Ch. 8 – Implementing and Managing Printers

1. Ch. 8 – Implementing and Managing Printers MIS 431 – created Spring 2006 MIS 431 - Chapter 8

2. Overview of Chapter 8: Printing • Understand WS03 printing concepts • Install and share printer resources • Configure and manage installed printers • Publish printers in AD • Troubleshoot printer problems MIS 431 - Chapter 8

3. Printing Concepts • Print device – the actual hardware that prints • Local print device-on a client • Network print device-connected to print server • Printer – configurable object in WS03 • Print driver – file with info that WS03 uses to convert raw print file into commands for a specific printer (e.g., PCL or PostScript) • Print server – the computer in which the printers and print drivers are located • Print client – the computer from which a print job originates MIS 431 - Chapter 8

4. Printing Concepts, contd. • One or more computers must be set up as print servers • WS03 • Windows XP (BUT a max of 10 simultaneous client connections at a time) • Windows 2000 (same limitations) • Need sufficient space on the hard drive for the print server • WS03 uses hard drive to buffer and queue print jobs and some can be large • Sufficient RAM if you expect a large # of print jobs MIS 431 - Chapter 8

5. Understand Network Printing steps • Print file generated by SW appl on print client. • This appl communicates with Windows via the Graphics device interface (GDI) as it creates the print file (the rendering process) • Print file is formatted with special control codes to implement graphics, fonts, colors. Print file is sent to a temp file via Windows spooler that send print jobs away. • The remote print provider at the client makes a remote procedure call to the network print server and if ready, transmits the contents of the spooler file to the print server. MIS 431 - Chapter 8

6. Network Printing steps, contd. • Network print provider uses 4 processing elements to receive/process a print file: router, print provider, print processor, print monitor • Server service calls its router, the Print Spooler service, and directs the print file to the print provider which stores it in another spool file until it can be sent to the printer. • Print provider works with print processor to ensure file is properly formatted to use the right file type (TEXT or RAW) • Print monitor pulls it from the spooler’s disk storage and sends it to the printer. MIS 431 - Chapter 8

7. Install and Share Printer Resources • First add a printer as a local device on server • Just like Win XP – click Add Printer button • Use Plug and Play or manually install • Select port connected to – LPT1, USB, etc. • If printer is on LAN connection, probably has its own .EXE files to install it. • Rt-click printer on server and then choose Properties • Provide a name for printer in the Comment text box • Select Sharing tab • Click Share this printer and give share name • Click Security tab and add groups, users with proper permissions MIS 431 - Chapter 8

8. Add Printer as a Network Device • Typically uses TCP/IP connection – wired or wireless (in certain installations) • Network service traditionally provided by an add-on “Print Server device” like an HP JetDirect card but may be built in • HP uses N at the end of printer model to designate network port, e.g. LaserJet 2600N • Can use Add Printer Wizard or the program that comes with the printer • Need to specify TCP/IP port’s IP address MIS 431 - Chapter 8

9. Configure/Manage Printer Resource • Configure existing printer: Rt-click printer, choose Properties (Fig 8-8) • Sharing tab – seen earlier (Fig 8-4) • Ports tab – configure port and printer pooling • Advanced tab – paper types, trays, fonts, etc. • Security tab – establish permissions (next slide) • Device Settings tab – will differ by printer model and brand MIS 431 - Chapter 8

10. Printer Permissions (Fig 8-10 p. 310) • Print – allows connection to a printer, printing of documents, and managing one’s own jobs. • Manage Documents – all of Print plus control print jobs for all users (pause, cancel, restart) • Manage Printers – all of Print and Manage plus set sharing, modification and deletion of printers. Default: Administrators, Print Operators, Server Operators granted this • Hint: add a user to a group rather than give user this permission individually • Special Permissions – more granular control over printer security choices MIS 431 - Chapter 8

11. Effective Printer Permissions • WS03 offers similar feature to effective file/folder/volume permissions • Found in Advanced Security Settings of a printer (Fig. 8-11, p. 311) MIS 431 - Chapter 8

12. Printer Pools and Priorities • Printer pool – a single printer (logical) that is connected a number of print devices • Each device can accept a print job if other(s) are tied up • Especially useful if some print jobs are long – a shorter job can be done sooner • Each device must use same print driver • Configured in the Ports tab • May need to set Printer Priorities for different groups: higher priority jobs print first  MIS 431 - Chapter 8

13. Setting up and Updating Clients • Make sure you check the operating system boxes for each different client OS on your network – Fig 8-14, p. 315 • This installs different printer drivers on the server that are actually downloaded to the client when it installs the network printer. MIS 431 - Chapter 8

14. Managing Print Queues • Double click the printer icon in Printers folder to display print queue (Fig 8-15 p.316) • See each print job and its properties • If off line or out of paper, see diagnostic here • Rt-click a job and choose command • Pause – printer is paused • Cancel – print job is aborted • Resume – resumes the print job • Restart – kill and begin job again from beginning • Can drag jobs up or down to change order, but not a currently printing job MIS 431 - Chapter 8

15. Internet Printing Protocol • WS03 supports Internet printing in which print jobs are sent via Internet (TCP/IP network) to print queue • Manage via your browser by IP address of the printer or … • http://printservername/printers shows a list of all connected printers and their IP addresses • Click on a hyperlink to a printer to open its Internet management web page (Fig 8-17) • Requires client use Windows 2000, Windows XP, or Windows Server 2003 to send off print jobs • http://printservername/printers/printername/.printer MIS 431 - Chapter 8

16. Command Line Printer Utilities • Invoke VBScripts via the Windows Script Host (WSH) in c:\Windows\system32>cscriptxxx • Prncnfg.vbs – configure printer or display configuration • Prndrvr.vbs – adds, deletes, or lists printer drivers • Prnjobs.vbs – view existing print jobs; also cancels, pauses, and resumes jobs in queue • Prnmngr.vbs – adds, deletes, or lists printers; also set default printer • Prnport.vbs – creates, deletes or lists standard TCP/IP printer ports • Prnqctl.vbs – pauses or resumes a printer, cancels all jobs queued for a particular printer, and prints test page MIS 431 - Chapter 8

17. Print Spooler • As users send print jobs, they are spooled onto the hard drive of the print server – WINDOWS\system32\spool\PRINTERS folder • For performance reasons, may want to move the spool file to another partition, preferably on a disk that has its own controller • Act 8-8 takes you through this process MIS 431 - Chapter 8

18. Publishing Printers in AD • Any WS00 or WS03 compatible printer is automatically published in the active directory when installed on a domain controller. • To view published printers, in Active Users and Computers MMC click View on the menu bar and click Users, Groups, and Computers as containers • This changes how AD shows objects that are associated with a user, group, or computer object • Printer objects are associated with the computer object that acts as its print server • See Fig 8021 p.322 MIS 431 - Chapter 8

19. Troubleshoot printer problems • Common problems on p.325-6 and fixes • Print jobs will not print: offline? Out of paper? • Printer output appears garbled: incorrect driver? • Users receive access denied message: bad permissions? • Users cannot find an existing printer when searching AD: printer still published? Can publish manually. • Printer only works at certain times of the day: advanced tab to check if some times marked not OK • Windows 95/98/ME cannot connect to printer: make sure these print drivers were installed • Print jobs stuck in print queue: try Restart • Print device failure: paper jam? HW failure? stuck print job? MIS 431 - Chapter 8

20. Adding Network Printer to Client • Click the Add Printer button on client • Specify whether local or network printer • Drill down to the location and select • Print driver is copied from the print sharing device (server) to the client computer (cool) • Network connection must be active in order for client to print to the computer – spooler may keep print file current, though • Cool: if you lock up and reboot client, print job is often still there and just continues as if no lockup happened (lockups don’t happen often with Windows 2000 and XP) MIS 431 - Chapter 8