Share a Printer in NetWare 6

Setting up a print server in NetWare 6 is similar to NetWare 5, the difference being that NetWare 6 offers a new and easy browser-based management tool called
iManage.

By default iManage is installed during the NetWare Server installation. Being a browser-based tool, it can be opened using a browser on any machine on your network. iManage supports IE5.5 and Netscape 4.6,4.7 and 6.1. The default location for iManage is:

https://Server IP address:2200/eMFrame/iManage.html.

Enter your username, password and the NDS tree for which you want to create the printer. Now click on iPrint Management, which opens up another menu with more options. Now do the following:

Create a broker

The broker provides various services like Event Notification, Resource Management Services for your printer and each tree must have at least one broker.

Give your broker a name, and tick the services you want it to perform. If you want the broker to load automatically when the server starts you’ll need to add the following to your AUTOEXEC.NC/ F file:

load broker brokername.context

NDPS manager: This is used to control and manage your printer. A single NDPS manager can be made responsible for more than one printer on your network. To create it, click on Create Printer Service Manager. Give your manager a name and choose a volume where it will store its printer database. Again, if you want this manager to load automatically during startup, add the following line to your AUTOEXEC.NCF file:

load ndpsm Manager_Name_and_context

Create a printer

Click on create printer, give your printer a name, and give the name of the NDPS manager created in the previous step. In the Gateway field choose Novell LPR Gateway. If your printer comes with a third party gateway, read its manual to find out how to install it on your NetWare server. You’ll now have to give the IP address of your printer. Most printers these days can directly be hooked to the network, which means you can directly give its IP address. Pressing OK will open up the drivers window, which allows you to choose drivers for various operating systems for your printer.

These drivers will automatically be installed on the client machines when he tries to use that printer. If your printer model is not there in the list, choose none. You can add drivers for your specific printer later.

Use the printer

Clients on your network need to install the NetWare client on their machines to be able to use that printer. During the client installation remember to install NDPS also. Once that is done, users will be able to see the printer in their network neighborhood window under their NDS tree. As soon as a user clicks on the printer he will get a message asking him if he wants to set up the printer on his computer. Clicking yes will install the appropriate drivers on the user’s machines.

Adding additional drivers: To add additional drivers, log in using iManage and click on manage broker. Give the name of the broker and click OK. In the next screen click on Resource Management Service and then select the OS version for which you want to add drivers, and click Add.

For this feature to work you need to have the iPrint client installed on that machine. If you don’t install the drivers on the server, the clients can also provide the drivers themselves at the time of installing the printer on their machine.