Re: printcap (HP Laserjet 6P) and samba

[Phil Brutsche <pbrutsch@creighton.edu>]

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far way, someone said...

> I have a linux box that I'm trying to set up for file & print serving for
> our university administration, but I fear that my ignorance/newbieness is
> causing me some grief, and I'm craving some experienced advice.
> 
> Anyone have an example printcap for an HP Laserjet 6P that has been shared
> on a remote Windows printer? This is what I currently have. Anyone see
> anything missing/incorrect? Shouldn't I specify a printer driver somewhere
> if I want to be able to print from the server?
> 
> ljsaturn|HP Laserjet 6P
>         :rm=saturn.ois.swau.edu
>         :rp=hplj6p
>         :sd=/var/spool/lpd/ljsaturn
>         :mx#0
>         :sh
>         :sf

If the printer is available only as a SMB share (ie shows up in Network
Neighborhood), then straight LPD won't work.

What you need to do is something like this:
ljsaturn|HP Laserjet 6P
        :rm=saturn.ois.swau.edu
        :rp=hplj6p
        :sd=/var/spool/lpd/ljsaturn
        :mx#0
        :sh
        :sf
	:if=/usr/sbin/smbprint-ljsaturn
	:lp=/dev/null

smbprint-ljsaturn is a shell script; these are the basics:

#!/bin/sh

logfile=/tmp/smb-print.log
server=saturn
service=hplj6p
password=the-password-if-there-is-one

#
# Some debugging help, change the >> to > if you want to same space.
#
echo "server $server, service $service" >> $logfile

(
# NOTE You may wish to add the line `echo translate' if you want automatic
# CR/LF translation when printing.
#       echo translate
	echo "print -"
	cat
) | /usr/bin/smbclient "\\\\$server\\$service" $password -N -P >> $logfile

I've cut out most of the comments for the sake of brevity; you can find
the original in /usr/doc/samba-doc/examples/printing.  Note that this
assumes that the LaserJet is a PostScript printer.  If it's not, then
you'll have to do some magic with ghostscript (either the package gs or
gs-alladin) to be able to send PCL to the printer.

> Also, though I've tried to digest the smb.conf documentation, I'm still not
> sure I understand everything. For instance, one of the many questions I have
> is how are passwords managed? Would someone be willing to look my smb.conf
> over?

Sure.

> [global]
>    printing = bsd
>    printcap name = /etc/printcap
>    load printers = yes
>    guest account = nobody
>    invalid users = root
>    security = user
     ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

This is what's called user level security.  When the remote system
connects, it _must_ provide a valid Linux username and password to be able
to conenct.  In my experience, not a good thing if all you have to connect
with is Win95/Win98 systems (there isn't necessarily any way of
specifiying the username).  If you use "security = share", merely a valid
password is needed.

>    server string = %h server (Samba %v)
>    socket options = IPTOS_LOWDELAY TCP_NODELAY SO_SNDBUF=4096 SO_RCVBUF=4096
>    encrypt passwords = yes
>    wins support = yes
>    os level = 65
>    domain master = yes
>    domain logons = yes
     ^^^^^^^^^^^^^

This tells Samba to handle Domain Logons for Win95/98 systems; it's
drastically different from WinNT domains.

>    local master = yes
>    preferred master = yes
>    name resolve order = lmhosts host wins bcast
>    dns proxy = no
>    mangle case = no
>    case sensitive = no
>    default case = lower
>    preserve case = yes
>    short preserve case = yes
>    unix password sync = true
     ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Samba has the ability to syncronize the SMB passwords with the unix
passwords - when they change their password via Samba, their unix password
is automatically updated.

Everything else looks fine to me.

-- 
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Phil Brutsche					pbrutsch@creighton.edu

"There are two things that are infinite; Human stupidity and the
universe. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein