  The Linux Print2Win mini-HOWTO
  Marcelo Pereira da Silva, marcelo@pereira.com
  v1.1, Jan 2002

  This howto contains the general configuration to get linux printing to
  a Windows print share.
  ______________________________________________________________________

  Table of Contents


  1. Introdution

  2. Server (Windows)

  3. Client (Linux)

     3.1 Standard lpr

  4. (TT

  5. License

  6. Credits



  ______________________________________________________________________

  1.  Introdution

  As we want the print service running, let set up all the environment
  step by step, to avoid mistakes or bad configurations.

  First, set up the server, so when you have the server running, go to
  the clients and configure them.


  2.  Server (Windows)


  There is no special rules when configurating the server. Just install
  the printer driver in the Windows server, test it to certificate the
  printer is running properly, so share the printer.


  3.  Client (Linux)

  The setup of the client is almost the same when you are setting up the
  printcap to print linux to linux, with some changes.


  3.1.  Standard lpr


  The simplest way to do it is adding an entry in /etc/printcap.  As a
  quick example, the entry for a generic matricial printer would be:



  # EPSON LX300
    epson:\
        :sd=/var/spool/lpd/epson:\
        :mx#0:\
        :sh:\
        :if=/var/spool/lpd/epson/filter:\
        :lp=/dev/null:



  * Make sure you are using the correct filter, or the right generic
  one.

  Be sure you have created the directory /var/spool/lpd/epson, and the
  users you wish to use the printer have the right access to this.

  For example, let the Windows Print Server be called by meriadoc, it
  IP=192.168.1.49 and the printer (at Windows) are shared as epsonLX.

  So, you have to configure /var/spool/lpd/epson/.config like this:


       share='\\meriadoc\epsonLX'
       hostip=192.168.1.49



  Where:

    share='\\windows-print-server-name\print-share-name'

    hostip=windows-print-server-IP

  Once your /etc/printcap is configured, you have to enable the print
  share:


       [localhost]$ lpc up epson
       [localhost]$ lpc enable epson



  If everything is ok, you can send jobs to the queue:


       [localhost]$ lpr -Pepson <file>



  4.  /etc/printcap  TIPS

  I have used the entry below in the first example, but this is not a
  particularly good idea:


       ...
          :lp=/dev/null:\



  Because lpr does an `exclusive' open on the file you specify as lp=.
  It does this in order to prevent multiple processes from trying to
  print to the dame printer at the same time.

  The side effect of this is that in your case, eng and colour can't
  print at the same time, (usually more or less transparent since they
  probably print quickly and since they queue you probably don't notice)
  but any other process that tries to write to /dev/null will break!

  On a single user system, probably not a big problem. I have a system
  with over 50 printers. It would be a problem there.

  The solution is to create a dummy printer for each. Eg: touch
  /dev/eng.



       [localhost]$ touch /dev/eng
       [localhost]$ touch /dev/colour



  5.  License

  This document, Print2Win-HOWTO, is copyrighted (c) 2001-2002 by
  Marcelo Pereira da Silva.  Permission is granted to copy, distribute
  and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free
  Documentation License, Version 1.1 or any later version published by
  the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, with no
  Front-Cover Texts, and with no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license
  is available at http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html
  <http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html>.


  6.  Credits

  Thanks to all those who sent opinions about this document, to
  everybody who told me some printing tips, to Rick Bressler, and a
  special thanks to Harish Pillay, whose I don't know, but wrote the
  first version of this document.



