1 | PyKota's FAQ : |
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2 | |
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3 | # $Id$ |
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4 | |
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5 | * How can I diagnose the problem when something goes wrong ? |
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6 | |
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7 | Put "LogLevel debug2" in cupsd.conf (usually in /etc/cups/). |
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8 | Then put "logger: stderr", "debug: yes" and |
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9 | "crashrecipient: youremailaddress" in /etc/pykota/pykota.conf. |
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10 | Finally restart CUPS. |
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11 | CUPS' error_log file will now contain many informations which |
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12 | will help diagnose your problem. You will receive failure |
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13 | notices by email, and you can send all this to us for |
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14 | diagnostic. Please send complete files and not some sparse |
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15 | parts of them. Also please send the log files as gzipped |
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16 | (or bzip2-ed) attachments. |
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17 | |
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18 | For LPRng, better to put "logger: system" in pykota.conf so |
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19 | that all debug messages for PyKota will go to syslog's |
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20 | destination for the LPR syslog facility. |
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21 | |
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22 | IMPORTANT : please don't send log files to the mailing list |
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23 | unless they are very small of unless someone asked for this. |
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24 | |
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25 | * Some commands tell me I'm not allowed to use them, why ? |
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26 | |
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27 | Some commands refuse to work when launched as a normal user, |
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28 | and output a message saying "You're not allowed to use this |
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29 | command." This is because their use is reserved to PyKota |
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30 | Administrators. A PyKota Administrator is any user allowed |
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31 | to read the pykotadmin.conf file. Beware : any user who can |
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32 | read this file can connect to PyKota's database in read+write |
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33 | mode, so take care of not opening a breach when modifying |
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34 | the permissions on this file. |
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35 | |
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36 | * What permissions should I use on PyKota's configuration files ? |
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37 | |
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38 | It's probably best to do this : |
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39 | |
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40 | $ chown pykota.pykota pykota.conf pykotadmin.conf |
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41 | $ chmod 640 pykota.conf |
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42 | $ chmod 600 pykotadmin.conf |
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43 | |
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44 | Then the user 'pykota' will be the only PyKota Administrator |
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45 | (with user 'root' of course), but all members of the 'pykota' |
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46 | group will be allowed to use unrestricted PyKota commands |
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47 | like repykota. |
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48 | |
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49 | * How can I limit my users to N pages per day (month/year) ? |
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50 | |
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51 | The easiest way to do this is to create their print quota |
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52 | entries using something like : |
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53 | |
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54 | $ edpykota --add -S 30 -H 30 user1 user2 user3 ... |
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55 | |
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56 | this would limit users to 30 pages on each printer. |
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57 | |
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58 | Then in a crontab launched every day (month/year) you could |
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59 | do : |
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60 | |
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61 | 00 23 * * * /usr/bin/edpykota --reset |
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62 | |
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63 | this would reset every user's page counter to 0 on each printer |
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64 | at 23h00 every day. |
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65 | |
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66 | * How can I tell PyKota to allow some users to print without limitation ? |
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67 | |
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68 | Just create these users' print quota entries this way : |
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69 | |
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70 | $ edpykota --add --limitby quota --noquota user1 user2 ... |
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71 | |
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72 | This would effectively put these users in "no limit" mode on |
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73 | each printer. If you want to do this only on some printers, just |
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74 | use the --printer command line argument as well. See |
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75 | edpykota's documentation for details. |
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76 | |
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77 | Another way to do this when you limit your users by balance, is |
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78 | to set an overcharging factor of zero for every user you want to |
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79 | print with no limitation : |
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80 | |
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81 | $ edpykota --add --limitby balance --overcharge 0 user1 user2 ... |
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82 | |
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83 | * Nothing prints when my printer is in PowerSave mode, what |
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84 | can I do ? |
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85 | |
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86 | This happens if you use hardware accounting with SNMP, because |
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87 | some (all ?) printers don't say they are idle when they are |
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88 | in PowerSave mode. |
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89 | For now your best bet is to disable PowerSave mode in |
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90 | your printer. In the future, PyKota will modified to |
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91 | handle such problems. |
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92 | |
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93 | * I've installed all correctly, I've created users |
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94 | and printers, but when printing nothing works. |
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95 | What is the problem ? |
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96 | The most probable cause for this is that you didn't |
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97 | adapt /etc/pykota/pykota.conf to your own configuration. |
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98 | The file installed by default is just an example, you |
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99 | have to modify it. See the rest of this document to |
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100 | learn how to really diagnose what went wrong. |
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101 | |
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102 | * I've downloaded PyKota from Subversion using a Windows based Subversion |
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103 | client, and now nothing works at all. What happened ? |
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104 | |
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105 | Some (all?) Windows based CVS or Subversion tools translate *nix line |
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106 | endings (character Line Feed, ASCII code 10) into Windows line endings |
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107 | (character Carriage Return, ASCII code 13, followed with |
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108 | character Line Feed). This breaks the software which has |
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109 | to run under *nix compatible systems. Set correct options |
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110 | in your Subversion software so that it doesn't do any translation, |
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111 | or use an Unix-like version of Subversion, download again and |
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112 | reinstall the software. It should work. |
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113 | |
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114 | * Why doesn't CUPS under Debian Woody automatically |
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115 | detects PyKota managed devices ? |
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116 | |
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117 | The CUPS version in Debian Woody is 1.1.14 which is a bit |
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118 | too old. To use PyKota with this version, just install |
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119 | your printers as usual in CUPS web interface, and ensure |
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120 | they work fine, then save your changes, and modify |
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121 | /etc/cups/printers.conf manually as explained in |
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122 | PyKota's toplevel README file. Finally restart CUPS, |
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123 | and your printers should be managed by PyKota. |
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124 | Another solution is to install a newer CUPS release. |
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125 | |
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126 | * Is print accounting ever exact ? |
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127 | |
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128 | No. Print accounting is **never** exact, because it depends |
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129 | on external factors like the presence of paper in the printer, |
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130 | the quantity of remaining ink in the print cartridge, paper |
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131 | jams, etc... All these things are very difficult to account |
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132 | for correctly, and no print accounting package deals with |
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133 | these artefacts correctly in all situations. |
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134 | We are however confident that PyKota is one of the more |
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135 | exact print accounting software, because by default it |
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136 | asks the printers for how many pages they have really printed. |
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137 | |
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138 | * Can PyKota account for ink usage ? |
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139 | |
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140 | No. Actually PyKota doesn't account for ink usage, but this |
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141 | may come in a future release. PyKota only accounts for pages |
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142 | printed and/or money spent. If ink accounting is a necessity |
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143 | for you, PrintBill is recommended instead of PyKota. PrintBill |
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144 | allows you to bill differently per color, and to bill depending |
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145 | on the percent of the ink covered part of the pages. |
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146 | |
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147 | * What is a 'dumb printer' ? |
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148 | |
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149 | In PyKota, the term 'dumb printer' defines a printer which doesn't |
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150 | natively understand PostScript, PCL5 (up to), PCLXL (aka PCL6), PDF |
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151 | or ESC/P2 and doesn't have an internal page counter, and for which |
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152 | you don't know how to compute a job's size in number of pages by |
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153 | analyzing its content. |
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154 | Any printer which is not a 'dumb printer' according to the above |
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155 | definition is supported by PyKota. |
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156 | |
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157 | * How can I make PyKota work with my non-postscript printer under |
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158 | CUPS ? |
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159 | |
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160 | From version 1.16alpha7, PyKota includes a CUPS backend which |
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161 | allows you to use any type of printer and any driver, provided |
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162 | your printer is not a 'dumb printer' (see above). |
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163 | |
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164 | * How can I use my 'dumb printer' with CUPS and PyKota. |
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165 | |
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166 | You have to use a software accounter directive, and |
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167 | create a script which understands your printer's |
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168 | Page Description Language. |
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169 | |
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170 | PyKota natively understands DSC compliant PostScript, |
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171 | PCL3, PCL4, PCL5, PCLXL (aka PCL6), PDF and ESC/P2. Support |
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172 | for Binary PostScript is done through GhostScript. More PDLs |
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173 | will be added in the future. |
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174 | However you can always plug your own PDL analyzer in PyKota. |
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175 | |
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176 | * I've got a great number of users. How can I automatically |
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177 | set an initial print quota for them on first print ? |
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178 | |
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179 | You have to define an external policy for unknown users, |
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180 | to automatically add them to the Print Quota database. |
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181 | The sample configuration file contains examples to do this. |
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182 | |
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183 | * What does the --prototype command line option to edpykota do ? |
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184 | |
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185 | This option allows you to use an existing user or group |
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186 | as a template when creating or modifying other accounts. |
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187 | |
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188 | * How can I share print quota between some printers only (not all) ? |
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189 | |
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190 | To do this you have to put the printers into a printers group, and |
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191 | set quota on the printer group, instead of (or in addition to) |
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192 | the printers themselves. |
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193 | |
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194 | * What is a printer group ? |
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195 | |
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196 | A printer group is exactly like a normal printer, but is |
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197 | unknown by the printing system. You can use printer groups |
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198 | to share print quota between printers. |
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199 | |
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200 | * How can I create a printer group ? |
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201 | |
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202 | Just use pkprinters, like for normal printers, then create |
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203 | quota entries for users or users groups on it using the |
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204 | edpykota command |
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205 | |
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206 | * How can I put a printer into a printer group ? |
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207 | |
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208 | Use the pkprinters command to do this. |
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209 | |
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210 | $ pkprinters --help |
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211 | |
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212 | Will print the complete help and tell you how to do. |
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213 | |
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214 | * How quota checking and update is done with printer groups ? |
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215 | |
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216 | Print accounting and quota checking is done for a printer and |
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217 | all the printers groups it belongs to, recursively. |
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218 | If quota is reached on ANY of these printers for the current user, |
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219 | printing is denied. |
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220 | |
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221 | * Is this feature robust ? |
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222 | |
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223 | It should be. However, beware of integrity problems. LDAP has no |
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224 | sense of database integrity, and PostgreSQL constraints have not |
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225 | yet been fully implemented. The code actually *tries* to forbid |
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226 | circular printers groups, but if you create printer groups with |
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227 | another tool (e.g. psql or gq), then you are mostly on you |
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228 | own to not create infinite loops. |
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229 | |
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230 | * How is computed the job's price ? |
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231 | |
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232 | A job's price is computed with this formula : |
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233 | |
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234 | SUM((NbPages * PricePerPage) + PricePerJob) |
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235 | |
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236 | For current printer and all the printers groups it is |
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237 | a member of, if any, recursively. |
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238 | This may be difficult to grasp, but offers unprecedented |
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239 | flexibility. |
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240 | |
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241 | * My question isn't answered there, can you help ? |
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242 | |
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243 | Sure. Ask your question to the mailing list. If this is a |
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244 | frequently asked question, or if your problem is on the contrary |
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245 | very specific, it will probably be added to this document. |
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246 | |
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247 | You can also ask questions by IRC : |
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248 | |
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249 | /server irc.freenode.net |
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250 | /join #pykota |
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251 | |
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252 | Send any new questions to Jerome Alet - <alet@librelogiciel.com> |
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