lpstat hangs in HP-UX 11.00

[raja1981]

Hi,

I have a problem with printer, lpstat commands hangs every 5 days.what is the purpose of the qstatus file, what is the default size. please give the recommandations, whether i need to install any patches for hppi?

details:
# uname -a
HP-UX uotjet1 B.11.00 U 9000/800 588706547 unlimited-user license
# swlist |grep lp
PHCO_25110 1.0 lpspool subsystem cumulative patch
PHCO_29208 1.0 lpspool subsystem cumulative patch
==
-rw-r--r-- 1 lp lp 47564 May 25 16:34 qstatus
everytime lpstat hangs, even if we restart the spooler also.

Need your inputs.

[Bill Hassell]

lpstat will hang when trying to get a status from a remote printer. hppi only talks to network printers (ie, HP printers with JetDirect cards) whereas remote printers are located on some other server (NT, Linux, etc). Until the failing printer is removed, lpstat (especially -t) will always hang.

qstatus is part of the bookeeping used in the spooler. The 3 status files (pstatus, qstatus and outputq) are binary files managed by the lpsched program. The size of the files is only indicative of the number of printers you have and the current activity.

[raja1981]

Bill,
# find /var/spool/lp/request/ -type f -exec ls -lrt {} \;|egrep -v "remote|sending" | wc -l
24390
print queue are not getting cleared automatically, please let me know the reason.what is the default buffer size of the print queue, since at certain of time for 4 or 6 days all print queue fails.
====
# ls -l |egrep -i "pstatus|qstatus|outputq"
-rw-r--r-- 1 lp lp 5220036 Jun 23 11:18 outputq
-rw-r--r-- 1 lp lp 192780 Jun 23 11:18 pstatus
-rw-r--r-- 1 lp lp 47940 Jun 11 15:06 qstatus
====
Also if there any possibility to copy the entire printer configuration to other server for failure recovery plan. since it is a very critical server.

[raja1981]

Bill,

# ls -l |egrep -i "pstatus|qstatus|outputq"
-rw-r--r-- 1 lp lp 5220036 Jun 23 11:18 outputq
-rw-r--r-- 1 lp lp 192780 Jun 23 11:18 pstatus
-rw-r--r-- 1 lp lp 47940 Jun 11 15:06 qstatus

what is the buffer size of the printer queue, we have 255 printers configured, every 4 or 6days all print queue stops automatically.also i find the printer queue is not cleared automatically, any specific reason.
# find /var/spool/lp/request/ -type f -exec ls -lrt {} \;|egrep -v "remote|sending" | wc -l
24390

from the above o/p iam able to see the print queue on from june14th.

Also is there any possbility to copy the entire printer q configuration to other server.

[Aneesh Mohan]

Hi,

>>is there any possbility to copy the entire printer q configuration to other server.

Steps;-
-------


Save the configuration files in /var/sam/lp/

# /usr/sam/lbin/lpmgr -S -v -xsavedir=/var/sam/lp/

Copy in to the 2nd server

#rcp -r -p /var/sam/lp/lp.new/* 2ndserver:/var/sam/lp/

Restore the printer configuration in 2ndserver

#/usr/sam/lbin/lpmgr -R xsavedir=/var/sam/lp/


Regards,
Aneesh

[Bill Hassell]

Even with this obsolete OS version, you are way behind on patches:

PHCO_29208 (2003) or PHCO_31016 (2004)

I would also verify the spooling system with:

swverify PrinterMgmt

Fix everything except the man page stuff. Fixing the permission and ownership errors should get the spooler working again.

[raja1981]

permission everything is fine,if got the problem, immediately we need to clear the queue,nullify the file outputq file, restarting the spooler which works.

Its not getting cleared automatically y?
what is the buffer size of printer queue,how to find.

[Bill Hassell]

> Its not getting cleared automatically y?

Nothing is automatic for print problems in HP-UX. If it hangs, you'll have to clear it manually.

> what is the buffer size of printer queue,how to find.

There is no specific buffer size for each printer. The storage area is /var/spool/lp/request. To see how much space you have, use the command:

bdf /var/spool/lp/request

NOTE: This is normally part of /var. If it gets filled up for any reason, most everything on the computer will stop working. If you have large print jobs, you may need to create a separate mountpoint for the request directory.

[raja1981]

Thanks Bill,

Final question, even printed spooler request its not getting cleared.y?

If its not printed,its ok,i wont clear...

Am i correct, like windows print queue.i will clear once printed.

[OldSchool]

once the request is successfully processed, the request should no longer appear in the queue.