Creating a Printer for TCP/IP Printing

You can use Print Manager to create a TCP/IP printer in the same way that you create any printer to be used on a Windows NT network. You need the following information to create a TCP/IP printer:

• The IP identifier of the host where the printer is connected.

This can be the DNS name or the IP address. A direct-connect printer has its own IP identifier. For a printer connected to a UNIX computer, this is the computer's IP identifier.

• The printer name as it is identified on the host.

This is the name defined on the UNIX computer or the name defined by the manufacturer for the direct-connect printer.

The computer where you create the TCP/IP printer must have TCP/IP installed and configured with the TCP/IP Network Printing Support option, as described in Chapter 11, "Installing and Configuring Microsoft TCP/IP and SNMP."

To create a TCP/IP printer

1. From the Printer menu in Print Manager, choose Create Printer to display the Create Printer dialog box.

2. In the Printer Name box, type a name of up to 32 characters.

This name appears in the title bar of the printer window, and Windows NT users see this name when connecting to this printer if it is shared.

This name can be the same as the printer name as it is identified on the printer's UNIX host, but it does not have to be.

For a direct-connect printer, see the hardware documentation to find the name by which the network printer identifies the print queue.

3. In the Driver list, select the appropriate driver.

In addition, you can type text in the Description box to inform network users about the printer.

4. In the Print To box, select Other to display the Print Destinations dialog box.

5. In the Available Print Destinations list, select LPR Print Monitor, and then choose OK to display the Add LPR Compatible Printer dialog box.

6. In the Name Or Address Of Host Providing LPD box, type the DNS name or IP address of the host for the printer you are adding.

The name can be the DNS name or IP address of the direct-connect TCP/IP printer or of the UNIX computer to which the printer is connected. The DNS name can be the name specified for the host in the HOSTS file.

LPR stands for Line Printing utility; and LPD stands for Line Printing Daemon, which is how these elements are known on UNIX.

Note Windows NT 3.5 supports TCP/IP printing only for UNIX computers running the LPD service. It does not support UNIX computers running LPSCHED. If your UNIX computer is running LPSCHED and you want it to support Windows NT TCP/IP printing, you need to install a publicly available LPD program.

7. In the Name Of Printer On That Machine box, type the name of the printer as it is identified by the host, which is either the direct-connect printer itself or the UNIX computer.

For example, you might have a UNIX computer running the print server component (lpd) with which the TCP/IP printer you are creating will interact. If lpd recognizes a printer attached to the UNIX computer by the name Crisp, the name you should type in this box is Crisp.

For a direct-connect printer, this is whatever name was used to create the printer while running lpd.

8. When the Create Printer dialog box reappears, select the Share This Printer On The Network option if this definition is being created on a Windows NT computer that will serve as a print server for other users to access this printer.

9. By default, in the Share Name box, Printer Manager creates a shared resource name that is compatible with MS-DOS–based computers. You can edit this name, which users will see when browsing to find this printer on the network.
10. Optionally, in the Location box, you can type information about where this printer is located. Users can see this location information when they connect to the printer.

Users can see this location information when they connect to the printer.

11. Complete any other configuration information in the Create Printer dialog box, as described in Chapter 6 of the Windows NT System Guide, and then choose the OK button.

In Print Manager, the printer name you specified in the Create Printer dialog box appears in the title bar of the printer's window. For client computers configured with Microsoft Network Client version 2.0 for MS-DOS, users see only the shared name, not the printer name. Users who connect to this TCP/IP printer can select it and then print to it from applications like any other printer. Users and administrators can use Print Manager to secure and audit the use of the printer and change its properties.

Tip You can use the lpr connectivity utility at the command prompt to print a file to a host running an LPD server. You can also use the lpq diagnostic utility to obtain the status of a print queue on a host running the LPD server. For information, see the entries for lpr and lpq in Appendix A, "TCP/IP Utilities Reference."