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This section describes how the SunSoft print client works. The SunSoft print client is now provided as part of the Solaris 2.6 release. It was available previously only as an unbundled product.
A system becomes a SunSoft print client when you install the SunSoft print client software and enable access to remote printers on the system. The SunSoft print client commands have the same names and produce the same output as the print commands of the previous Solaris releases.
The Solaris 2.6 SunSoft print client commands use a greater number of options to locate printer configuration information than in the previous Solaris operating environment and the client communicates directly with the print server.
The print command locates a printer and printer configuration information in the following sequence:
The client does not have a local print queue. The SunSoft print client sends its requests to the queue on the specified print server. The client writes the print request to a temporary spooling area only if the print server is not available or if an error occurs. This streamlined path to the server decreases the print client's use of resources, reduces the chance for printing problems, and improves performance.
This section describes the resources that the SunSoft print client commands use to locate printer names and printer configuration information.
The SunSoft print client commands can use a name service, which is a shared network resource, for storing printer configuration information for all printers on the network. The name service (either NIS or NIS+) simplifies the maintenance of printer configuration information. When you add a printer in the name service, all SunSoft print clients on the network can access it.
The SunSoft print client software locates printers by checking the following resources:
Users submit a print request from a SunSoft print client by using either the lp or lpr command. The user can specify a destination printer name or class in any of three styles:
The following list summarizes how the SunSoft print client process works:
You need to decide which systems will have local printers directly cabled to them and which systems will connect to printers over the network. The system that has the printer connected to it and makes the printer available to other systems is called a print server. The system that has its printing needs met by a print server is called a print client.
Setting up printing services is comprises of three basic tasks:
You can have the following client/server combinations, as illustrated in Figure 6-3:
Figure 6-3 Print client/server configurations.
This section describes how to set up a SunOS 5.x print client.
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