Skip to main content COMPANY MY NOVELL SOLUTIONS PRODUCTS TRAINING SUPPORT PARTNERS DEVELOPERS SEARCH DOWNLOAD HOW TO BUY Technical Information Document How can NDPS use a printer locally attached to a Windows NT or Windows 2000 - TID10060125 (last modified 30JUN2003) Click here if this does not solve your problem 10060125 10060125 10060125 goal How can NDPS use a printer locally attached to a Windows NT or Windows 2000 workstation using LPR? What can I use in an IP-only environment instead of NPRINTER on Windows NT or Windows 2000? fact Novell Distributed Print Services (NDPS) 2.0 Novell Distributed Print Services (NDPS) 2.1.1 Novell Enterprise Print Services (NEPS) 2.1 Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Microsoft Windows 2000 Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition Microsoft Windows 98 Microsoft Windows 95 Windows NT workstation has a locally installed printer which an administrator would like to share through NDPS An IP-only solution is preferred, or a solution which does not involve NPRINTER. NPRINTER requires IPX or an IPX compatibility mode, and does not work from an IP-only workstation. fix The Novell Printer Gateway in NDPS can use any LPD-based printer service which conforms to the LPD/LPR protocol standards. Windows workstations can make their local printers available via LPD/LPR using optional and/or third-party services. See the "BACKGROUND" discussion towards the end of this document for further information. The following steps describe how to setup LPD services on a Windows NT 4.0 or Windows 2000 workstation, using the Microsoft TCP/IP Print Server service included with those operating systems. Review all of these steps prior to starting implementation so that any necessary changes can be implemented beforehand. STEP 1: ESTABLISH A STATIC OR PERMANENTLY ASSIGNED IP ADDRESS FOR THE WORKSTATION TO WHICH THE PRINTER IS PHYSICALLY ATTACHED: 1.) Make sure the TCP/IP protocol is installed and enabled on the Windows workstation. 2.) If you are using DHCP for dynamic IP address assignment, a reserved address assignment for that workstation's MAC address within DHCP is highly recommended in order to provide an address reference which will be consistent for the LPD print service on the workstation. Alternatively, configure the workstation to stop using DHCP to obtain an address automatically and statically configure the workstation with an assigned IP address instead. 3.) A dynamic DNS/DHCP solution does not solve this issue 100%, because if the IP address assigned to the workstation changes while the NDPS printer agent is running, the connection will fail until the NDPS printer agent is shut down and restarted such that the DNS name is re-resolved to the newly assigned IP address. An assigned IP address for the workstation's MAC address within the DHCP service is still recommended even if a dynamic DNS/DHCP solution is being used. 4.) If a static or assigned address is not used and the address on the workstation changes, the NDPS printer agent will have to be reconfigured and/or restarted in order to recognize the new address for reaching the workstation-based printer. STEP 2: INSTALLING THE MICROSOFT TCP/IP PRINT SERVER SERVICE ON WINDOWS NT WORKSTATION 4.0 OR WINDOWS NT SERVER 4.0: 1.) Add the "Microsoft TCP/IP Printing" service to the Windows NT 4.0 workstation. Note these steps are the same for Windows NT Workstation 4.0 proper as well as Windows NT Server 4.0. a.) Use "Start", "Settings", "Control Panel" and open the "Network" control panel applet. b.) Click on the "Services" tab and then use the "Add..." button, select "Microsoft TCP/IP Printing", and press the "OK" button to confirm this choice. c.) To actually install the service, Windows will need access to the files from the .\i386\ directory from the Windows NT 4.0 CD-ROM. d.) Once the service has been added, pressing "OK" on the Network control panel itself will prompt for the workstation to be restarted, which is recommended. e.) After logging back into the workstation, re-apply the currently installed Windows NT 4.0 support pack as recommended by Microsoft in order to update any older files copied from the Windows NT 4.0 CD-ROM .\i386\ directory during installation. 2.) Start the "TCP/IP Print Server" service (a.k.a. LPDSVC). a.) Use "Start", "Settings", "Control Panel" and open the "Services" control panel applet. b.) Scroll down to "TCP/IP Print Server" and highlight that service entry. c.) To configure the service to automatically start in the future, use the "Startup..." button and select "Automatic" for "Startup Type" and press "OK" to confirm this selection. d.) In addition, to start the service right now, use the "Start" button in the "Services" control panel while the "TCP/IP Print Server" entry is still highlighted. The service status will show "Started" once successfully running. If the service fails to start check the System event log for event failure messages. STEP 3: INSTALLING THE MICROSOFT TCP/IP PRINT SERVER SERVICE ON MICROSOFT WINDOWS 2000 PROFESSIONAL OR WINDOWS 2000 SERVER: 1.) Add the "Print Services for Unix" service to the Windows 2000 workstation. Note these steps are the same for Windows 2000 Professional as well as Windows 2000 Server. a.) Use "Start", "Settings", "Control Panel" and open the "Add/Remove Programs" control panel applet. b.) Select the "Add/Remove Windows Components" section on the left-hand side of the "Add/Remove Programs" control panel applet to show the list of optional services included with Windows 2000. c.) Scroll down in the list until "Other Network File and Print Services" is displayed. Highlight "Other Network File and Print Services" and press the "Details" button to reveal the sub-choices within this option. d.) Select the checkbox beside "Print Services for Unix", and then press "OK" to confirm the selection. Press "Next" on the "Add/Remove Windows Components" dialog to confirm Windows to begin installation of the selected services. e.) To actually install the service, Windows will need access to the files from the .\i386\ directory from the Windows 2000 CD-ROM. d.) Once the service has been added, press "Finish" and you will be returned to the "Add/Remove Programs" control panel applet which you can close. The service will already be installed and running, and in most cases a restart will not be necessary or requested. e.) Re-apply the currently installed Windows 2000 support pack (if any) as recommended by Microsoft in order to update any older files copied from the Windows 2000 CD-ROM .\i386\ directory during installation of the service. 2.) Start the "TCP/IP Print Server" service (a.k.a. LPDSVC). a.) Use "Start", "Settings", "Control Panel" and open the "Administrative Tools" control panel applet. Within the "Administrative Tools" control panel applet, open the "Services" control applet. b.) Scroll down to "TCP/IP Print Server" and double-click on that service entry to display the service control properties. c.) To configure the service to automatically start in the future, change the "Startup Type" drop-down list from "Manual" to "Automatic". d.) If the "Service status:" on the service control properties does not display "Started", press the "Start" button to run the service now and wait while the service is started. The "Service status:" will show "Started" once successfully running. If the service fails to start check the System event log for event failure messages. e.) Press "OK" on the service control properties to save the "Startup Type" change made. STEP 4: CONFIGURING A WINDOWS PRINTER TO BE AVAILABLE THROUGH LPDSVC AND CREATION OF AN NDPS PRINTER AGENT TO TARGET THE WORKSTATION-BASED PRINTER: 1.) Determine which locally installed Windows printer will be used. In choosing, creating or configuring the local Windows printer, considerations include: a.) The Microsoft "TCP/IP Print Server" service will be checking the printer named in incoming LPR requests against the installed Windows printer display names (e.g. typically "Accounting LaserJet 4MV") and/or the Windows printer share names enabled on the local workstation (e.g. "\\myworkstation\ACCLJ4MV") looking for a case-insensitive name match. b.) As defined by the LPD protocol RFC specification (RFC1179), the printer names used in LPR cannot contain space characters because spaces are used as command delimiters. As such, one of the two names described above (the desired printer's Windows printer display name and/or the Windows printer's share name) will have to have no spaces in it in order for the "TCP/IP Print Server" service to successfully match an incoming LPR request to the desired printer. c.) The easiest method to enable the LPD service for an existing Windows printer is to simply enable Windows "Sharing" for the printer. From the "Printers" folder select "Properties" of the desired printer and on the "Sharing" tab select the "Shared" radio button. The default name generated in the "Share Name" field will generally be an eight-character, no spaces name appropriate for use with the LPD service. If overriding the default share name, just ensure not to include any spaces in the share name selected. d.) If installing a new Windows printer for use with the LPD service, or if the idea of enabling Windows sharing for the printer is not desired, specifying a display name for the printer which does not contain any spaces will make the printer accessible through the LPD service. For an existing Windows printer, in the "Printers" folder highlight the desired printer and select "Rename" to change the display name to a name which doesn't include space characters. (e.g. rename the printer from "Accounting LaserJet 4MV" to "AccountingLJ4MV".) If creating a new Windows printer for use with the LPD service, simply specify a display name which doesn't include spaces during the Add Printer Wizard's creation of the new printer. e.) The LPD protocol specification does not put a specific limit on the length of the name which can be used. The NDPS configuration dialog for the LPR printer name will be limited to 64 characters. Windows printer display names can be very long, although older applications may not inter-operate well with names longer than 30 characters. The Windows NT 4.0 share name dialog limits a printer share name to 80 characters. Other LPR clients (besides NDPS, such as Unix workstations) may even be limited to using printer names of only eight characters. Taking all these issues into account, specifying a printer display name or printer share name of only eight characters will provide maximum compatibility (e.g. "ACCHP4MV"), but longer names will probably work too (e.g. "AccountingHP4MV") except in rarer cases where services besides NDPS are expected to communicate with the printer via LPR as well. Printer names of twenty characters in length have been tested with NDPS on Novell NetWare 5.1 SP2a and Windows NT 4.0 SP6a without any apparent problems. 2.) Create the NDPS printer agent using the Novell Printer Gateway which will connect to the Windows workstation printer using LPR. This NDPS printer agent can be either a controlled access or public access NDPS printer agent. In the steps described below for creating a controlled access NDPS printer, only the configuration of the LPD host name/address and printer name are specific to targeting the Windows workstation-connected printer. The same configuration steps regarding the LPD host name/address and printer name can be applied when creating a public access NDPS printer. a.) From a server and workstation with NDPS support installed, run NWADMN32.EXE and navigate to the container where the NDPS printer object should be created in NDS. b.) Use the Object | Create menu (or the "Insert" key) to create a new "NDPS Printer" object. c.) On the first creation dialog ("Create NDPS Printer") specify the name for the NDPS Printer object to be created in NDS and click on the "OK" button. (Note this name is specifically for the NDPS Printer object in NDS, and may contain spaces and/or be different from the Windows workstation printer display name or printer share name discussed previously.) The default radio button selection of "Create a New Printer Agent" is appropriate. d.) On the next creation dialog ("Create Printer Agent") select the NDPS Manager that you want to create the NDPS printer agent on. The "Printer Agent (PA) Name" displayed on this dialog will default to the first 40 characters of the NDPS Printer object name specified on the previous dialog. This name too may contain spaces and/or be different from the Windows workstation printer name considerations described earlier. In the "Gateway Types" section of this creation dialog, ensure that the "Novell Printer Gateway" remains selected (which it will be by default) before pressing the "OK" button. e.) On the next creation dialog ("Configure Novell PDS for Printer Agent..."), under "Printer Type" specify "(Generic) PCL" or "(Generic) PS" as appropriate for the language supported by the printer, or simply leave as "((NONE))" if the printer language support is not known. (This will only affect banner page selection options, if banner pages are even requested.) In the "Port Handler Type" section of this dialog, ensure the "Novell Port Handler" remains selected (which it will be by default) before pressing the "OK" button. f.) On the next creation dialog ("Configure Port Handler for Printer Agent..."), in the "Connection Type" section select "Remote (LPR on IP)" and press the "Next" button. g.) On the next creation dialog, specify either the IP address of the workstation (in the "Host Address" field) or a DNS name which will resolve to the IP address of the workstation (in the "Host Name" field). (Remember that if the IP address of the workstation changes, NDPS will continue to attempt using the address specified here until you re-configure the NDPS printer agent.) In the "Printer Name" field which defaults to "PASSTHROUGH", override that name with the no-spaces Windows printer display name or printer share name you established during step 4, part 1a - 1e of this document. (e.g. "ACCHP4MV", "AccountingHP4MV", etc.) before pressing the "Finish" button. h.) At this point the NDPS Printer object creation dialog will wait while the new NDPS Printer Agent is started on the specified NDPS Manager. Note that if spaces were specified in the "Printer Name" on the previous dialog, errors will be reported as the Novell Printer Gateway port handler (PH.NLM) attempts to load on the server running the NDPS Manager since the spaces will be interpreted as invalid additional command line parameters. i.) Once the new NDPS Printer Agent has started, the next creation dialog ("Select printer drivers") will appear. Select printer drivers for the available Windows platforms shown on the dialog which match the driver type needed for the actual physical printer type. Click on the "Continue" button when drivers for all necessary / desired Windows platforms have been selected. 3.) From a client workstation with NDPS client support installed, install the new NDPS printer just created. If a default printer driver for the local Windows platform was specified when creating the NDPS printer agent, that driver will be automatically downloaded and installed. Otherwise, Windows will prompt for the user to select which available Windows printer drivers should be used for the Windows printer being created on the local workstation. Once installed, a test page send from the NDPS client workstation should come out on the selected printer which was locally attached to the Windows workstation running the LPD service. ADDITIONAL NOTES: - If the workstation running the Microsoft TCP/IP Print Server service is shutdown, then users will not be able to print to that printer. The printer status on the NDPS manager will show up as an "I/O error". Utilization may increase on the server running NDPS as the port handler retries to make a connection to the disconnected workstation. If a workstation is going to be shut down for an extended period of time, temporarily shutting down the associated NDPS printer agent is recommended. - Note that the LPDSVC service running on the Windows workstation will spool the jobs again locally on the Windows workstation. The fact that NDPS has successfully delivered the job via LPR to the Windows workstation does not mean that the job has actually printed out at the printer. This is different than NPRINTER operation, where the on-line or off-line state of the printer prevented jobs from leaving the server-side spooling area. - Note that although the jobs get spooled locally on the Windows workstation, they are not re-processed by the Windows printer driver on the Windows NT 4.0 or Windows 2000 workstation where the printer is physically attached. The NDPS client workstations which submitted the print jobs will need to use a printer driver appropriate for the physical printer. This is not unique and is the same way in which most if not all other NDPS printer installations work; the clarification is only that the locally installed Windows printer driver on the Windows NT 4.0 workstation is not re-processing or potentially re-formatting the print job data. - Searching the Microsoft Support Knowledgebase for the keyword "LPDSVC" will hit the documents describing issues and configuration of the Microsoft TCP/IP Print Server service. BACKGROUND: The LPR/LPD support of the Novell Printer Gateway in NDPS can be leveraged by customers implementing an IP-only NetWare but desiring to continue use of workstation-attached printers as had been facilitated by NPRINTER in previous PSERVER or NDPS installations using IPX/SPX. All NPRINTER implementations use SPX and therefore require that IPX or an IPX compatible protocol between the workstation and print server exists, and therefore cannot be used in an IP-only environment. The "Line Printer Daemon (LPD)" print service has long been implemented and used in Unix environments. The "Line Printer Daemon protocol" or "LPR" protocol specified in RFC1179 is used to communicate with an LPD-based print server. The LPR protocol defines a very basic printing protocol which has been implemented by a wide variety of printer devices and services in order to provide maximum compatibility and interoperability. Many third-party commercial and shareware products provide LPD server emulation for Windows platforms, ranging from full TCP/IP protocol suite packages to simple services which provide only LPD emulation. By running an LPD service on a Windows platform, the Windows workstation's printers will be available to other network clients capable of using the LPR protocol to communicate with a remote printer. The Novell Printer Gateway, which is a part of all NDPS servers, can send jobs submitted from NDPS client workstations to an LPD-based printer over the LPR protocol when so configured. Microsoft's Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 both include an optional LPD service (a.k.a. "Print Services for Unix", "Microsoft TCP/IP Printing service", "TCP/IP Print Server", "LPDSVC") in the shipping operating systems. The intent of this document is to describe how this service can be installed and configured to allow an NDPS Printer Agent using the Novell Printer Gateway to communicate with printers attached to a Windows NT 4.0 or Windows 2000 workstation using the LPR protocol and the Microsoft-supplied LPDSVC service. Note that the Microsoft TCP/IP Print Server service is distributed and supported by Microsoft. Novell supports the NDPS Novell Printer Gateway configuration and connectivity to any LPD-based print server which accepts and processes communication according to the LPR protocol specification. The Microsoft Windows 95, Microsoft Windows 98, and Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition platforms do not ship with an LPD service equivalent as part of the operating system. For these platforms, or if the features of the LPDSVC included with Windows NT 4.0 or Windows 2000 does not suit a particular need, one of the third-party commercial or shareware LPD services would have to be used. (To find such a third-party commercial or shareware application, you can do a search for LPR or LPD on a file search engine of your choice. A free LPD implementation for Windows 95/98/ME can for example be found at http://www.kabelmax.de/lpd.zip .) Aside from these third-party products differing in implementation such as exactly how the local Windows printer names are mapped to LPR-compatible printer names, the LPR concepts and NDPS configuration steps described in this document are applicable to most any LPD service implementation on Windows that makes printers accessible via the LPR protocol standard.. Document Title: How can NDPS use a printer locally attached Document ID: 10060125 Solution ID: NOVL38678 Creation Date: 30JAN2001 Modified Date: 30JUN2003 Novell Product Class: NetWare Disclaimer The Origin of this information may be internal or external to Novell. Novell makes all reasonable efforts to verify this information. However, the information provided in this document is for your information only. Novell makes no explicit or implied claims to the validity of this information. Any trademarks referenced in this document are the property of their respective owners. Consult your product manuals for complete trademark information. Corporate Governance | Legal | Privacy | Accessibility | Subscribe | Feedback © 2004 Novell, Inc. All Rights Reserved.