Understanding NDPS Printer Agent Consolidation

When consolidating NDPS Printer Agents, be aware of the following points:

• Because the Server Consolidation Utility actually moves the NDPS Printer Agents, you should back up your source server before launching this operation. If you make a mistake in moving a Printer Agent, wait until it is fully functional in its new location before you move it back.
• The Server Consolidation Utility does not move Print Brokers or Print Managers. It moves NDPS Printer Agents to an existing NDPS Print Manager on another server within the same tree. After the move, the original Printer Agents are deleted from the source Print Manager.

  If you want to consolidate your NDPS Printer Agents to a new NDPS Print Manager in the same tree, you must first create the new Print Manager on the destination server, and then use the Server Consolidation Utility to drag-and-drop the Printer Agents to the new Print Manager.

• You cannot migrate NDPS Printer Agents to iPrint Print Managers. This utility supports moving NDPS Printer Agents to NDPS Print Managers, and only in NetWare-to-NetWare consolidation projects.
• Printer Agents can be moved; print queues cannot.
• Printer Agents that are moved still use the same Print Broker.
• Printer Agents can be moved only within the same tree. They cannot be moved between different trees.
• Print Managers must be operational during the consolidation.
• If necessary, after moving Printer Agents from the source to the destination server, unload the source Print Manager so the installed printers on the workstations can establish a connection to the destination Print Manager.

  HINT:  After unloading the source Print Manager, send a test print job to the printer that was moved. This ensures that communication with the destination Print Manager is established. After that communication has been established, the source Print Manager can be brought back up.

• Printer defaults such as copies and media that are set in iManager through the iPrint > Manage Printer > Configuration > Defaults (legacy) page are migrated with Printer Agents.
• Driver Profiles and Custom banners are migrated. If a Printer Agent uses a custom banner, the Server Consolidation Utility copies the custom banner to the new Print Manager. If a banner with the exact same content already exists on the destination Print Manager, the banner is not migrated and the Printer Agent is assigned the custom banner that already exists on the destination server.

  If there is no match for the custom banner, then the banner is copied from the source Print Manager using its same name. In the event that a banner with the same name but different options already exists on the destination Print Manager, the banner is copied from the source Print Manager and renamed as banner_name_0x.

  For example, if a custom banner with the name of Banner1 already exists on the destination Print Manager with different options, then the banner is copied to the destination and renamed Banner1_01.

  The same is true for driver profiles.

Using the Utility to Consolidate NDPS Printer Agents

Follow these steps to consolidate NDPS Printer Agents to an NDPS Print Manager within the same eDirectory tree.

1. If necessary, start the Server Consolidation and Migration Toolkit and select the following options to launch the Server Consolidation Utility:

   • NetWare or Open Enterprise Server (eDirectory)
   • Consolidate and Copy Data and Printing Between Servers

2. Create a new consolidation project by following the steps in Launch Server Consolidation Utility and Create a Project File.

3. Select the same tree for both the source and the destination tree.

   Migrating NDPS printers is supported only within the same eDirectory tree. See Select a Source and Destination Tree for more information.

4. In the Project Window's source pane, locate the PSM that has the Printer Agents (printers) you want to move.

5. In the destination pane, locate the PSM that is to receive the Printer Agents.

6. Drag-and-drop the individual Printer Agents from the source PSM to the destination PSM.

   Make sure the PSMs are running on both the source and destination servers before you attempt to drag-and-drop the associated Printer Agents. If you don't do this, you will get unpredictable results.

7. Click Project > Verify and Copy Data to verify the project and start the migration.

   The utility checks to ensure that it can communicate with the source Resource Management Service (RMS) and the destination Print Broker. It also verifies that the moves you want to make are valid.

   During the verification, the Dropped Printers dialog displays the source and destination locations for the printers you are moving in this consolidation project.

   • If the source and destination locations are correct, click Next.
   • If the source or destination location is incorrect, click Cancel and make the appropriate changes in the Project Window.

   At the end of the verification, the results dialog is displayed. To ensure a smooth migration, you should resolve all errors before proceeding.

8. When you are ready to commit the changes, run the consolidation.

   See Run the Consolidation for more information.

9. Upon completion, review both the success and error log files.

   The log file uses three possible states to identify the success of the migration fo each Printer Agent:

   • Success indicates that the Printer Agent was created on the destination server with all of its attributes and drivers.
   • Partial Success indicates the Printer Agent was created on the destination server but not all of its attributes and drivers were included, so you should review its configuration.
   • Failure indicates that the Printer Agent was not created on the destination server.