2.3 Printer Agent Information Page

If you select a Printer Agent from the Print Manager main page, the following page appears. This section describes the information presented on the Printer Agent Information page.

Figure 2-2 Printer Agent Information Page

2.3.1 Previous/Next Printer

Click to move to the previous or next Printer Agent in the list on the main page. If a printer’s status changes while you are on the Printer Agent Information page, the list is automatically updated. Therefore, the next printer you expect might no longer be in the same order.

2.3.2 Printer Agent Status

Displays the current status of each Printer Agent. A Printer Agent can have one or more of the following status messages.

Table 2-3 Types of Status Error Messages

Status

Description

Error Printing

See Printer Agent’s information page for details about the problems.

Idle

Waiting for a job to print.

Input Paused

Printer Agent does not accept new jobs.

Not Bound

No gateway is attached.

Output Paused

Printer’s output is paused.

Printing

Job was opened by the gateway and is not yet closed.

Shutdown

Printer Agent is not accessible.

In addition to the status messages above, the column uses the following colors to indicate status.

Table 2-4 Status Color Indicators

Color

State

Red

Critical - Users cannot print to this printer.

Yellow

Warning - The printer is available to users, but the printer or Printer Agent might need attention to successfully print the job.

Green

Good - Users can print to the printer.

To configure how the Print Manager should handle the different status, use Configuring the Monitoring Thresholds along with the Advanced Print Manager Information page.

Shutdown or Startup/Pause Input or Output for Printer

Select the action you want from the drop-down list, then click Apply. You can shut down or start up the Printer Agent or pause input or output on the printer. When the Printer Agent starts up, the most current printer status might not be returned. You might need to refresh the page. The drop-down list appears only if you have manager or admin rights to the Printer Agent.

2.3.3 Printer Console

Displays the information that the printer’s display (usually the LCD) is showing. If the Printer Console field displays None, then the Health Monitor does not have access to the information. If the field displays Unknown, the Health Monitor was able to get the information, but it no longer can access the printer’s display. This usually occurs when the gateway is changed. This feature uses SNMP to gather the information. If there is more than one message, additional Printer Console lines are displayed.

2.3.4 Printer Agent Status Details, Event Time, Message

The Printer Agent Status Details, Event Time, and Message table displays only when problems have been detected for this Printer Agent. The table lists current problems and the time the problem was reported along with any associated message. Red entries indicate problems that prevent printing. Yellow entries indicate warnings that should not stop printing.

2.3.5 Job List

Displays the current job list for this Printer Agent. This option is available only to administrators; the link appears only if you have manager or admin rights to the Printer Agent. Jobs in the Job List are associated with one of the following colors:

Table 2-5 Job Status Color Indicators

Color

Description

Gray

Job is waiting to be printed.

Cyan

Job is printing.

Yellow

Job is not in a printable state because of a Job Hold or Printing Pause.

Figure 2-3 Job List Page

2.3.6 Shutdown/Startup History

Displays a history of the startup and running times for this Printer Agent since the last time the Print Manager was loaded. When a Printer Agent has been restarted many times, it usually indicates that a problem exists and warrants further investigation. This link appears only if you have manager or admin rights to the Printer Agent.

Figure 2-4 Print Manager Shutdown and Startup History

2.3.7 Message from Admin

Lets you attach a note about this Printer Agent. When a message exists, this link is highlighted in Yellow. To remove the message, you must delete the characters in the message box and then click Apply. This link appears only if you have manager or admin rights to the Printer Agent.

Figure 2-5 Message from the Administrator Page

This is useful for notes about the state of this printer. For example, you can leave a message when a printer is offline due to maintenance so that other administrators cannot delete the Printer Agent for the printer.

2.3.8 Configuration Options

Lets you configure the following options for the printer. After modifying this page, you must click Apply for the changes to be saved.

Figure 2-6 Configuration Options Page

Table 2-6 Configuration Options Descriptions

Option

Description

Enable Internal Auditing

Enables auditing for this printer, which tracks who printed how many printers to this printer.

Enable iPrint

Allows this printer to be seen as an iPrint printer.

Require SSL

Clients must use SSL to communicate with this printer. This option requires the printer to be an iPrint printer.

Printer Location

Lets you specify a printer location associated with this printer. Use this field to add information that helps you and users locate this printer.

Gateway Load String

Lets you edit the gateway load string for this printer. You must restart the Printer Agent for the changes to take effect.

2.3.9 Job Processing Information

Displays information about processing jobs and about the last job that finished printing. This information is useful when troubleshooting.

2.3.10 Job History

The Job History includes the following fields:

Jobs Printed, Canceled, and Aborted Since

Displays statistics about the number of jobs that have been printed, canceled, and aborted in the last hour, in the last day, and since the Print Manager was started.

Jobs Printed Since refers to the number of jobs that have been printed since this value was reset to 0 (zero). This value was initialized to 0 when a Printer Agent was created. There should not be a need to reset this value to 0.

Average Job Size Since (KB)

Displays the size of the average print job (in kilobytes) that was processed since the indicated time. This information coupled with Maximum Job Size Since (KB) is useful in troubleshooting print problems as well as determining the throughput of your print system.

Maximum Job Size Since (KB)

Displays the size of the largest print job (in kilobytes) that was processed since the indicated time. This information coupled with Average Job Size Since (KB) is useful in troubleshooting print problems as well as determining the throughput of your print system.

2.3.11 Date Printer Agent Created

Displays the date and time this Printer Agent was created. You can use this information with the print job statistics to determine the printer’s overall use. For example, if the Printer Agent was created a long time ago and it has processed only a few print jobs, you might want to move the printer to a more useful location.

2.3.12 Module Information

The Print Manager works in conjunction with several other NLM™ programs. This information indicates the NLM programs that this Printer Agent can use. It also indicates the current status of those NLM programs and displays the information stored in the Print Manager database used to autoload the given NLM. You can use this information to double-check the IP address for a printer.

2.3.13 Printer Model and Manufacturer Information

The gateway populates the Print Manager’s database with the printer model and manufacturer information, if available, obtained by communicating with the printer. The first row of this table displays the manufacturer and model of the physical printer. Subsequent rows display which driver is to be downloaded for the specified client operating system. This information is used by the Print Manager for automatic driver download.

2.3.14 Security Level

Displays the security level associated with this Printer Agent. This is set in Novell iManager. For more information, see Setting Up a Secure Printing Environment in the iPrint Administration Guide.

2.3.15 Event Notification Service and Resource Management Service

These fields display the current provider of the indicated services. If there are no current providers, the field displays (none) in red.

2.3.16 Associated NDS Printer Objects

Displays a list of the NDS Printer objects associated with this Printer Agent. Access to these links is restricted to managers of this Print Manager object. If no NDS objects are associated with a printer, then the printer is a Public Access Printer.

Clicking a link displays the NDS attribute information for the object.

2.3.17 Printer Location

Displays the printer location, if one was entered. Use this field to add information that helps you and users locate this printer. To edit this field, click Configuration Options.

2.3.18 iPrint Information

Displays information regarding the implementation of iPrint.

Table 2-7 iPrint Information Fields

Information

Description

Enabled

Indicates if iPrint is enabled for this Printer Agent.

SSL Required

Indicates if SSL is required to print.

Printer URL

Displays the URL associated with this Printer Agent.

NOTE:When using iPrint, you should use a DNS name rather than an IP address for portability. For more information about using DNS names with iPrint, see Setting Up DNS for the Print Manager in the iPrint Administration Guide.