Printer / spooling control

Crittar

Member
TRU64 version 5.1a.

One for any of you Unix guru's out there:

Does anyone out there know of a way to allow ordinary users (non-super) the ability to do the equivalent of lpc topq?

I've been tasked with writing a 'print manager' which can be used at our various branches, we need to give the appropriate person there the ability to control the branch printer.

So far everything I've tried has been an absolute brick wall. Any ideas would be much appreciated.
 

dancar

Member
printer control

Have you tried to rename renumber the queued document within the unix print spool directory? Some are too quick to allow this.
Unix permits assigning users access to directories, services, and the ability to modify file attributes. Your system administrator may deligate that authority to an assigned user.
Alternatively, if printing via a networked printer, the print spooling may be controlled on the network side. Especially if printer ports are attached.
The lpc topq would be an admin function. Some versions of unix permit users to login as pseudo sysadmin. IE: DGUX, SCO, and some HPUX versions.


Crittar said:
TRU64 version 5.1a.

One for any of you Unix guru's out there:

Does anyone out there know of a way to allow ordinary users (non-super) the ability to do the equivalent of lpc topq?

I've been tasked with writing a 'print manager' which can be used at our various branches, we need to give the appropriate person there the ability to control the branch printer.

So far everything I've tried has been an absolute brick wall. Any ideas would be much appreciated.
 

Crittar

Member
dancar said:
Some versions of unix permit users to login as pseudo sysadmin. IE: DGUX, SCO, and some HPUX versions.

Unfortunately Tru64 isn't one of them, there would be no problem if it would allow me to do that.

This one is starting to look like a lost cause.
 

dancar

Member
HP/UX printer spooling control

Are you telling me that your Tru64 does not permit the "-su" login?:eek:


Crittar said:
Unfortunately Tru64 isn't one of them, there would be no problem if it would allow me to do that.

This one is starting to look like a lost cause.
 

dancar

Member
Tru64 printer spooling

Chris,
While I am not a Tru64 guru, I did find some links on the HP site that may/may not be of help. And perhaps you have done the same research.

http://h30097.www3.hp.com/docs/base_doc/DOCUMENTATION/V51B_HTML/SUPPDOCS/APXUSRGD/TITLE.HTM

And, support at HP doesn't really know either.:( Amazing.
Any thought to networked printer spoolers? You could allow admin via HP windows app that way. Or is MS a part of your environment?


dancar said:
Are you telling me that your Tru64 does not permit the "-su" login?:eek:
 

dancar

Member
Tru64 printer spooling

I stand corrected: "su -" permits super user/root login not "-su" as I incorrectly stated. Most unix variants permit this. Most also permit super user access by group 0. Too, some administrative options permit assignment of admin functions to group, users, directories.
Another resource:URL: http://btrcx1.cip.uni-bayreuth.de/cgi-bin/manpages/su/1

Hope this helps.
DC
 
And I know that "sudo" is allowed on Tru64

Really useful utility that allows specific users to execute specific commands as root even if they are not allowed to use "su -". You can even choose whether or not the user is required to re-key their own password to confirm its them!
 

Crittar

Member
Toby,

I can find no information on our system about sudo, if I type it in at the command line I'm told 'sudo: not found'.

Our version of tru64 does not allow the su command.

We are purely unix based using Progress 9.1d4 in chui.

Dan,

I will check out those two links, many thanks for the information.
 

dancar

Member
Tru64 printer spooling control

Chris,
Another thought. Some user accounts require the command search path to be included before it can be executed. Or add the search path into a user's ".profile".
I assume you are aware of this and it isn't part of the issue.
A "find" search of commands may not yield "true" results due to a users inability to access the directory where the command is located.
But, I bet you know this.
Just a thought.
DC
 

Crittar

Member
Nice thought Dan, but not the problem:

I can get to the lpc command but the 'topq' part of the command is restricted and, of course, that's the part I need to use.

It's starting to look as if this one is a lost cause.
 

Crittar

Member
Dan,

I've checked out the two links you specified - unfortunately neither of them apply in my situation but thank you for the attempt.
 

Crittar

Member
Toby,

Thanks for that - I will do some research on sudo and see if it will solve our problem. As an aside, I've never heard of 'top' could you let me have a little more info on that please (either here or via a direct email)?
 
top - Again a non-core component of some unices.

Basically a tool which allows you to see the processes on the system including the user Id they are running as and the amount of CPU they are currently using. Most of them also allow some sorting.

Its a great blunt instrument for reviewing troubled systems and finding processes that are using a LOT of cpu or memory at the moment you are watching.

Having just tried "top command unix" on Google I see that there is a new command "collect" on Tru64 which may cover most of this for you!
 
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