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Setting Up Printer Configurations

If you use configurations wisely, they can help you manage your system more effectively. You can also create configurations that will help workstation users meet their specific printing needs efficiently and conveniently.

Configurations are properties assigned to a NDPS Printer object that specify how the printer will handle print jobs. For example, configuration properties can specify the number of copies to print, event notification, what kind of media to use, job priority, banner instructions, and whether to hold or retain a job and for how long.

NDPS automatically assigns a default configuration to all NDPS Printer objects when they are created. However, administrators can modify that configuration or create new configurations for use by workstation users.

NDPS Printer objects can have multiple configurations. When a user installs a printer on his or her workstation, that user chooses one of those configurations. Each time a job with a particular configuration is submitted, the printer will handle the job according to the instructions contained in that configuration.

When a job is submitted, it inherits the properties of the installed printer's configuration. The configuration of the job can then be modified, if needed, by the job's owner or a printer Operator. When configurations are modified at the individual job level, additional configurable properties are available which are not included in the original configuration. For example, the job can be delayed, and advanced attributes can be viewed and modified.


Creating Configurations

Use the following procedure in NetWare Administrator to create a new configuration based on the current Default Configuration.

  1. Select the NDPS Printer object that you want to create a configuration for.

  2. Click the Configuration button.

    The Printer Configurations window in that dialog lists the Default Printer Configuration and any other configurations that have been created for this printer in NetWare Administrator.

  3. Click Create.

  4. Enter the name you want to assign to this configuration.

  5. Assign the configuration properties you want for print jobs.

    For specific information about these tabs, see Configuration Options.

    If you want to lock certain configuration properties so that workstation users cannot modify them, see Setting Configuration Locks.

  6. Click OK in the Printer Configuration dialog box.

  7. Click OK in the NDPS Printer Details dialog box.

    Your new configuration will not be saved until you have done this.


Configuration Options

The following sections describes the configuration options available in NDPS.


General Properties


Job Hold Properties


Event Notification Properties

By specifying event notification for a printer configuration, you allow job owners to receive notification of printer or job events that occur during the processing and printing of a job. Notification configured in this way is sent by pop-up message box only.

Print job notification allows you to designate the event types for which notification messages should be generated (warnings, errors, or reports). For more information, see Optimizing Event Notification.

In NetWare Administrator, administrators can use the Access Control feature to configure event notification for interested parties, that is, non-job-owners you wish to be notified of specific events. See Configuring Interested-Party Notification for more information. At the workstation, individual users can use the Novell Printer Manager to configure event notification pertaining to their own jobs only. See Configuring Job-Owner Notification for more information.


Modifying Configurations

To modify an existing configuration, complete the following procedure.

  1. At the main NDPS Printer Details window in NetWare Administrator, click the Configuration button.

  2. In Printer Manager, select the printer you want to work with and then select the Printer/Configuration option.

    The Printer Configurations window lists the default printer configuration and any other configurations that have been created for this printer in NetWare Administrator.

  3. Select the configuration you want to modify and click Modify.

  4. Assign the configuration properties you want for print jobs.

    For specific information about these tabs, see Configuration Options.

    If you want to lock certain configuration properties so that workstation users cannot modify them, see Setting Configuration Locks.

  5. Click OK in the Printer Configuration dialog box.

  6. Click OK in the NDPS Printer Details dialog box.

    Your changes will not be saved until you have done this.


Setting Configuration Locks

Properties of the Default Printer Configuration can be locked by the administrator to be nonconfigurable; that is, they cannot be modified or overridden by the user. Locked properties can be either of the following:

Once a default configuration property has been locked, it will be locked for all jobs submitted to that printer and for all new configurations created for that printer as well, whether that configuration has been created with NetWare Administrator or by a workstation user when creating a new configuration for an installed printer.

Any job submitted to an old configuration must conform to the new locked property or the job will be rejected.

Use the following procedure to lock one or more properties for a printer.

  1. In Novell iManager, click iPrint Management > Manage Printer.

  2. Browse to and select the printer you want to lock a property on.

  3. Click the Configuration tab.

  4. Check the check boxes of the properties you want to lock.

  5. Click OK.



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