| 15 | | <title>What is PyKota ?</title> |
| 16 | | |
| 17 | | <para> |
| | 15 | <title>What is <application>PyKota</application> ?</title> |
| | 16 | |
| | 17 | <para> |
| | 18 | <application>PyKota</application> is a print quota and print accounting software solution |
| | 19 | for GNU/Linux and compatible print servers. |
| | 20 | </para> |
| | 21 | |
| | 22 | <para> |
| | 23 | PyKota currently supports the |
| | 24 | <ulink url="http://www.cups.org"><application>CUPS</application></ulink> |
| | 25 | <footnote><para>Common UNIX Printing System</para></footnote> |
| | 26 | printing subsystem, although older releases also supported |
| | 27 | <ulink url="http://lprng.sourceforge.net"><application>LPRng</application></ulink>. |
| | 28 | </para> |
| | 29 | |
| | 30 | <para> |
| | 31 | PyKota is distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License of the |
| | 32 | <ulink url="http://www.fsf.org">Free Software Foundation</ulink>. This means that |
| | 33 | you are allowed to use, modify or redistribute its code provided that you respect |
| | 34 | the terms of this license. |
| | 35 | </para> |
| | 36 | |
| | 37 | <para> |
| | 38 | We believe that despite being a bit rough around the edges sometimes, <application>PyKota</application> |
| | 39 | offers an unmatched flexibility and probably all you want to do with a print quota software is |
| | 40 | either already included, easily scriptable with a few lines of shell scripting, or planned |
| | 41 | for the next release. |
| | 42 | </para> |
| | 43 | |
| | 44 | <para> |
| | 45 | <application>PyKota</application> is however a somewhat complex piece of software, and installing |
| | 46 | it will mandate that you also install several dependencies beforehand, as you'll see in the |
| | 47 | next chapter. |
| | 48 | </para> |
| | 49 | |
| | 50 | <para> |
| | 51 | <application>PyKota</application> is made of the following components : |
| | 52 | <itemizedlist> |
| | 53 | <listitem> |
| | 54 | <para> |
| | 55 | Configuration files, which must be placed into the system user |
| | 56 | <literal>pykota</literal>'s home directory : |
| | 57 | <itemizedlist> |
| | 58 | <listitem> |
| | 59 | <para> |
| | 60 | <filename>pykotadmin.conf</filename> : this file contains sensitive database settings |
| | 61 | allowing the <application>PyKota</application> software to modify the |
| | 62 | print quota database. This file should be protected and should only be |
| | 63 | made readable by the administrators of <application>PyKota</application> |
| | 64 | and the system user the printing subsystem is running as. |
| | 65 | The possibility for a particular user to read this file determines if |
| | 66 | this user is a <application>PyKota</application> Administrator or not, |
| | 67 | so please give particular attention to this file's permissions. |
| | 68 | </para> |
| | 69 | </listitem> |
| | 70 | <listitem> |
| | 71 | <para> |
| | 72 | <filename>pykota.conf</filename> : this is the main configuration file for |
| | 73 | <application>PyKota</application>. It contains database settings which |
| | 74 | allow the <application>PyKota</application> software to access to the print |
| | 75 | quota database in readonly mode, as well as global and print queue specific |
| | 76 | configuration directives. With a properly configured <application>PyKota</application>, |
| | 77 | letting normal users read this file is safe |
| | 78 | excepted where you want to forbid users to read other users' print quota |
| | 79 | information. However if you're not confident about your database settings, |
| | 80 | it's better to not let normal users read this file. This way they can't even |
| | 81 | use any of the <application>PyKota</application> command line tools. |
| | 82 | </para> |
| | 83 | </listitem> |
| | 84 | </itemizedlist> |
| | 85 | </para> |
| | 86 | </listitem> |
| | 87 | <listitem> |
| | 88 | <para> |
| | 89 | Either a <application>PostgreSQL</application> database, or an <acronym>LDAP</acronym> |
| | 90 | <footnote><para>Lightweight Directory Access Protocol</para></footnote> |
| | 91 | <acronym>DIT</acronym> |
| | 92 | <footnote><para>Directory Information Tree</para></footnote> : |
| | 93 | <application>PyKota</application> can store its datas into any of these. Support |
| | 94 | for other database backends might be added in a future release. |
| | 95 | </para> |
| | 96 | </listitem> |
| | 97 | <listitem> |
| | 98 | <para> |
| | 99 | A generic <acronym>CUPS</acronym> backend wrapper, named <filename>cupspykota</filename> : |
| | 100 | this software captures all print jobs passing through the print queues it manages, |
| | 101 | and does the accounting and quota checking. It can reject print jobs in a number |
| | 102 | of circumstances like the user being over quota, and interact with the end user through the use of external |
| | 103 | commands or shell scripts. This software is written in such a manner than system |
| | 104 | administrators can plug their own scripts at the most strategic points of the |
| | 105 | printing process, through specific directives that you put in <application>PyKota</application>'s |
| | 106 | configuration files. |
| | 107 | </para> |
| | 108 | </listitem> |
| | 109 | <listitem> |
| | 110 | <para> |
| | 111 | Several command line tools to manage print quotas and accounting. All of these |
| | 112 | commands accept the <literal>--version</literal> and <literal>--help</literal> |
| | 113 | command line switches, and all have a manual page. Many manual pages are available |
| | 114 | in several native languages and contain usage examples. Some commands have many |
| | 115 | options and switches, so please read their help carefully. |
| | 116 | <itemizedlist> |
| | 117 | <listitem> |
| | 118 | <para> |
| | 119 | <filename>pkturnkey</filename> : to help you do the initial |
| | 120 | configuration and database initialization. This command almost transforms <application>PyKota</application> |
| | 121 | into a turn-key solution, hence the name. |
| | 122 | </para> |
| | 123 | </listitem> |
| | 124 | <listitem> |
| | 125 | <para> |
| | 126 | <filename>pkprinters</filename> : to manage printers and printers groups. |
| | 127 | </para> |
| | 128 | </listitem> |
| | 129 | <listitem> |
| | 130 | <para> |
| | 131 | <filename>edpykota</filename> : to manage users, users groups and quotas. |
| | 132 | </para> |
| | 133 | </listitem> |
| | 134 | <listitem> |
| | 135 | <para> |
| | 136 | <filename>pkbcodes</filename> : to manage billing codes. |
| | 137 | </para> |
| | 138 | </listitem> |
| | 139 | <listitem> |
| | 140 | <para> |
| | 141 | <filename>repykota</filename> : to do some basic print quota reporting. |
| | 142 | </para> |
| | 143 | </listitem> |
| | 144 | <listitem> |
| | 145 | <para> |
| | 146 | <filename>dumpykota</filename> : to dump the database's contents in a portable |
| | 147 | way. This command can be used to export <application>PyKota</application>'s |
| | 148 | datas to third party software, like print log analyzers or spreadsheets, and |
| | 149 | numerous output formats are supported. |
| | 150 | </para> |
| | 151 | </listitem> |
| | 152 | <listitem> |
| | 153 | <para> |
| | 154 | <filename>autopykota</filename> : to automate the creation of user accounts on |
| | 155 | first print. This command is not meant to be used from the command line, but |
| | 156 | instead from <filename>pykota.conf</filename>'s <literal>policy</literal> directive. |
| | 157 | </para> |
| | 158 | </listitem> |
| | 159 | <listitem> |
| | 160 | <para> |
| | 161 | <filename>pykosd</filename> : an X Window application to display their remaining credits or |
| | 162 | pages to end users. |
| | 163 | </para> |
| | 164 | </listitem> |
| | 165 | <listitem> |
| | 166 | <para> |
| | 167 | <filename>pykotme</filename> : to help end user obtain quotes before printing, this way |
| | 168 | they know in advance how much a print job will cost to them and can decide to route it to |
| | 169 | a less costly printer. |
| | 170 | </para> |
| | 171 | </listitem> |
| | 172 | <listitem> |
| | 173 | <para> |
| | 174 | <filename>pkbanner</filename> : to generate dynamic banner pages when printing. |
| | 175 | This command is |
| | 176 | not meant to be used from the command line, but |
| | 177 | instead from <filename>pykota.conf</filename>'s <literal>startingbanner</literal> |
| | 178 | and <literal>endingbanner</literal> directives. If you prefer you can use |
| | 179 | your own generator of dynamic banner pages or even static banner pages. |
| | 180 | </para> |
| | 181 | </listitem> |
| | 182 | <listitem> |
| | 183 | <para> |
| | 184 | <filename>warnpykota</filename> : to warn users over quota from time to time, for example |
| | 185 | from <filename>crontab</filename>. Users are warned while printing in any case, so |
| | 186 | this command is meant to be used as a periodic reminder. |
| | 187 | </para> |
| | 188 | </listitem> |
| | 189 | <listitem> |
| | 190 | <para> |
| | 191 | <filename>pkmail</filename> : to let users obtain their print quota situation by email. |
| | 192 | In the future other functionnalities will be added. |
| | 193 | This command is not meant to be used from the command line, but |
| | 194 | instead as a pipe from your mail server's <filename>/etc/aliases</filename> file. |
| | 195 | </para> |
| | 196 | </listitem> |
| | 197 | </itemizedlist> |
| | 198 | </para> |
| | 199 | </listitem> |
| | 200 | <listitem> |
| | 201 | <para> |
| | 202 | Several <acronym>CGI</acronym> scripts which constitute <application>PyKota</application>'s web interface. |
| | 203 | All these scripts behave differently when they are protected with an username and password |
| | 204 | compared to when they are not. See <filename>pykota/cgi-bin/README</filename> for |
| | 205 | details. |
| | 206 | <itemizedlist> |
| | 207 | <listitem> |
| | 208 | <para> |
| | 209 | <filename>printquota.cgi</filename> : to do basic print quota reports like repykota, |
| | 210 | and also to examine the printing history, which is not possible with repykota for now. |
| | 211 | </para> |
| | 212 | </listitem> |
| | 213 | <listitem> |
| | 214 | <para> |
| | 215 | <filename>dumpykota.cgi</filename> : identical to the <filename>dumpykota</filename> |
| | 216 | command line tool, but works over the web. |
| | 217 | </para> |
| | 218 | </listitem> |
| | 219 | <listitem> |
| | 220 | <para> |
| | 221 | <filename>pykotme.cgi</filename> : identical to the <filename>pykotme</filename> |
| | 222 | command line tool, but works over the web. |
| | 223 | </para> |
| | 224 | </listitem> |
| | 225 | </itemizedlist> |
| | 226 | </para> |
| | 227 | </listitem> |
| | 228 | <listitem> |
| | 229 | <para> |
| | 230 | Several helper scripts and contributed stuff to help manage particular configurations. |
| | 231 | Please visit the subdirectories of the <filename>pykota/</filename> directory, and |
| | 232 | you may find interesting things... |
| | 233 | </para> |
| | 234 | </listitem> |
| | 235 | </itemizedlist> |
