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Building a Print Server
Linux can share printers to other Linux (and Unix) computers without using Samba; you can select the Unix Style print queue to create a Linux print server. However, Windows doesn’t speak Unix, and using Samba enables all Linux, Unix, and Windows computers to use the Linux print server.You must complete these steps before your Linux computer acts as a print server to your entire network:
Connect a printer to the Linux computer.
Configure the Linux print server to use the printer.
Configure a Linux client to print through the server.
The following sections describe how to complete each of these steps so that every computer on your private network can print through your Linux print server.
Connecting a printer to your Linux computer
Choose from two types of printers when you’re creating a print server:
Networked printers: Printers that can be connected directly to a LAN are networked printers. They have their own Ethernet (and, in the future, wireless) NIC. Networked printers are divided between those that can act as their own print server (also called a print spooler) and the ones that need to be connected to a print server.
Non-networked printers: Traditional printers have to be connected to a computer through a printer (parallel) or Universal Serial Bus (USB) port.
Non-networked printers outnumber networked printers because they cost less. Traditional printers are less flexible than networked printers because they must be connected to a computer; networked printers can be located anywhere that a network connection exists.This section describes how to use non-networked computers because they’re so common. The process is simple: You connect your printer to the Linux print server via the USB or parallel port. After you’re connected, the Linux computer can be configured to send print jobs to the printer.Using a parallel port requires no configuration of the Linux operating system. The USB connection, however, requires that Linux load a USB kernel module (essentially a driver, in Windows terminology). Loading the kernel module should be automatic. However, if you encounter problems, you can load the module manually:
Log in as root.
Open a terminal emulator window (refer to Chapter 4).
Enter this command:
modprobe printer
Linux loads the printer kernel module.
Configuring the Linux print server
After you connect a printer, you have to configure Linux to act as a print server. Red Hat provides an excellent print configuration utility. (Red Hat refers to its configuration systems as utilities.) Building a Linux print server requires you to configure the printer as a local device. However, every print server client — the computers on the LAN that send their print jobs to the print server — configure their print queues to use the Windows Printer type. The print server sees the printer directly through its USB or parallel port, but the print clients see the printer as a Samba (Windows) share on the server.Red Hat Linux can handle five printer types. The printer configuration druid allows you to configure each type. This list describes the printer types:
Local Printer: Use this type if your printer is connected directly to your computer. The print server is configured using this type because the printer is connected directly to it.
Unix Printer: Use this type if you’re creating a print server that only other Linux and Unix computers use. Windows computers can’t use Unix printers. Unix printer queues don’t require Samba in order to work.
Windows Printer: Use this type if you’re printing to a Windows print server. Samba makes the print server look like a Windows print server, and the clients on the private network use this setting.
Novell Printer: Use this type if you’re printing to a Novell print server.
JetDirect Printer: Use this type if you’re printing to a Hewlett-Packard (HP) JetDirect printer. The HP JetDirect interface is built into many HP and other printers. You can also purchase JetDirect print server devices that connect to non-networked, traditional printers. JetDirect print servers convert traditional printers into networked printers.
These steps describe how to configure an Epson Stylist printer because it’s a good, inexpensive inkjet printer. The configuration utility can configure many different types of printers, so select the model that’s appropriate for you:
Log in to your Red Hat Linux print server.
Click the GNOME Menu button, choose System SettingsPrinting, and enter the root password if you’re prompted to do so. Click the New button and the Add a New Print Queue window opens.
Click the Forward button and you’re prompted to enter a queue name and an optional description.
Figure 16-4 shows the Add a New Print Queue window.
Figure 16-4: The Queue Name window.
Enter in the Name text box the name you want to refer to the printer (the default is printer). You can enter any name you want for the queue name. For example, Epson777 clearly indicates that you’re accessing an Epson Stylus 777 printer.
Click the Forward button and the Queue Type dialog box opens.
Linux should detect the printer attached to either the USB or parallel port.Tip You can configure the printer as a nonlocal device if you have a network printer. For example, if you have a high-end HP LaserJet with a JetDirect interface, select Networked Jet-Direct rather than Locally-Connected.Linux parallel (printer) ports correspond to Windows printer ports. Linux lp0 is equivalent to LPT1 and /dev/lp1 is equivalent to LPT2.
Click the local printer device (typically, it should be listed as /dev/lp0 or /dev/lp1) and click the Forward button.
The Printer model window pops up.
Click the pull-down menu and select your printer’s manufacturer. For example, select Epson. The manufacturer’s model list appears. Scroll down the model list and select your printer model.
Some printers come with more than one driver. Select the driver that best suits your printer. Use trial-and-error if you don’t know which driver is best.
Click the Forward button.
Click the Finish button in the new window and the Question dialog box opens. Click the Yes button and you return to the Printer Configuration window.
Click the Apply button and the Linux print daemon, lpd, restarts and makes the new configuration active.
The configuration utility sends a test page to the printer. If the page prints okay, click the Yes button in the Information dialog box.
Close the configuration utility by choosing ActionQuit.
The printer configuration druid allows you to go back and edit or delete a printer configuration.
Configuring a Linux client to print through the print server
Samba makes sharing a printer to Linux, Unix, and Windows computers easy because all those types can speak the Session Message Block (SMB) protocol; SMB is a Windows way of spreading the wealth (yeah, right).Samba comes configured to automatically export the default Linux printer. Half the battle is won! You don’t have to configure the server; you only have to configure each client.Configure a Linux client to print through the Linux print server by repeating the steps in the preceding section. The steps are the same except that you select the Windows queue type rather than Local. You select the Windows type because the client is sending its jobs to the server via Samba; Samba makes the server act like it’s a Windows queue type.You can print a PostScript test page to test your printer configuration by choosing TestUS Letter PostScript Test Page in the Printer Configuration utility.
