Transferring Print Jobs To UNIX Systems

SDLPD can transfer print jobs from a NetWare print queue to a remote LPD host. Jobs are serviced by a configured print server, and removed from the queue when a successful transfer occurs. Several options can be set to modify the way SDLPD sends jobs to a remote host. The following instructions cover setting up SDLPD to send jobs to a remote host.

Use PCONSOLE.EXE from a DOS workstation. Create a new print server to be used to service outgoing print jobs. For the purpose of example, the manual will use SDLPD_PSERVER as the print server name. Do not give the print server a password.

Create any print queues that you may need, if you are not using existing print queues.

Edit the file SYS:ETC\HOSTS. You will need to add the host name of each host that you wish to send jobs to. For further assistance, please read Novell's "TCP/IP Transport Supervisor Guide" for details on the format of the HOSTS file.

From the server console, load SDLPDCON.NLM if it is not currently loaded. Select the option for Job Print Server. A dialog will be shown, press enter to change the print server. A list of print servers will be displayed. Select the print server you created, such as SDLPD_PSERVER, and press enter. The name of the print server should now be displayed in the Outgoing Job Print Server dialog box. Press <ESC> to return to the main menu.

Select the menu option for Outgoing Queues. A list will be shown. To configure a previously installed queue, select the queue and press enter. To configure a new queue, press <INS>, and a list of queues will be displayed. Select one and press enter. The dialog shown below will be displayed.

Outgoing Queue Options

Data Translation:        Automatic

Banner Name For User:    YES

Fix CTRL-D:              YES

Retry Rejected Jobs:     YES

Target Host:             odell.sdesign.com

Target Queue:            lp

Data Translation: This option controls any text translations needed between DOS and UNIX systems. Options are

     Binary: No translations

     CR/LF->LF: Always translate all jobs.

     Automatic: Uses CR/LF->LF only when job type is TEXT

In the capture command, you can specify this setting. "Capture -NT" will cause jobs to be spooled as BINARY, omitting this option causes jobs to be submitted as TEXT. This option can also be set with PRINTCON.EXE for print job definitions.

Banner Name For User: When sending a print job to a LPD host, the source user is specified as the print job client. If Banner Name For User is set to YES, the banner name will be used for the user name rather than the client name of the print job. Use PCONSOLE.EXE to view a print job information screen to see the client name and banner name of a print job. This feature is useful in a situation where a Macintosh submits a job to a queue without being logged into the file server. The client name will be ATPS_QUSER however the banner name will reflect the computer that sent the print job.

Fix CTRL-D: Some print drivers place an ASCII 0x04 character (CTRL-D) on the beginning of a postscript print job. Postscript interpreters often use this to mark the end of a file. When Fix CTRL-D is set to YES, SDLPD will remove the CTRL-D character at the beginning of a print job when it is immediately followed by the character string "%!PS-Adobe"

Retry Rejected Jobs: When set to YES, if the remote host rejects the print job, the job will be moved to the end of the queue and attempted again later. If set to NO, the job will be removed from the queue. Jobs may be rejected because the NetWare server or user do not have access to the remote queue, or because the remote host is out of disk space. (If the flag for Service-Restart is not set for a print job, the job is purged regardless of the Retry Rejected Jobs option. Default options for print jobs set the Service-Restart flag however)

Target Host: Enter the name of the target machine. This name must be in the file SYS:ETC\HOSTS on the NetWare server.

Target Queue: Set this to the print queue on the remote system.

Port Numbers: In the main menu, under Miscellaneous Options, there are settings for LPR Low Port and LPR High Port. LPR Low Port and LPR High Port sets the range of TCP ports used for communicating with the UNIX host when sending outgoing print jobs. (Incoming jobs always use port 515) RFC 1179 specifies that the source port must be from 721 to 731 inclusive. Many UNIX lpd daemons will accept connections from any port under 1024.

If you receive errors concerning "a local port is already in use," try adjusting the High and Low Port settings to allow for a wider range of ports to use while sending jobs. e.g., try a range of 700 to 900.

The NetWare TCP software seems to take an inordinate amount of time to dispose of ports after a connection has terminated. (ports that are in a 2MSL timeWait state) SDLPD will cycle through the ports specified by the LPR Low & High port settings when connecting to remote hosts. If many print jobs are being transferred, it is possible that all 10 ports will be in a timeWait state. This problem is corrected by expanding the range of source ports to accommodate this timeout. See Stevens, 1994, Pp 242-243 for more information.

hosts.lpd: On your target host system, you will need to edit the hosts.lpd file. Many systems keep this file in the /etc directory. Add the full host name of the NetWare file server to this file. Please consult your documentation for your UNIX system for details on the /etc/hosts.lpd file.