UNIX Printer/LP Logging

[Alzhy]

There is a clamour to log print jobs... using the current LP system configs and tools, is this possible? rlpdaemon and lp only provides very basic "logging" i.e. what client machine is printing, lpstat queries, etc.

Any ideas? I am thinking of simply using a wrapper script.

[Steven E. Protter]

Shalom,

if this is for SOX compliance, a wrapper script will probably due. There are records you can tap, but better to accept the print job and make your own log.

Print spoolers are expensive, and not necessary for SOX compliance in my non-legal, non-binding, not-liable for anything opinion.

SEP

[TwoProc]

Not the answer you're looking for, but just a question...

Knowing that you're an Oracle shop...
Aren't the overwhelming majority of printouts that anyone would be worried about being run from your applications? And, would they not be keeping a log of those print job request from your request queues (concurrent managers) or similar?

If the commands are coming from outside of an application the ones that they are worried about (like a programmer running a report by hand instead of through the app) then using the audit feature of the trusted server can tell you every command anyone runs, so would that cover it too?

[Rick Garland]

I am amiss as to how much logging you need. I say this because the /var/spool/lp/log has all the info I can see being needed. Even for SOX compliance.

Has the user who initiated the print, the time/date, the job number, the printer, the file printed, etc.

The warning I would give is that when you stop/restart the scheduler the log file is overwritten and new entries are generated.

Keeping much info than this I see as becoming a storage nightmare.