Digital Products NETPrint and JETXPrint Printing at AIX Version 3.2.5


Contents

About this document
Digital Products, Inc. references
Hardware setup
Printing to NETPrint at AIX 3.2.5
Setting up AIX as a bootp server
Setting up as an AIX ARP server
Telnet configuration of the NETS/JETX box
Additional information

About this document

This document describes methods for setting up remote queues to print to printers attached to Digital Products NETPrint and JETXPrint print servers. This information is provided to assist you in the setup but the print servers are not part of the IBM product set and are not supported by AIX. These instructions do not provide an endorsement of the Digital Product print servers.

This document applies to AIX Version 3.2.5.

The NETPrint and JETXPrint print servers are manufactured by Digital Products, which provides support for these products on AIX. In most cases you will simply set up the NETPrint print server as a remote queue. If it has multiple ports, use the queue names PORT1, PORT2, and so on.

Digital Products offers both external boxes - X designation, and cards that fit in some Hewlett-Packard printers.

In some cases, you will need to set up AIX as a bootp server for the NETPrint. You can either make an entry into the /etc/bootptab file or use the arp -s command as described at the end of the document.


Digital Products, Inc. references

The following is information on how to find technical support assistance:

Hardware setup

The setup should look like this:
                                                          /
                                                         /
     +-------------+  connected   +-------------+       /
     | Client      |     via      | NETPort     |     +---------+
     | RISC System |--------------| Print       |-----| printer |
     | hostname: A |    TCPIP     | Server      |     |         |
     +-------------+              +-------------+     +---------+

Printing to NETPrint at AIX 3.2.5

Overview

Setting up printing for AIX 3.2.5 is a two-step process.

  1. Create a remote queue to print to the box.
  2. Set up a virtual printer to print to the remote queue.

Creating a remote queue at AIX 3.2.5

  1. Add an entry to the /etc/hosts file as follows:
         123.1.1.2         netp1
    

  2. Test the TCP/IP connection:
        ping netp1
    
    If this does not show a successful connection, fix the communication problems before continuing with adding a printer.

  3. Enter smit spooler. The short path is smit mkrque.
  4. Make the following selections:
    • Select Manage Remote Printer Subsystem.
    • Select Server Services.
    • Select Host Access for Printing.
    • Select Add a Remote Host.
  5. Fill in the screen:
                                   Add a Remote Queue
    
    Type or select values in entry fields.
    Press Enter AFTER making all desired changes.
    
                                                        [Entry Fields]
    * NAME of queue to add                           [netp1]
      ACTIVATE the queue?                             yes              
      Will this become the DEFAULT queue?             no              
      Queueing DISCIPLINE                             first come first serve 
      ACCOUNTING FILE pathname                       []
    * DESTINATION HOST for remote jobs               [netp1]
    * Pathname of the SHORT FORM FILTER for queue    [/usr/lpd/bsdshort]  
        status output
    * Pathname of the LONG FORM FILTER for queue     [/usr/lpd/bsdlong]  
        status output
    * Name of QUEUE on remote printer                [PORT1]
    * NAME of device to add                          [netpd]
    * BACKEND PROGRAM pathname                       [/usr/lpd/rembak]
    
    You should add the following information as indicated in the preceding discussion.
  6. Press Enter to add the queue.
  7. Test print to the queue. Enter:
        lptest 10 10 | qprt -Pnetp1
    
    You should be able to print but there is no virtual printer. You will add the virtual printer to control attributes next.

Creating a double queue at AIX 3.2.5

Overview

Although you should be able to print, it is often desirable to add a virtual printer to control output to the printer such as pitch, paper drawer, or landscape printing. This can be done by double queueing. Create a virtual printer that sends its output to the remote queue that you just created.

Setup

  1. Create a unique file in the /dev directory for a lock file. Enter:
        touch /dev/netp1
    

    Do not use /dev/null as prescribed in the Digital Products instructions. This blocks queues on multiple boxes if they are all set up this way.

  2. Enter mkvirprt.
  3. Choose 1 Printer or Plotter Attached to Host.
  4. Enter the device name or ! to exit. For example, (lp4) -> netp1.
    Use the file you created in /dev. Do not type /dev/.
  5. Choose the printer type, for example, IBM 4039.
  6. Header pages wanted? Enter n, a, or g.
  7. Trailer pages wanted? Enter n, a, or g.
  8. Enter print queue name or ! to bypass the configuration. For example, -> (ps) ps1.
  9. Do you want this to be the default queue? Enter y or n.
  10. Enter print queue name or ! to bypass the configuration. For example, -> (pcl) pcl1.
  11. Do you want this to be the default queue? Enter y or n.
  12. Press Enter to add the queue.
  13. Change the virtual printer to print to the remote queue. Complete the following steps:
  14. Test print to the queue. Enter:
         lptest 10 10 | qprt -Ppcl1
    
  15. Make any other changes, such as changing the pitch to 17, using the command lsvirprt as described earlier:
    To LIST attributes, enter AttributeName1 ... (* for all attributes)
    To CHANGE an attribute value, enter AttributeName=NewValue
    To FORMAT and EDIT an attribute value, enter AttributeName~v
    To EDIT the attribute file, enter ~v
    To terminate, press Enter:  p=17
    
    Name    Description                                          Value
    _p      Pitch (characters per inch)                          17
    

You should now have a queue to which you can print and make changes.


Setting up AIX as a bootp server

NOTE: This procedure has not been tested.

Overview

AIX can act as a bootp server to deliver an address to the NETPort or any other bootp client. When the NETPort is turned on, if it is set to get its address through bootp, it will send out a bootp request. This request contains a hardware address. If AIX has the hardware address in its /etc/bootptab table and is set up to respond to bootp requests, then it will send an IP address, IP gateway, and subnet mask to the hardware address that made the request. The /etc/bootptab file documents itself fairly well. Some clients also want a bootp download file. AIX can deliver the file, but the file must come from Digital Products. It is not known if this is required in this case.

Setup

  1. Edit /etc/bootptab and add the following entry:
     netp1:hn:ht=ether:ha=0800095e9e10:ip=5.1.1.5:
           sm=255.255.255.0:gw=5.1.1.152:
    

  2. Enable bootpd and tftp in the /etc/inetd.conf file by uncommenting the following lines. Remove the # sign at the beginning of each line.
      bootps  dgram   udp     wait    root    /etc/bootpd bootpd
      tftp    dgram   udp     wait    nobody  /etc/tftpd tftpd -n
    
  3. Refresh the inetd daemon. Enter:
      inetimp   
      refresh -s inetd
    
  4. Turn on and off the NETPort box.
  5. Print a test page to see if the IP address was loaded.
    If the address was not loaded, stop bootpd and rerun bootpd in debug mode. The most common problem is entering the wrong hardware address. The debug mode will show you the address being broadcast.
  6. ping the address.

    Setting up as an AIX ARP server

    AIX will also support ARP download of IP addresses. Use:
    1. arp -s (IP address of NETS\JETX) (LAN address of NETS\JETX)

      For example:

          arp -s  192.00.20.10   01-12-23-FE-A2-00
      
      NOTE: You must use dashes (-) to separate the numbers of the LAN address. In this example, the IP address 192.00.20.10 is the IP address we are assigning to the NETS\JETX unit.

    2. See the arp table with the command arp -a.
    3. Enter ping 192.00.00.10. At this time, there may be no reply.
    4. Reset the NETS/JETX by resetting the power.
    5. Enter ping 192.00.00.10. This time there should be a reply.

      Once you get a successful ping, the NETS/JETX has its IP address.


    Telnet configuration of the NETS/JETX box

    1. Go to the $ or # prompt in AIX and telnet to the NETS/JETX.
      • Enter tn netp1 where netp1 is the host name of the NETS/JETX box.
      • The login and password is sysadm.
    2. When the main menu appears, select option 1 to configure the remaining IP parameters (subnet mask and default gateway if applicable).
    3. Press Enter to get back to main menu.
    4. Choose option 3 to disable any protocols that you are not using.
    5. Go back to the main menu, and choose option 2, LPD Printers, to set the type of output. If you receive garbled output, increase the strobe to 5 or 10 microseconds.
    6. Save changes and reset the NETS/JETX. You should now be ready to proceed with the AIX setup steps.

    Additional information

    AIX support is only responsible for setting up the remote queue. Digital Products is responsible for making this work with their product.

    Some of the information needed was obtained from Digital Products Technical Support Bulletin TSB 2004, TSB 2011, and TSB 2002, obtained from the Web page listed in the References section.




    [ Doc Ref: 95185260317852     Publish Date: Mar. 01, 2000     4FAX Ref: 8370 ]