Chapter 7. Printing and Name Resolution
This chapter tackles two Samba topics: setting up printers for use with a Samba server and configuring Samba to use or become a Windows Internet Name Service (WINS) server. Samba allows client machines to send documents to printers connected to the Samba server. In addition, Samba can also assist you with printing Unix documents to a printer on a Windows machine. In the first part of this chapter, we will discuss how to get printers configured to work on either side.
In the second half of the chapter, we will introduce the Windows Internet Name Service, Microsoft’s implementation of a NetBIOS Name Server (NBNS). As mentioned in Chapter 1, an NBNS allows machines to perform name resolution on a NetBIOS network without having to rely on broadcasts. Instead, each machine knows exactly where the WINS server is and can query it for the IP addresses of other machines on the network.
Sending Print Jobs to Samba
A printer attached to the Samba server shows up in the list of shares offered in the Network Neighborhood. If the printer is registered on the client machine and the client has the correct printer driver installed, the client can effortlessly send print jobs to a printer attached to a Samba server. Figure 7.1 shows a Samba printer as it appears in the Network Neighborhood of a Windows client.
To administer printers with Samba, you should understand the basic process by which printing takes place on a network. Sending a print job to a printer ...
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