how to send unix print jobs to Window print spooler

[Tony Kuehn]

I have setup a remote printer on my HPUX 10.20 workstation. The printer is on the network and a Windows server has this printer setup and accepts print requests for this printer. I am able to use the "print queue" that I setup on my Unix workstation to print to this printer, however, when I send a print job I still see it in a lpstat -t on my workstation. Does this mean that my Unix workstation is doing the spooling/queuing??
I have heard that if a Unix server has a print queue setup for a remote printer (on any os) and is not able to reach that printer, the Unix server will waste a lot of CPU cycles continually trying to establish communication with the remote printer. Does anyone have any further information about this???
Please advise, thanks.

[Mark Greene_1]

however, when I send a print job I still see it in a lpstat -t on my workstation. Does this mean that my Unix workstation is doing the spooling/queuing??

yes, it most definitely is.

have heard that if a Unix server has a print queue setup for a remote printer (on any os) and is not able to reach that printer, the Unix server will waste a lot of CPU cycles continually trying to establish communication with the remote printer.

It will try to re-establish contact with the printer. The queueu will eventually be timed-out if contact is not made within a certain timeout. I don't know what that value is.

What type of printer is it? If its an HP with a jetdirect or a simlar laser printer then you shouldn't have to worry about timeouts unless you've a very spotty network.

HTH
mark

[Keith Bevan_1]

If you can sort the problem to ensure that jobs reach the unix remote print device then you wont have to worry about continuos CPU cycles.

One thing you may wish to bear in mind is that different print servers and different print server firmware can cause an inordinate amount of pain if not configured correctly and tested or checked for compatibility. Hence you may see print jobs held in the unix spool queue with lpstat -t or lpstat -o.

Always worth checking the /etc/hosts table and sam printers and spoolers first to ensure you have correct ip details (assuming you are using tcp/ip addr). Then check the print server is set correctly for tcp/ip and port status, gateway etc etc.

Loads more things to check and test but this is best place to check for issues.

Keith

[Steven E. Protter]

You can set up printers in Windows for Unix shares no problem.

The issue is getting print drivers for Unix(HP-UX). That world is kind of limited.

What you can do is buy a IP based print spooler like http://www.easyspooler.com and it will spool to any printer with an IP address. Though here is a significant amount of setup involved.

You can also buy Dazzle, from an HP affiliate if you have a boatload of cash.

sEP