3.2 Setting Up iPrint

After installing the Open Enterprise Server components on your server (including iPrint), you need to complete the following tasks to start and configure iPrint:

3.2.1 Creating a Driver Store

You need only one Driver Store for your print system; however, depending on your network setup, you can add additional Driver Stores. A Driver Store must be created in order to create a Print Manager. See Creating Additional Driver Stores for more information about placing Driver Stores on your network.

  1. In iManager, click iPrint > Create Driver Store.

  2. Fill in the fields.

    Click the help for explanations about the fields.

  3. Click OK.

    After the Driver Store is created, the daemon is loaded on the server, and you can start uploading drivers.

3.2.2 Adding Printer Drivers

A printer driver or PostScript* Printer Description (PPD) file is a software entity that directly supports a physical printer, enabling it to carry out its functions.

Hardware vendors develop printer drivers and PPD files, which are specific to each printer. Most printers require different printer drivers for each operating system they interact with. You can view a list of printer drivers and PPD files you have uploaded to the Driver Store using iManager. You can add printer drivers and PPD files from diskettes, CDs, and the workstation operating system.

The Driver Store daemon must be running in order to add resources, and the iPrint Client must be installed on a Linux or Windows workstation. To install the client, go to http://server_IP_address/ipp and click the Install iPrint Client link. For more information on installing the client, see Section 4.0, Setting Up iPrint on Client Workstations. For a review of supported browsers and driver upload operations, see Section A.2, Supported Browsers with the iPrint Plug-in and Novell iManager.

To add printer resources to the Driver Store:

  1. In Novell iManager, click iPrint > Manage Driver Store, then browse to and select the Driver Store you want.

  2. Click Drivers, then select the client platform you want to work with.

  3. Do one of the following:

    • Click Add from File to add printer resources from a printer driver .inf file or PPD file.
    • Click Add from System to add drivers from the workstation you are running iManager from.

      The drivers installed on your workstation are made available for upload to the Driver Store. You can upload only drivers for the same platform as the workstation.

  4. Select the driver you want, then click OK.

  5. Click OK to save your changes.

You can also install driver files from a Linux console prompt using iprntcmd command. See Section 4.5, Using iprntcmd on Linux and Macintosh for more information.

3.2.3 Creating a Print Manager

You need to create at least one Print Manager for your print system; however, depending on your network setup, you can create additional Print Managers, for example, across a WAN link. The Print Manager must be running in order to create printers. See Creating Additional Print Managers for more information about placing print managers on your network.

IMPORTANT:The Print Manager creates a URL for each printer based on the print manager configuration. When you create the print manager, you can specify an IP Address or DNS name for the iPrint Service. You should always use a DNS name because using an IP address causes users to delete and reinstall printers if the IP address changes.

A Driver Store must exist before you can create a Print Manager. See Section 3.2.1, Creating a Driver Store for more information.

  1. In iManager, click iPrint > Create Print Manager.

  2. Fill in the fields.

    Click the help for explanations about the fields.

  3. Leave the Start Print Manager after Creation check box checked.

    If you do not do this, you must start the Print Manager by using Manage Print Manager > Manager Control in iManager or entering /etc/init.d./novell-ipsmd start at a command prompt.

  4. Click OK.

    After the Driver Store is created, the daemon is loaded on the server and you can start adding printer drivers. See Updating Printer Drivers for more information.

3.2.4 Creating a Printer

Before you can create a printer, you must first create a Print Manager on your server. See Section 3.2.3, Creating a Print Manager for more information.

  1. In iManager, click iPrint > Create Printer.

  2. Follow the prompts and fill in the fields.

    Click the help for explanations about the fields.

  3. Click Next, then select the drivers for this printer.

    If the printer drivers for this printer are not listed, you can still create the printer. After the printer is created, add the printer drivers to the Driver Store and then associate the drivers to the printer by clicking Manage Printer > Drivers.

  4. Click Next to create the printer.