Administering Printers by Using the SMB Protocol

Often, a system that is running the Solaris OS provides file and print services to a variety of systems on a network, including Windows systems. In a network of where only Windows systems exist, the SMB protocol is commonly used to share printers. In the Solaris OS, server-side support for SMB is provided through Samba. and managed through the Service Management Facility (SMF). Client-side printing support is also available through Samba. To access a Windows hosted printer, setup of a local print queue is required. This requirement is due to differences in UNIX and Windows printing models.

The SMB service is controlled by the contents of the /etc/sfw/smb.conf file. An example of this file, /etc/sfw/smb.conf-example, is provided when you install the Solaris software on your system. To share printers by using the SMB protocol, you must first enable the service.

To start using this service, follow these steps:

• Create an /etc/sfw/smb.conf file.

• Set the workgroup string within the file to a value that is appropriate for your network.

  The WORKGROUP value is typically used for Windows installations. However, the MSHOME value is also sometimes used. Check your Windows client systems to determine the value to use.

For more information about sharing printers between the Solaris OS and the Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X operating environments, see the OpenSolaris printing FAQ at http://opensolaris.org/os/community/printing/faq/.