddm91c1_de.hlp,Hddm91c1KMMin.DLL,        \
+  HDNIS01Aux.dll,HDNIS01_de.NTF,Hddm91c1_de_reg.HLP"
+
+ Printer Driver dm9110 successfully installed.
+
+

+After this step the driver should be recognized by Samba on the print +server. You need to be very careful when typing the command. Don't +exchange the order of the fields. Some changes would lead to a +NT_STATUS_UNSUCCESSFUL error +message. These become obvious. Other changes might install the driver +files successfully, but render the driver unworkable. So take care! +Hints about the syntax of the adddriver command are in the man +page. The CUPS printing chapter of this HOWTO collection provides a +more detailed description, if you should need it. +

Check how Driver Files have been moved after +adddriver finished

+One indication for Samba's recognition of the files as driver files is +the successfully installed message. +Another one is the fact, that our files have been moved by the +adddriver command into the 2 +subdirectory. You can check this again with +smbclient: +

+root# smbclient //SAMBA-CUPS/print\$ -Uroot%xxxx -c 'cd W32X86;dir;pwd;cd 2;dir;pwd'
+ added interface ip=10.160.51.162 bcast=10.160.51.255 nmask=255.255.252.0
+ Domain=[CUPS-PRINT] OS=[Unix] Server=[Samba 2.2.7a]
+
+  Current directory is \\SAMBA-CUPS\print$\W32X86\
+  .                                   D        0  Sun May  4 04:32:48 2003
+  ..                                  D        0  Thu Apr 10 23:47:40 2003
+  2                                   D        0  Sun May  4 04:32:48 2003
+                40976 blocks of size 262144. 731 blocks available 
+
+  Current directory is \\SAMBA-CUPS\print$\W32X86\2\
+  .                                   D        0  Sun May  4 04:32:48 2003
+  ..                                  D        0  Sun May  4 04:32:48 2003
+  DigiMaster.PPD                      A   148336  Thu Apr 24 01:07:00 2003
+  ADOBEPS5.DLL                        A   434400  Sat May  3 23:18:45 2003
+  laserjet4.ppd                       A     9639  Thu Apr 24 01:05:32 2003
+  ADOBEPSU.DLL                        A   109568  Sat May  3 23:18:45 2003
+  ADOBEPSU.HLP                        A    18082  Sat May  3 23:18:45 2003
+  PDFcreator2.PPD                     A    15746  Sun Apr 20 22:24:07 2003
+  HDNIS01Aux.dll                      A    15356  Sun May  4 04:32:18 2003
+  Hddm91c1KMMin.DLL                   A    46966  Sun May  4 04:32:18 2003
+  HDNIS01_de.DLL                      A   434400  Sun May  4 04:32:18 2003
+  HDNIS01_de.NTF                      A   790404  Sun May  4 04:32:18 2003
+  Hddm91c1_de.DLL                     A   876544  Sun May  4 04:32:18 2003
+  Hddm91c1_de.INI                     A      101  Sun May  4 04:32:18 2003
+  Hddm91c1_de.dat                     A     5044  Sun May  4 04:32:18 2003
+  Hddm91c1_de.def                     A      428  Sun May  4 04:32:18 2003
+  Hddm91c1_de.hlp                     A    37699  Sun May  4 04:32:18 2003
+  Hddm91c1_de.hre                     A   323584  Sun May  4 04:32:18 2003
+  Hddm91c1_de.ppd                     A    26373  Sun May  4 04:32:18 2003
+  Hddm91c1_de.vnd                     A    45056  Sun May  4 04:32:18 2003
+  HDNIS01U_de.DLL                     A   165888  Sun May  4 04:32:18 2003
+  HDNIS01U_de.HLP                     A    19770  Sun May  4 04:32:18 2003
+  Hddm91c1_de_reg.HLP                 A   228417  Sun May  4 04:32:18 2003
+                40976 blocks of size 262144. 731 blocks available
+
+

+Another verification is that the timestamp of the printing TDB files +is now updated (and possibly their filesize has increased). +

Check if the Driver is recognized by Samba

+Now the driver should be registered with Samba. We can easily verify +this, and will do so in a moment. However, this driver is +not yet associated with a particular +printer. We may check the driver status of the +files by at least three methods: +

from any Windows client browse Network Neighbourhood, +find the Samba host and open the Samba Printers and +Faxes folder. Select any printer icon, right-click and +select the printer Properties. Click on the +Advanced tab. Here is a field indicating the +driver for that printer. A drop down menu allows you to change that +driver (be careful to not do this unwittingly.). You can use this +list to view all drivers know to Samba. Your new one should be amongst +them. (Each type of client will only see his own architecture's +list. If you don't have every driver installed for each platform, the +list will differ if you look at it from Windows95/98/ME or +WindowsNT/2000/XP.)
from a Windows 2000 or XP client (not WinNT) browse +Network Neighbourhood, search for the Samba +server and open the server's Printers folder, +right-click the white background (with no printer highlighted). Select +Server Properties. On the +Drivers tab you will see the new driver listed +now. This view enables you to also inspect the list of files belonging +to that driver (this doesn't work on Windows NT, but only on +Windows 2000 and Windows XP. WinNT doesn't provide the "Drivers" +tab).. An alternative, much quicker method for Windows +2000/XP to start this dialog is by typing into a DOS box (you must of +course adapt the name to your Samba server instead of SAMBA-CUPS): +
rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /s /t2 /n\\SAMBA-CUPS
from a UNIX prompt run this command (or a variant +thereof), where SAMBA-CUPS is the name of the Samba +host and "xxxx" represents the actual Samba password assigned to root: +
rpcclient -U'root%xxxx' -c 'enumdrivers' SAMBA-CUPS
+You will see a listing of all drivers Samba knows about. Your new one +should be amongst them. But it is only listed under the [Windows NT +x86] heading, not under [Windows 4.0], +since we didn't install that part. Or did *you*? -- You will see a listing of +all drivers Samba knows about. Your new one should be amongst them. In our +example it is named dm9110. Note that the 3rd column +shows the other installed drivers twice, for each supported architecture one +time. Our new driver only shows up for +Windows NT 4.0 or 2000. To +have it present for Windows 95, 98 and ME you'll +have to repeat the whole procedure with the WIN40 architecture and subdirectory. +

A side note: you are not bound to specific driver names

+You can name the driver as you like. If you repeat the +adddriver step, with the same files as before, but +with a different driver name, it will work the same: +

+root# rpcclient -Uroot%xxxx                                        \
+      -c 'adddriver "Windows NT x86"                     \
+      "myphantasydrivername:HDNIS01_de.DLL:              \
+      Hddm91c1_de.ppd:HDNIS01U_de.DLL:HDNIS01U_de.HLP:   \
+      NULL:RAW:Hddm91c1_de.DLL,Hddm91c1_de.INI,          \
+      Hddm91c1_de.dat,Hddm91c1_de.def,Hddm91c1_de.hre,   \
+      Hddm91c1_de.vnd,Hddm91c1_de.hlp,Hddm91c1KMMin.DLL, \
+      HDNIS01Aux.dll,HDNIS01_de.NTF,Hddm91c1_de_reg.HLP' SAMBA-CUPS
+  
+
+ cmd = adddriver "Windows NT x86" 
+                 "myphantasydrivername:HDNIS01_de.DLL:Hddm91c1_de.ppd:HDNIS01U_de.DLL:\
+                  HDNIS01U_de.HLP:NULL:RAW:Hddm91c1_de.DLL,Hddm91c1_de.INI,           \
+                  Hddm91c1_de.dat,Hddm91c1_de.def,Hddm91c1_de.hre,                    \
+                  Hddm91c1_de.vnd,Hddm91c1_de.hlp,Hddm91c1KMMin.DLL,                  \
+                  HDNIS01Aux.dll,HDNIS01_de.NTF,Hddm91c1_de_reg.HLP"
+
+ Printer Driver myphantasydrivername successfully installed.
+
+

+You will also be able to bind that driver to any print queue (however, +you are responsible yourself that you associate drivers to queues +which make sense to the target printer). Note, that you can't run the +rpcclient adddriver command +repeatedly. Each run "consumes" the files you had put into the +[print$] share by moving them into the +respective subdirectories. So you must precede an +smbclient ... put command before each +rpcclient ... adddriver" command. +

La Grande Finale: Running rpcclient with +setdriver

+Samba still needs to know which printer's driver +this is. It needs to create a mapping of the driver to a printer, and +store this info in its "memory", the TDB files. The rpcclient +setdriver command achieves exactly this: +

+root# rpcclient -U'root%xxxx' -c 'setdriver dm9110 myphantasydrivername' SAMBA-CUPS
+ cmd = setdriver dm9110 myphantasydrivername
+ Successfully set dm9110 to driver myphantasydrivername.
+

+Ahhhhh -- no, I didn't want to do that. Repeat, this time with the +name I intended: +

+root# rpcclient -U'root%xxxx' -c 'setdriver dm9110 dm9110' SAMBA-CUPS
+ cmd = setdriver dm9110 dm9110
+ Successfully set dm9110 to driver dm9110.
+

+The syntax of the command is rpcclient +-U'root%sambapassword' -c 'setdriver +"printername" +"drivername' +SAMBA-Hostname . -- +Now we have done *most* of the work. But not yet all.... +

Note

+the setdriver command will only succeed if the printer is +known to +Samba already. A bug in 2.2.x prevented Samba from recognizing freshly +installed printers. You had to restart Samba, or at least send a HUP +signal to all running smbd processes to work around this: +kill -HUP `pidof smbd`.

"The Proof of the Pudding lies in the Eating" (Client Driver Install +Procedure)

+A famous philosopher said once: “The Proof of the Pudding lies +in the Eating”. The proof for our setup lies in the printing. +So let's install the printer driver onto the client PCs. This is not +as straightforward as it may seem. Read on. +

The first Client Driver Installation

+Especially important is the installation onto the first client PC (for +each architectural platform separately). Once this is done correctly, +all further clients are easy to setup and shouldn't need further +attention. What follows is a description for the recommended first +procedure. You work now from a client workstation. First you should +guarantee that your connection is not unwittingly mapped to +bad user "nobody". In a DOS box type: +

net use \\SAMBA-SERVER\print$ /user:root

+Replace root, if needed, by another valid +printer admin user as given in the definition. +Should you already be connected as a different user, you'll get an error +message. There is no easy way to get rid of that connection, because +Windows doesn't seem to know a concept of "logging off" from a share +connection (don't confuse this with logging off from the local +workstation; that is a different matter). You can try to close +all Windows file explorer and Internet Explorer +windows. As a last resort, you may have to reboot. Make sure there is +no automatic re-connection set up. It may be easier to go to a +different workstation and try from there. After you have made sure you +are connected as a printer admin user (you can check this with the +smbstatus command on Samba) do this from the +Windows workstation: +

Open Network +Neighbourhood
Browse to Samba server
Open its Printers and +Faxes folder
Highlight and right-click the printer
Select Connect... (for WinNT4/2K +it is possibly Install...)

+A new printer (named printername on +samba-server) should now have appeared in your +local Printer folder (check Start -- +Settings -- Control Panel +-- Printers and Faxes). +

+Most likely you are now tempted to try and print a test page. After +all, you now can open the printer properties and on the "General" tab, +there is a button offering to do just that. But chances are that you +get an error message saying Unable to print Test +Page. The reason might be that there is not yet a +valid Device Mode set for the driver, or that the "Printer Driver +Data" set is still incomplete. +

+You must now make sure that a valid "Device Mode" is set for the +driver. Don't fear -- we will explain now what that means. +

IMPORTANT! Setting Device Modes on new Printers

+In order for a printer to be truly usable by a Windows NT/2K/XP +client, it must possess: +

a valid Device Mode generated by +the driver for the printer (defining things like paper size, +orientation and duplex settings), and
a complete set of +Printer Driver Data generated by the +driver.

+If either one of these is incomplete, the clients can produce less +than optimal output at best. In the worst cases, unreadable garbage or +nothing at all comes from the printer or they produce a harvest of +error messages when attempting to print. Samba stores the named values +and all printing related info in its internal TDB database files +(ntprinters.tdb, +ntdrivers.tdb, printing.tdb +and ntforms.tdb). +

+What do these two words stand for? Basically, the Device Mode and the +set of Printer Driver Data is a collection of settings for all print +queue properties, initialized in a sensible way. Device Modes and +Printer Driver Data should initially be set on the print server (that is +here: the Samba host) to healthy values so that the clients can start +to use them immediately. How do we set these initial healthy values? +This can be achieved by accessing the drivers remotely from an NT (or +2k/XP) client, as is discussed in the next paragraphs. +

+Be aware, that a valid Device Mode can only be initiated by a +printer admin, or root (the reason should be +obvious). Device Modes can only correctly be set by executing the +printer driver program itself. Since Samba can not execute this Win32 +platform driver code, it sets this field initially to NULL (which is +not a valid setting for clients to use). Fortunately, most drivers +generate themselves the Printer Driver Data that is needed, when they +are uploaded to the [print$] share with the +help of the APW or rpcclient. +

+The generation and setting of a first valid Device Mode however +requires some "tickling" from a client, to set it on the Samba +server. The easiest means of doing so is to simply change the page +orientation on the server's printer. This "executes" enough of the +printer driver program on the client for the desired effect to happen, +and feeds back the new Device Mode to our Samba server. You can use the +native Windows NT/2K/XP printer properties page from a Window client +for this: +

Browse the Network Neighbourhood
Find the Samba server
Open the Samba server's Printers and + Faxes folder
Highlight the shared printer in question
Right-click the printer (you may already be here, if you +followed the last section's description)
At the bottom of the context menu select +Properties.... (if the menu still offers the +Connect... entry +further above, you need to click that one first to achieve the driver +installation as shown in the last section)
Go to the Advanced tab; click on +Printing Defaults...
Change the "Portrait" page setting to "Landscape" (and +back)
(Oh, and make sure to apply +changes between swapping the page orientation to cause the change to +actually take effect...).
While you're at it, you may optionally also want to +set the desired printing defaults here, which then apply to all future +client driver installations on the remaining from now +on.

+This procedure has executed the printer driver program on the client +platform and fed back the correct Device Mode to Samba, which now +stored it in its TDB files. Once the driver is installed on the +client, you can follow the analogous steps by accessing the +local Printers folder too if you are +a Samba printer admin user. From now on printing should work as expected. +

+Samba also includes a service level parameter name default +devmode for generating a default Device Mode for a +printer. Some drivers will function well with Samba's default set of +properties. Others may crash the client's spooler service. So use this +parameter with caution. It is always better to have the client +generate a valid device mode for the printer and store it on the +server for you. +

Further Client Driver Install Procedures

+Every further driver may be done by any user, along the lines +described above: Browse network, open printers folder on Samba server, +right-click printer and choose Connect.... Once +this completes (should be not more than a few seconds, but could also take +a minute, depending on network conditions), you should find the new printer in +your client workstation local Printers and +Faxes folder. +

+You can also open your local Printers and Faxes folder by +using this command on Windows 2000 and Windows XP Professional workstations: +

rundll32 shell32.dll,SHHelpShortcuts_RunDLL PrintersFolder +

+or this command on Windows NT 4.0 workstations: +

+rundll32 shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL MAIN.CPL @2 +

+You can enter the commands either inside a DOS box window +or in the Run command... field from the +Start menu. +

Always make first Client Connection as root or "printer admin"

+After you installed the driver on the Samba server (in its +[print$] share, you should always make sure +that your first client installation completes correctly. Make it a habit for +yourself to build that the very first connection from a client as +printer admin. This is to make sure that: +

a first valid Device Mode is +really initialized (see above for more explanation details), and +that
the default print settings of your printer for all +further client installations are as you want them

+Do this by changing the orientation to landscape, click +Apply, and then change it back again. Then modify +the other settings (for example, you don't want the default media size +set to Letter, when you are all using +A4, right? You may want to set the printer for +duplex as the default; etc.). +

+To connect as root to a Samba printer, try this command from a Windows +2K/XP DOS box command prompt: +

runas /netonly /user:root "rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /p /t3 /n \\SAMBA-SERVER\printername" +

+You will be prompted for root's Samba-password; type it, wait a few +seconds, click on Printing Defaults... and +proceed to set the job options as should be used as defaults by all +clients. Alternatively, instead of root you can name one other member +of the printer admins from the setting. +

+Now all the other users downloading and installing the driver +the same way (called Point'n'Print) will +have the same defaults set for them. If you miss this step you'll +get a lot of helpdesk calls from your users. But maybe you like to +talk to people.... ;-) +

Other Gotchas

+Your driver is installed. It is ready for +Point'n'Print installation by the clients +now. You may have tried to download and use it +onto your first client machine now. But wait... let's make you +acquainted first with a few tips and tricks you may find useful. For +example, suppose you didn't manage to "set the defaults" on the +printer, as advised in the preceding paragraphs? And your users +complain about various issues (such as “We need to set the paper +size for each job from Letter to A4 and it won't store it!”) +

Setting Default Print Options for the Client Drivers

+The last sentence might be viewed with mixed feelings by some users and +admins. They have struggled for hours and hours and couldn't arrive at +a point were their settings seemed to be saved. It is not their +fault. The confusing thing is this: in the multi-tabbed dialog that pops +up when you right-click the printer name and select +Properties..., you can arrive at two identically +looking dialogs, each claiming that they help you to set printer options, +in three different ways. Here is the definite answer to the "Samba +Default Driver Setting FAQ": +

“I can't set and save default print options +for all users on Win2K/XP! Why not?” +How are you doing it? I bet the wrong way.... (it is not very +easy to find out, though). There are 3 different ways to bring you to +a dialog that seems to set everything. All three +dialogs look the same. Only one of them +does what you intend. +Important: you need to be Administrator or Print +Administrator to do this for all users. Here is how I reproduce it in +on XP Professional: + +

The first "wrong" way: + +
1. Open the Printers +folder.
2. Right-click on the printer +(remoteprinter on cupshost) and +select in context menu Printing +Preferences...
3. Look at this dialog closely and remember what it looks +like.
+
The second "wrong" way: + +
1. Open the Printers +folder.
2. Right-click on the printer (remoteprinter on +cupshost) and select in the context menu +Properties
3. Click on the General +tab
4. Click on the button Printing +Preferences...
5. A new dialog opens. Keep this dialog open and go back +to the parent dialog.
+
The third, the "correct" way: (should you do +this from the beginning, just carry out steps 1. and 2. from second +"way" above) + +
1. Click on the Advanced +tab. (Hmmm... if everything is "Grayed Out", then you are not logged +in as a user with enough privileges).
2. Click on the Printing +Defaults... button.
3. On any of the two new tabs, click on the +Advanced... button.
4. A new dialog opens. Compare this one to the other, +identical looking one from "B.5" or A.3".

+ +Do you see any difference in the two settings dialogs? I don't +either. However, only the last one, which you arrived at with steps +C.1.-6. will permanently save any settings which will then become the +defaults for new users. If you want all clients to have the same +defaults, you need to conduct these steps as administrator +(printer admin in ) +before a client downloads the driver (the clients +can later set their own per-user defaults by +following the procedures A. +or B. above...). (This is new: Windows 2000 and +Windows XP allow per-user default settings and +the ones the administrator gives them, before they set up their own). +The "parents" of the identically looking dialogs have a slight +difference in their window names: one is called +Default Print Values for Printer Foo on Server +Bar" (which is the one you need) and the other is +called "Print Settings for Printer Foo on Server +Bar". The last one is the one you arrive at when you +right-click on the printer and select Print +Settings.... This is the one what you were +taught to use back in the days of Windows NT! So it is only natural to +try the same way with Win2k or WinXP. You wouldn't dream +that there is now a different "clicking path" to arrive at an +identically looking, but functionally different dialog to set defaults +for all users! +

Tip

Try (on Win2000 and WinXP) to run this command (as a user +with the right privileges): +

+rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /p /t3 /n\\SAMBA-SERVER\printersharename +

+to see the tab with the Printing Defaults... +button (the one you need). Also run this command: +

+rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /p /t0 /n\\SAMBA-SERVER\printersharename +

+to see the tab with the Printing Preferences... +button (the one which doesn't set system-wide defaults). You can +start the commands from inside a DOS box" or from the Start +-- Run... menu. +

Supporting large Numbers of Printers

+One issue that has arisen during the recent development phase of Samba +is the need to support driver downloads for 100's of printers. Using +Windows NT APW here is somewhat awkward (to say the least). If you +don't want to acquire RSS pains from such the printer installation +clicking orgy alone, you need to think about a non-interactive script.

-Samba reads the printcap information when first started. If you make -changes in the printcap information, then you must do the following: -

-make sure that the print spooler is aware of these changes. -The LPRng system uses the 'lpc reread' command to do this. -
-make sure that the spool queues, etc., exist and have the -correct permissions. The LPRng system uses the 'checkpc -f' -command to do this. -
-You now should send a SIGHUP signal to the smbd server to have -it reread the printcap information. -

Job sent, no output

-This is the most frustrating part of printing. You may have sent the -job, verified that the job was forwarded, set up a wrapper around -the command to send the file, but there was no output from the printer. -

-First, check to make sure that the job REALLY is getting to the -right print queue. If you are using a BSD or LPRng print spooler, -you can temporarily stop the printing of jobs. Jobs can still be -submitted, but they will not be printed. Use: -

- lpc -Pprinter stop +If more than one printer is using the same driver, the +rpcclient setdriver command can be used to set the +driver associated with an installed queue. If the driver is uploaded +to [print$] once and registered with the +printing TDBs, it can be used by multiple print queues. In this case +you just need to repeat the setprinter subcommand +of rpcclient for every queue (without the need to +conduct the adddriver again and again). The +following is an example of how this could be accomplished: +

+root# rpcclient SAMBA-CUPS -U root%secret -c 'enumdrivers'
+ cmd = enumdrivers
+ 
+ [Windows NT x86]
+ Printer Driver Info 1:
+   Driver Name: [infotec  IS 2075 PCL 6]
+ 
+ Printer Driver Info 1:
+   Driver Name: [DANKA InfoStream]
+ 
+ Printer Driver Info 1:
+   Driver Name: [Heidelberg Digimaster 9110 (PS)]
+ 
+ Printer Driver Info 1:
+   Driver Name: [dm9110]
+
+ Printer Driver Info 1:
+   Driver Name: [myphantasydrivername]
+
+ [....]

-Now submit a print job and then use 'lpq -Pprinter' to see if the -job is in the print queue. If it is not in the print queue then -you will have to find out why it is not being accepted for printing. -

-Next, you may want to check to see what the format of the job really -was. With the assistance of the system administrator you can view -the submitted jobs files. You may be surprised to find that these -are not in what you would expect to call a printable format. -You can use the UNIX 'file' utitily to determine what the job -format actually is: -

- cd /var/spool/lpd/printer # spool directory of print jobs - ls # find job files - file dfA001myhost + +

+root# rpcclient SAMBA-CUPS -U root%secret -c 'enumprinters'
+ cmd = enumprinters
+   flags:[0x800000]
+   name:[\\SAMBA-CUPS\dm9110]
+   description:[\\SAMBA-CUPS\dm9110,,110ppm HiVolume DANKA Stuttgart]
+   comment:[110 ppm HiVolume DANKA Stuttgart]
+ [....]

-You should make sure that your printer supports this format OR that -your system administrator has installed a 'print filter' that will -convert the file to a format appropriate for your printer. -

Job sent, strange output

-Once you have the job printing, you can then start worrying about -making it print nicely. -

-The most common problem is extra pages of output: banner pages -OR blank pages at the end. -

-If you are getting banner pages, check and make sure that the -printcap option or printer option is configured for no banners. -If you have a printcap, this is the :sh (suppress header or banner -page) option. You should have the following in your printer. -

- printer: ... :sh + +

+root# rpcclient SAMBA-CUPS -U root%secret -c 'setdriver dm9110 "Heidelberg Digimaster 9110 (PS)"'
+ cmd = setdriver dm9110 Heidelberg Digimaster 9110 (PPD)
+ Successfully set dm9110 to driver Heidelberg Digimaster 9110 (PS).

-If you have this option and are still getting banner pages, there -is a strong chance that your printer is generating them for you -automatically. You should make sure that banner printing is disabled -for the printer. This usually requires using the printer setup software -or procedures supplied by the printer manufacturer. -

-If you get an extra page of output, this could be due to problems -with your job format, or if you are generating PostScript jobs, -incorrect setting on your printer driver on the MicroSoft client. -For example, under Win95 there is a option: -

-  Printers|Printer Name|(Right Click)Properties|Postscript|Advanced|
+
+
+root# rpcclient SAMBA-CUPS -U root%secret -c 'enumprinters'
+ cmd = enumprinters
+   flags:[0x800000]
+   name:[\\SAMBA-CUPS\dm9110]
+   description:[\\SAMBA-CUPS\dm9110,Heidelberg Digimaster 9110 (PS),110ppm HiVolume DANKA Stuttgart]
+   comment:[110ppm HiVolume DANKA Stuttgart]
+ [....]
 

-that allows you to choose if a Ctrl-D is appended to all jobs.
-This is a very bad thing to do, as most spooling systems will
-automatically add a ^D to the end of the job if it is detected as
-PostScript.  The multiple ^D may cause an additional page of output.
-

Raw PostScript printed

-This is a problem that is usually caused by either the print spooling -system putting information at the start of the print job that makes -the printer think the job is a text file, or your printer simply -does not support PostScript. You may need to enable 'Automatic -Format Detection' on your printer. -

Advanced Printing

-Note that you can do some pretty magic things by using your -imagination with the "print command" option and some shell scripts. -Doing print accounting is easy by passing the %U option to a print -command shell script. You could even make the print command detect -the type of output and its size and send it to an appropriate -printer. -

Real debugging

-If the above debug tips don't help, then maybe you need to bring in -the bug guns, system tracing. See Tracing.txt in this directory. -

Prev	Up	Next
Chapter 12. Configuring Group Mapping	Home	Chapter 14. CUPS Printing Support

+ +

+root# rpcclient SAMBA-CUPS -U root%secret -c 'setdriver dm9110 myphantasydrivername'
+ cmd = setdriver dm9110 myphantasydrivername
+ Successfully set dm9110 to myphantasydrivername.
+

+ +

+root# rpcclient SAMBA-CUPS -U root%secret -c 'enumprinters'
+ cmd = enumprinters
+   flags:[0x800000]
+   name:[\\SAMBA-CUPS\dm9110]
+   description:[\\SAMBA-CUPS\dm9110,myphantasydrivername,110ppm HiVolume DANKA Stuttgart]
+   comment:[110ppm HiVolume DANKA Stuttgart]
+ [....]
+

+It may be not easy to recognize: but the first call to +enumprinters showed the "dm9110" printer with an +empty string where the driver should have been listed (between the 2 +commas in the "description" field). After the +setdriver command succeeded, all is well. (The +CUPS Printing chapter has more info about the installation of printer +drivers with the help of rpcclient). +

Adding new Printers with the Windows NT APW

+By default, Samba exhibits all printer shares defined in +smb.conf in the +Printers... folder. Also located in this folder +is the Windows NT Add Printer Wizard icon. The APW will be shown only +if: +

...the connected user is able to successfully execute +an OpenPrinterEx(\\server) with administrative +privileges (i.e. root or printer admin). +
Tip
Try this from a Windows 2K/XP DOS box command prompt: +
+runas /netonly /user:root rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /p /t0 /n \\SAMBA-SERVER\printersharename +
+and click on Printing Preferences... +
... contains the setting +show add printer wizard = yes (the +default).

+The APW can do various things: +

upload a new driver to the Samba +[print$] share;
associate an uploaded driver with an existing (but +still "driverless") print queue;
exchange the currently used driver for an existing +print queue with one that has been uploaded before;
add an entirely new printer to the Samba host (only in +conjunction with a working add printer command; +a corresponding delete printer command for +removing entries from the Printers... folder +may be provided too)

+The last one (add a new printer) requires more effort than the +previous ones. In order to use the APW to successfully add a printer +to a Samba server, the add printer command must +have a defined value. The program hook must successfully add the +printer to the Unix print system (i.e. to +/etc/printcap, +/etc/cups/printers.conf or other appropriate +files) and to if necessary. +

+When using the APW from a client, if the named printer share does not +exist, smbd will execute the add printer +command and reparse to the +to attempt to locate the new printer share. If the share is still not +defined, an error of Access Denied is +returned to the client. Note that the add printer +command is executed under the context of the connected +user, not necessarily a root account. A map to guest = bad +user may have connected you unwittingly under the wrong +privilege; you should check it by using the +smbstatus command. +

Weird Error Message Cannot connect under a +different Name

+Once you are connected with the wrong credentials, there is no means +to reverse the situation other than to close all Explorer windows, and +perhaps reboot. +

The net use \\SAMBA-SERVER\sharename +/user:root gives you an error message: Multiple +connections to a server or a shared resource by the same user +utilizing the several user names are not allowed. Disconnect all +previous connections to the server, resp. the shared resource, and try +again.
Every attempt to "connect a network drive" to +\\SAMBASERVER\\print$ to z: is countered by the +pertinacious message. This network folder is currently +connected under different credentials (username and password). +Disconnect first any existing connection to this network share in +order to connect again under a different username and +password.

+So you close all connections. You try again. You get the same +message. You check from the Samba side, using +smbstatus. Yes, there are some more +connections. You kill them all. The client still gives you the same +error message. You watch the smbd.log file on a very high debug level +and try re-connect. Same error message, but not a single line in the +log. You start to wonder if there was a connection attempt at all. You +run ethereal and tcpdump while you try to connect. Result: not a +single byte goes on the wire. Windows still gives the error +message. You close all Explorer Windows and start it again. You try to +connect - and this times it works! Windows seems to cache connection +info somewhere and doesn't keep it up to date (if you are unlucky you +might need to reboot to get rid of the error message). +

Be careful when assembling Driver Files

+You need to be very careful when you take notes about the files and +belonging to a particular driver. Don't confuse the files for driver +version "0" (for Win95/98/ME, going into +[print$]/WIN/0/), driver version "2" (Kernel Mode +driver for WinNT, going into [print$]/W32X86/2/ +may be used on Win2K/XP too), and driver version +"3" (non-Kernel Mode driver going into +[print$]/W32X86/3/ can not +be used on WinNT). Very often these different driver versions contain +files carrying the same name; but still the files are very different! +Also, if you look at them from the Windows Explorer (they reside in +%WINDOWS%\system32\spool\drivers\W32X86\) you +will probably see names in capital letters, while an "enumdrivers" +command from Samba would show mixed or lower case letters. So it is +easy to confuse them. If you install them manually using +rpcclient and subcommands, you may even succeed +without an error message. Only later, when you try install on a +client, you will encounter error messages like This +server has no appropriate driver for the printer. +

+Here is an example. You are invited to look very closely at the +various files, compare their names and their spelling, and discover +the differences in the composition of the version-2 and -3 sets +Note: the version-0 set contained 40 (!) +Dependentfiles, so I left it out for space +reasons: +

+root# rpcclient -U 'Administrator%secret' -c 'enumdrivers 3' 10.160.50.8 
+
+ Printer Driver Info 3:
+         Version: [3]
+         Driver Name: [Canon iR8500 PS3]
+         Architecture: [Windows NT x86]
+         Driver Path: [\\10.160.50.8\print$\W32X86\3\cns3g.dll]
+         Datafile: [\\10.160.50.8\print$\W32X86\3\iR8500sg.xpd]
+         Configfile: [\\10.160.50.8\print$\W32X86\3\cns3gui.dll]
+         Helpfile: [\\10.160.50.8\print$\W32X86\3\cns3g.hlp]
+ 
+         Dependentfiles: [\\10.160.50.8\print$\W32X86\3\aucplmNT.dll]
+         Dependentfiles: [\\10.160.50.8\print$\W32X86\3\ucs32p.dll]
+         Dependentfiles: [\\10.160.50.8\print$\W32X86\3\tnl32.dll]
+         Dependentfiles: [\\10.160.50.8\print$\W32X86\3\aussdrv.dll]
+         Dependentfiles: [\\10.160.50.8\print$\W32X86\3\cnspdc.dll]
+         Dependentfiles: [\\10.160.50.8\print$\W32X86\3\aussapi.dat]
+         Dependentfiles: [\\10.160.50.8\print$\W32X86\3\cns3407.dll]
+         Dependentfiles: [\\10.160.50.8\print$\W32X86\3\CnS3G.cnt]
+         Dependentfiles: [\\10.160.50.8\print$\W32X86\3\NBAPI.DLL]
+         Dependentfiles: [\\10.160.50.8\print$\W32X86\3\NBIPC.DLL]
+         Dependentfiles: [\\10.160.50.8\print$\W32X86\3\cpcview.exe]
+         Dependentfiles: [\\10.160.50.8\print$\W32X86\3\cpcdspl.exe]
+         Dependentfiles: [\\10.160.50.8\print$\W32X86\3\cpcedit.dll]
+         Dependentfiles: [\\10.160.50.8\print$\W32X86\3\cpcqm.exe]
+         Dependentfiles: [\\10.160.50.8\print$\W32X86\3\cpcspl.dll]
+         Dependentfiles: [\\10.160.50.8\print$\W32X86\3\cfine32.dll]
+         Dependentfiles: [\\10.160.50.8\print$\W32X86\3\cpcr407.dll]
+         Dependentfiles: [\\10.160.50.8\print$\W32X86\3\Cpcqm407.hlp]
+         Dependentfiles: [\\10.160.50.8\print$\W32X86\3\cpcqm407.cnt]
+         Dependentfiles: [\\10.160.50.8\print$\W32X86\3\cns3ggr.dll]
+ 
+         Monitorname: []
+         Defaultdatatype: []
+
+ Printer Driver Info 3:
+         Version: [2]
+         Driver Name: [Canon iR5000-6000 PS3]
+         Architecture: [Windows NT x86]
+         Driver Path: [\\10.160.50.8\print$\W32X86\2\cns3g.dll]
+         Datafile: [\\10.160.50.8\print$\W32X86\2\IR5000sg.xpd]
+         Configfile: [\\10.160.50.8\print$\W32X86\2\cns3gui.dll]
+         Helpfile: [\\10.160.50.8\print$\W32X86\2\cns3g.hlp]
+ 
+         Dependentfiles: [\\10.160.50.8\print$\W32X86\2\AUCPLMNT.DLL]
+         Dependentfiles: [\\10.160.50.8\print$\W32X86\2\aussdrv.dll]
+         Dependentfiles: [\\10.160.50.8\print$\W32X86\2\cnspdc.dll]
+         Dependentfiles: [\\10.160.50.8\print$\W32X86\2\aussapi.dat]
+         Dependentfiles: [\\10.160.50.8\print$\W32X86\2\cns3407.dll]
+         Dependentfiles: [\\10.160.50.8\print$\W32X86\2\CnS3G.cnt]
+         Dependentfiles: [\\10.160.50.8\print$\W32X86\2\NBAPI.DLL]
+         Dependentfiles: [\\10.160.50.8\print$\W32X86\2\NBIPC.DLL]
+         Dependentfiles: [\\10.160.50.8\print$\W32X86\2\cns3gum.dll]
+ 
+         Monitorname: [CPCA Language Monitor2]
+         Defaultdatatype: []
+
+

+If we write the "version 2" files and the "version 3" files +into different text files and compare the result, we see this +picture: +

+root# sdiff 2-files 3-files
+
+
+ cns3g.dll                     cns3g.dll
+ iR8500sg.xpd                  iR8500sg.xpd
+ cns3gui.dll                   cns3gui.dll
+ cns3g.hlp                     cns3g.hlp
+ AUCPLMNT.DLL                | aucplmNT.dll
+                             > ucs32p.dll
+                             > tnl32.dll
+ aussdrv.dll                   aussdrv.dll
+ cnspdc.dll                    cnspdc.dll
+ aussapi.dat                   aussapi.dat
+ cns3407.dll                   cns3407.dll
+ CnS3G.cnt                     CnS3G.cnt
+ NBAPI.DLL                     NBAPI.DLL
+ NBIPC.DLL                     NBIPC.DLL
+ cns3gum.dll                 | cpcview.exe
+                             > cpcdspl.exe 
+                             > cpcqm.exe
+                             > cpcspl.dll
+                             > cfine32.dll
+                             > cpcr407.dll
+                             > Cpcqm407.hlp
+                             > cpcqm407.cnt
+                             > cns3ggr.dll
+
+

+Don't be fooled though! Driver files for each version with identical +names may be different in their content, as you can see from this size +comparison: +

+root# for i in cns3g.hlp cns3gui.dll cns3g.dll; do                  \
+           smbclient //10.160.50.8/print\$ -U 'Administrator%xxxx' \
+           -c "cd W32X86/3; dir $i; cd .. ; cd 2; dir $i";      \
+		   done
+
+  CNS3G.HLP               A   122981  Thu May 30 02:31:00 2002
+  CNS3G.HLP               A    99948  Thu May 30 02:31:00 2002
+
+  CNS3GUI.DLL             A  1805824  Thu May 30 02:31:00 2002
+  CNS3GUI.DLL             A  1785344  Thu May 30 02:31:00 2002
+
+  CNS3G.DLL               A  1145088  Thu May 30 02:31:00 2002
+  CNS3G.DLL               A    15872  Thu May 30 02:31:00 2002
+
+

+In my example were even more differences than shown here. Conclusion: +you must be very careful to select the correct driver files for each +driver version. Don't rely on the names alone. Don't interchange files +belonging to different driver versions. +

Samba and Printer Ports

+Windows NT/2000 print servers associate a port with each +printer. These normally take the form of LPT1:, +COM1:, FILE:, etc. Samba +must also support the concept of ports associated with a printer. By +default, only one printer port, named "Samba Printer Port", exists on +a system. Samba does not really need such a "port" in order to print; +it rather is a requirement of Windows clients. They insist on being +told about an available port when they request this info, otherwise +they throw an error message at you. So Samba fakes the port +information to keep the Windows clients happy. +

+Note that Samba does not support the concept of "Printer Pooling" +internally either. Printer Pooling assigns a logical printer to +multiple ports as a form of load balancing or fail over. +

+If you require that multiple ports be defined for some reason or +another (“My users and my Boss should not know that they are +working with Samba”), possesses a +enumports command which can be used to define +an external program that generates a listing of ports on a system. +

Avoiding the most common Misconfigurations of the Client Driver

+So - printing works, but there are still problems. Most jobs print +well, some don't print at all. Some jobs have problems with fonts, +which don't look good at all. Some jobs print fast, and some are +dead-slow. We can't cover it all; but we want to encourage you to read +the little paragraph about "Avoiding the wrong PostScript Driver +Settings" in the CUPS Printing part of this document. +

The Imprints Toolset

+The Imprints tool set provides a UNIX equivalent of the +Windows NT Add Printer Wizard. For complete information, please +refer to the Imprints web site +athttp://imprints.sourceforge.net/ +as well as the documentation included with the imprints source +distribution. This section will only provide a brief introduction +to the features of Imprints. +

Attention! Maintainer required. +Unfortunately, the Imprints toolset is no longer maintained. As of +December, 2000, the project is in need of a new maintainer. The most +important skill to have is decent perl coding and an interest in +MS-RPC based printing using Samba. If you wish to volunteer, please +coordinate your efforts on the samba-technical mailing list. The +toolset is still in usable form; but only for a series of older +printer models, where there are prepared packages to use. Packages for +more up to date print devices are needed if Imprints should have a +future.

What is Imprints?

+Imprints is a collection of tools for supporting these goals: +

Providing a central repository information regarding +Windows NT and 95/98 printer driver packages
Providing the tools necessary for creating the +Imprints printer driver packages.
Providing an installation client which will obtain +printer drivers from a central internet (or intranet) Imprints Server +repository and install them on remote Samba and Windows NT4 print +servers.

Creating Printer Driver Packages

+The process of creating printer driver packages is beyond the scope of +this document (refer to Imprints.txt also included with the Samba +distribution for more information). In short, an Imprints driver +package is a gzipped tarball containing the driver files, related INF +files, and a control file needed by the installation client. +

The Imprints Server

+The Imprints server is really a database server that may be queried +via standard HTTP mechanisms. Each printer entry in the database has +an associated URL for the actual downloading of the package. Each +package is digitally signed via GnuPG which can be used to verify that +package downloaded is actually the one referred in the Imprints +database. It is strongly recommended that this security check +not be disabled. +

The Installation Client

+More information regarding the Imprints installation client is +available in the Imprints-Client-HOWTO.ps file +included with the imprints source package. +

+The Imprints installation client comes in two forms. +

a set of command line Perl scripts
a GTK+ based graphical interface to the command line Perl +scripts

+The installation client (in both forms) provides a means of querying +the Imprints database server for a matching list of known printer +model names as well as a means to download and install the drivers on +remote Samba and Windows NT print servers. +

+The basic installation process is in four steps and perl code is +wrapped around smbclient and rpcclient +

+ foreach (supported architecture for a given driver) +
1. rpcclient: Get the appropriate upload directory on the remote server
2. smbclient: Upload the driver files
3. rpcclient: Issues an AddPrinterDriver() MS-RPC
+
rpcclient: Issue an AddPrinterEx() MS-RPC to actually create the printer

+One of the problems encountered when implementing the Imprints tool +set was the name space issues between various supported client +architectures. For example, Windows NT includes a driver named "Apple +LaserWriter II NTX v51.8" and Windows 95 calls its version of this +driver "Apple LaserWriter II NTX" +

+The problem is how to know what client drivers have been uploaded for +a printer. An astute reader will remember that the Windows NT Printer +Properties dialog only includes space for one printer driver name. A +quick look in the Windows NT 4.0 system registry at +

+ HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Environment +

+will reveal that Windows NT always uses the NT driver name. This is +ok as Windows NT always requires that at least the Windows NT version +of the printer driver is present. However, Samba does not have the +requirement internally. Therefore, how can you use the NT driver name +if is has not already been installed? +

+The way of sidestepping this limitation is to require that all +Imprints printer driver packages include both the Intel Windows NT and +95/98 printer drivers and that NT driver is installed first. +

Add Network Printers at Logon without User Interaction

+The following MS Knowledge Base article may be of some help if you +need to handle Windows 2000 clients: How to Add Printers +with No User Interaction in Windows 2000. ( http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;189105 +). It also applies to Windows XP Professional clients. +

+The ideas sketched out below are inspired by this article. It +describes a commandline method which can be applied to install +network and local printers and their drivers. This is most useful +if integrated in Logon Scripts. You can see what options are +available by typing in a command prompt ("DOS box") this: +

rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /?

+A window pops up which shows you all of the commandline switches +available. An extensive list of examples is also provided. This is +only for Win 2k/XP. It doesn't work on WinNT. WinNT has probably some +other tools in the respective Resource Kit. Here is a suggestion about +what a client logon script might contain, with a short explanation of +what the lines actually do (it works if 2k/XP Windows clients access +printers via Samba, but works for Windows-based print servers too): +

+rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /dn /n "\\sambacupsserver\infotec2105-IPDS" /q
+rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /in /n "\\sambacupsserver\infotec2105-PS"
+rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /y /n "\\sambacupsserver\infotec2105-PS"
+

+Here is a list of the used commandline parameters: +

/dn: deletes a network printer
/q: quiet modus
/n: names a printer
/in: adds a network printer connection
/y: sets printer as default printer

+I have tested this with a Samba 2.2.7a and a Samba-3alpha24 +installation and Windows XP Professional clients. Note that this +specific command set works with network print queues (installing +local print queues requires different parameters, but this is of no +interest here). +

Line 1 deletes a possibly existing previous network +printer infotec2105-IPDS (which had used native +Windows drivers with LPRng that were removed from the server which was +converted to CUPS). The /q at the end eliminates +"Confirm" or error dialog boxes popping up. They should not be +presented to the user logging on.
Line 2 adds the new printer +infotec2105-PS (which actually is same physical +device but is now run by the new CUPS printing system and associated +with the CUPS/Adobe PS drivers). The printer and its driver +must have been added to Samba prior to the user +logging in (e.g. by a procedure as discussed earlier in this chapter, +or by running cupsaddsmb). The driver is now +auto-downloaded to the client PC where the user is about to log +in.
Line 3 sets the default printer to this new network +printer (there might be several other printers installed with this +same method and some may be local as well -- so we decide for a +default printer). The default printer selection may of course be +different for different users.

+Note that the second line only works if the printer +infotec2105-PS has an already working print queue +on "sambacupsserver", and if the printer drivers have successfully been +uploaded (via APW , +smbclient/rpcclient or +cupsaddsmb) into the +[print$] driver repository of Samba. Also, some +Samba versions prior to version 3.0 required a re-start of smbd after +the printer install and the driver upload, otherwise the script (or +any other client driver download) would fail. +

+Since there no easy way to test for the existence of an installed +network printer from the logon script, the suggestion is: don't bother +checking and just allow the deinstallation/reinstallation to occur +every time a user logs in; it's really quick anyway (1 to 2 seconds). +

+The additional benefits for this are: +

It puts in place any printer default setup changes +automatically at every user logon.
It allows for "roaming" users' login into the domain from +different workstations.

+Since network printers are installed per user this much simplifies the +process of keeping the installation up-to-date. The extra few seconds +at logon time will not really be noticeable. Printers can be centrally +added, changed, and deleted at will on the server with no user +intervention required on the clients (you just need to keep the logon +scripts up to date). +

The addprinter command

+The addprinter command can be configured to be a +shell script or program executed by Samba. It is triggered by running +the APW from a client against the Samba print server. The APW asks the +user to fill in several fields (such as printer name, driver to be +used, comment, port monitor, etc.). These parameters are passed on to +Samba by the APW. If the addprinter command is designed in a way that +it can create a new printer (through writing correct printcap entries +on legacy systems, or execute the lpadmin command +on more modern systems) and create the associated share in +, then the APW will in effect really +create a new printer on Samba and the UNIX print subsystem! +

Migration of "Classical" printing to Samba-3

+The basic "NT-style" printer driver management has not changed +considerably in 3.0 over the 2.2.x releases (apart from many small +improvements). Here migration should be quite easy, especially if you +followed previous advice to stop using deprecated parameters in your +setup. For migrations from an existing 2.0.x setup, or if you +continued "Win9x-style" printing in your Samba 2.2 installations, it +is more of an effort. Please read the appropriate release notes and +the HOWTO Collection for 2.2. You can follow several paths. Here are +possible scenarios for migration: +

You need to study and apply the new Windows NT printer +and driver support. Previously used parameters "printer +driver file", " printer driver" and +"printer driver location" are no longer +supported.
If you want to take advantage of WinNT printer driver +support you also need to migrate the Win9x/ME drivers to the new +setup.
An existing printers.def file +(the one specified in the now removed parameter printer +driver file = ...) will work no longer with Samba-3.0. In +3.0, smbd attempts to locate a Win9x/ME driver files for the printer +in [print$] and additional settings in the TDB +and only there; if it fails it will not (as 2.2.x +used to do) drop down to using a printers.def +(and all associated parameters). The make_printerdef tool is removed +and there is no backwards compatibility for this.
You need to install a Windows 9x driver into the +[print$] share for a printer on your Samba +host. The driver files will be stored in the "WIN40/0" subdirectory of +[print$], and some other settings and info go +into the printing-related TDBs.
If you want to migrate an existing +printers.def file into the new setup, the current +only solution is to use the Windows NT APW to install the NT drivers +and the 9x drivers. This can be scripted using smbclient and +rpcclient. See the Imprints installation client at: +
+http://imprints.sourceforge.net/ +
+for an example. See also the discussion of rpcclient usage in the +"CUPS Printing" section.

Publishing Printer Information in Active Directory or LDAP

+We will publish an update to this section shortly. +

Common Errors and Problems

+Here are a few typical errors and problems people have +encountered. You can avoid them. Read on. +

I give my root password but I don't get access

+Don't confuse the root password which is valid for the Unix system +(and in most cases stored in the form of a one-way hash in a file +named /etc/shadow) with the password used to +authenticate against Samba!. Samba doesn't know the UNIX password; for +root to access Samba resources via Samba-type access, a Samba account +for root must be created first. This is often done with the +smbpasswd command. +

My printjobs get spooled into the spooling directory, but then get lost

+Don't use the existing Unix print system spool directory for the Samba +spool directory. It may seem convenient and a saving of space, but it +only leads to problems. The two must be separate. +

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-- cgit