This summary is a long time in coming (original post in July). I wanted to
wait until I had the server almost configured in case any questions came up
but since I can seem to get all the PC/Mac fires put out to get back to my
server I decided I better ship this out.
The main point of the original post was to ask which of the following
services I might want to replace with non-Sun versions on a new server.
tcp wrapper and logdaemon
mail hub (sendmail 8.8.8 running with an old V5 config YIKES!!)
popper for my Eudora clients
NIS server
Print server (all printers are standalone on network/ most printouts are
plain text)
DNS primary server
Bootp server for our Macs (does bootp come built-in?)
NFS server
Backup server (runs backups via perl scripts using dump, I'm thinking of
switching to Amanda, comments appreciated)
I'm trying to install the services in the order in which they are most
easily switched from the old server to the new server for testing. Tcp
wrapper and log daemon are installed but I'm still sitting on the print
services trying to get LPRng to work so that I have control over what the
text printouts from the server will look like to standalone printers on the
network.
I also asked a couple of questions about possibly voiding a warranty if I
installed a PCI SCSI card and memory. The answer was no even though my rep
told me I would. I put the memory in but hope to do the card today. I had
to wait and order a drive that would work with the new card, again I
ordered the drive a month ago or so but have never gotten back to this
server issue.
As usual I appreciate the replies from all of you!!
Lisa
Below are relevant comments I received regarding these various services
(responder names included):
**************************************************************
Charlie Mengler <charliem@anchorchips.com>
Go for sendmail V8.9.0!
I've recently did a couple of my systems & it wasn't that bad.
I'll be glad to consult when you get that far.
**************************************************************
Chris Marble <cmarble@orion.ac.hmc.edu>
>
> Here are the services on the current main server:
>
> tcp wrapper and logdaemon
> mail hub (sendmail 8.8.8 running with an old V5 config YIKES!!)
> popper for my Eudora clients
I've got a web page with pointers on sendmail and Qualcomm's qpopper.
http://www3.hmc.edu/docs/coolstuff
If you've got gcc you can have sendmail built, installed and configured in
30 minutes. Limiting relaying is easy too.
> NIS server
> Print server (all printers are standalone on network/ most printouts are
> plain text)
Can't suggest here. I use HP's JetAdmin software and let every machine
have its own queues.
> DNS primary server
bind 8.1.2 installled easily for us. I'm just using caching servers
everywhere.
> Bootp server for our Macs (does bootp come built-in?)
You'll just put the necessary entries in the bootptab file.
> NFS server
No problem there. Just list the exported directories in the share file.
> Backup server (runs backups via perl scripts using dump, I'm thinking of
> switching to Amanda, comments appreciated)
Amanda is just a front-end to ufsdump. If you're got reasonable scripts
to track tapes and everything's labelled then stick with what you've got.
**************************************************************
Claus Assmann <ca@informatik.uni-kiel.de>
Get sendmail 8.9, read the docs (esp. cf/README) and create a config
file from a .mc file. That's quite simple unless you have a very
strange setup. The .mc files are simple to read and to maintain.
**************************************************************
Dave McFerren <davem@china.solve.net>
1. go get the gcc compiler for you machine. There is a place that you can
get
the GNU software plus some. Try http://sunfreeware.com for a long list.
2. go get the latest qpopper from qualcom. They have just released the
latest
bug fixes in it and it can be found at
ftp://ftp.qualcomm.com/eudora/servers/unix/popper/qpopper2.52.tar.Z
There are other poppers (ipop3d and cucipop) but this one works fairly
well, and
I have had no problems with it.
3. Get and install the latest sendmail (8.9.0). It is VERY easy to
compile and
if you need help in the installation or creation of a sendmail.cf file,
just go
to the net and look for docs. I even think there is a website that will
generate the sendmail.cf file according to what you choose. Or if all else
fails
and you dont understand the nuances, ask the list for help, or email me.
4. Make sure you get and install the tcp wrappers that are available from
www.cert.org.
5. Go get bind 8.1.2 and install it. (for DNS) It is a little more robust
and
much more secure than the bind that you have with the installation. It
takes a
bit of getting used to, but it is definitely worth it.
6. For NFS, I would replace this with SAMBA if you are serving to just
windows
clients. First, the software for the windows is free, (as is samba) and
configuation is easier. It is more controllable, more secure, and is
faster (in
my opinion) than the nfs setup. If you are nfs'ing to other unixes, never
mind.
7. for your printer, I would get an old pc and put linux on it and let it be
your print server. Or get a jet direct card and plop it into your printer and
let the sun box be the print spool.
**************************************************************
"David L. Markowitz" <David.Markowitz@litronic.com>
> Here are the services on the current main server:
None of these should be difficult. Some specific comments:
> NIS server
NISkit is bundled. We use it.
> Bootp server for our Macs (does bootp come built-in?)
I think so.
> Backup server (runs backups via perl scripts using dump, I'm thinking of
> switching to Amanda, comments appreciated)
We use Networker (Solstice Backup). Give Amanda a try.
> Printing - Our other secondary Solaris server that is currently running
> 2.5.1 has the Sun Soft Print Client on it to get lpr compatability. Given
> my print setup do I want to attempt System V style printing? Also, my
> users may complain if lpr goes away. From what I've read in some cases
> (like trying to print troff or some such thing) it actually works better. I
> do have some profs who still do formatting of journal articles on Unix.
lpr is still in standard Solaris 2, although it just passes stuff to lp.
**************************************************************
"Eric D. Pancer" <eric@unique.outlook.net>
Informed me to be careful of the tabs when putting in the PCI SCSI card.
**************************************************************
"Glenn.Richards" <Glenn.Richards@yellowcorp.com>
I'll comment about the new sendmail, as I am most familiar with that: Take
it easy.
The sendmail.cf file is really very simple for most of the installations
that you might do. I haven't had to worry (much) about the "rules" within,
and that is the most confusing. If you do not expect this server to be a
mail hub, then the config is simple, and you just need to setup the entries
in the #local config# section, and leave most of the rest of it alone.
I did, however make a mod to the QueueLA and RefuseLA parameters (2x number
of processors for the first, and 2x processors +4 for the second). These
modify how sendmail reacts to an overloaded system. (queuing, and refusing
connections).
The documentation that comes with the distribution, and the Sendmail FAQ
that are available were very helpful.
**************************************************************
Jamie Lawrence <jal@ThirdAge.com>
>tcp wrapper and logdaemon
when installing TCP_Wrap, do it from the console. It is pretty
easy to lock out network services like telnet with a bad config
file.
>mail hub (sendmail 8.8.8 running with an old V5 config YIKES!!)
>popper for my Eudora clients
>NIS server
>Print server (all printers are standalone on network/ most printouts are
>plain text)
>DNS primary server
>Bootp server for our Macs (does bootp come built-in?)
>NFS server
>Backup server (runs backups via perl scripts using dump, I'm thinking of
>switching to Amanda, comments appreciated)
>
>
>Sendmail scares me the most since I have no experience with writing a
>config file and this machine serves as our primary mail hub. I have
>started slogging through the sendmail book but feel like I'll be there
>forever. Any tips on this are appeciated.
Use the m4 macros. They work, and are easier to deal with.
www.sendmail.org has a pretty good set of docs on this stuff.
**************************************************************
Jochen Bern <bern@TI.Uni-Trier.DE>
> Here are the services on the current main server:
> tcp wrapper
Make sure that you use the newest Version. If you have to install
other Networking Stuff (e.g., sendmail!), install the Wrappers
FIRST so that you'll have the libwrap.a handy to compile hosts.allow
Support into the other Tools whenever they support it.
TCP Wrappers can be compiled with and without "Language Extensions",
which makes a noticeably different Setup IMHO. Determine what you're
currently using, you might want to keep that identical.
> mail hub (sendmail 8.8.8 running with an old V5 config YIKES!!)
> Sendmail scares me the most since I have no experience with writing a
> config file and this machine serves as our primary mail hub. I have
> started slogging through the sendmail book but feel like I'll be there
> forever. Any tips on this are appeciated.
Any Chance that you could compare your current sendmail.cf against
whatever OS- or sendmail-Distrib-provided Version it was derived
from? If it didn't change much (very likely), I'ld wholeheartedly
recommend junking the Config and switching the Configuration to the
m4 Mechanism that came with sendmail 8.8. Note that you need to
install m4 first.
> NIS server
> I assume I'll want to keep NIS, does that come with the 2.6 package to
> install over NIS+?
There's a NIS Compatibility Mode for NIS+, but this doesn't implement
*everything* you might be used to from SunOS. (E.g., there's no '+'
Support in a Solaris passwd unless it's at one End, much less the
Functionality of adding only a Netgroup, changing Fields on the Fly
etc..)
> DNS primary server
Make sure to use BIND 8.1.2. No earlier 8.x because of a currently
exploited Security Hole, not the 4.x Line because of new Functionality
(notably stricter Checks on the Data and NOTIFYs sent between Name-
servers, rather than waiting for the TTL to run out). However, the
Config Language is TOTALLY different; Took me ~6h to switch four
Nameservers over last Night. If you do strict Filtering on the Net-
work, note that 8.x uses a local Port >1023 for recursive Requests
(rather than local Port 'domain' in 4.x) - that resulted in a 16h
Network Downtime after I switched the Servers over ... :-{
> NFS server
Solaris does NFS Version 3, but does V.2 with Clients that don't
know about V.3. I'm not definite on the Effects ...
> Backup server (runs backups via perl scripts using dump, I'm thinking of
> switching to Amanda, comments appreciated)
Note that Amanda makes a Disk Image of the Data to be backed up
before writing it to Tape, which uses A LOT of Disk Space ...
**************************************************************
John Berninger <jberninger@bbtnet.com>
I've got some good news and some possible indifferent, possibly bad
news for you. The good news is that it'll be easier than you think to do
the install you're talking about. Especially sendmail -- the build process
for sendmail 8.8.8 is fairly automated, and the distribution comes with the
m4 utility which can be used fairly ewasily to produce configuration files.
All of that schtuff is in the O'Reilly sendmail book (the bat book).
Most of the other stuff, as far as I'm aware, comes with the
Solaris 2.6 release or can be built very easily -- I just finished
installing a 2.6 box with a *bunch* of additional build products like perl,
gcc, Tcl/Tk, etc...
As far as backups go, if you're only backing up the local machine,
you'd probably be just as good off with a tar of the filesystems to tape.
The part that might scare you is the DNS server -- there's not
really a pretty automation tool for setting up a DNS server, you've got to
do it "the hard way" to be sure of not having really anooying little quirky
bugs. For that, get O'Reilly's _DNS and BIND_. It's a most useful and
excellent reference.
Also, I personally *love* the Solaris 2.6 install interface...
it's clean, to the point, and straightforward. Also, I'd recommend always
using the CDE interface when logged on to the system as opposed to the
OpenWindows interface -- tho that's just personal preference.
**************************************************************
Karl Vogel <vogelke@c17mis.region2.wpafb.af.mil>
L> My second question has to do with services that will need to be
L> installed. I realize some come built into the Solaris OS but I may want
L> to replace (like sendmail).
I'd recommend replacing both DNS and sendmail. I can send you my notes
from building both, if you like.
L> Here are the services on the current main server:
L> tcp wrapper and logdaemon
You'll have to rebuild the binary for tcpd, but that's no big deal.
L> mail hub (sendmail 8.8.8 running with an old V5 config YIKES!!)
L> popper for my Eudora clients
Good version of sendmail, but you definitely need a new config file.
Trust me, the M4 stuff that's included with the sendmail source makes it
easy to generate a working .cf file, unless you're doing something
really weird with your mail setup.
I've enclosed a sample M4 file for cs.bgsu.edu, along with the generated
output and a small script to drive M4 properly. Cut to fit.
If you're running a mailhub, consider replacing your local delivery
agent with "procmail". It's MUCH more robust and dependable than
/bin/mail for writing to mailboxes, and you can also set up system-wide
or user-specific mail filtering. We've been using it on production
systems here for years.
L> NIS server
L> NFS server
I'm sorry to hear that you're running NIS. You should probably go
to NIS+; you'll have to if you're planning on using something like a
"netgroups" file to handle NFS mounting permissions.
L> Print server (all printers are standalone on network/ most printouts are
L> plain text)
If your printers are PostScript, I'd stick with the publically-available
lpr/lpd stuff. That plus enscript has worked fine for us.
L> DNS primary server
Plan on going to BIND-8.1.2 sometime soon. For now, 4.9.7 works fine
with sendmail, but there are root exploits with BIND-4 floating around.
L> Backup server (runs backups via perl scripts using dump, I'm thinking of
L> switching to Amanda, comments appreciated)
We just use a shell-script here, along with some configuration files
which let me determine what level to use for dumps of a given filesystem
on a given day. I've heard that Amanda can be tricky to configure, but
once that's done, it's supposed to work like a champ.
**************************************************************
matti@fugue.jpl.nasa.gov (Matti Siltanen)
Hardware - installation of memory and pci cards...
the SUN engineers wont do anything too fancy,
basically, its the
same procedures as on a PC...
unplug, ground yourself, take components out of the
bag, inspect components, (dont touch connectors)
seat components.... power up.
**************************************************************
"Peter L. Wargo" <plw@ncgr.org>
>Here are the services on the current main server:
>
>tcp wrapper and logdaemon
Not too bad.
>mail hub (sendmail 8.8.8 running with an old V5 config YIKES!!)
See below.
>popper for my Eudora clients
Easy, should be in 2.6
>NIS server
Ditto.
>Print server (all printers are standalone on network/ most printouts are
>plain text)
Ditto.
>DNS primary server
Easy, copy the current configs, I can walk you through it.
>Bootp server for our Macs (does bootp come built-in?)
I'm not gonna touch that one. Sorry. :-(
>NFS server
Easy. /etc/dfs/dfstab
>Backup server (runs backups via perl scripts using dump, I'm thinking of
>switching to Amanda, comments appreciated)
Look at Solstice backup (Legato Networker) good for small networks. (We're in
the process of moving to Enterprise NetBackup (Veritas), but we have an
Enterprise 10000 and 100+ suns...)
>Sendmail scares me the most since I have no experience with writing a
>config file and this machine serves as our primary mail hub. I have
>started slogging through the sendmail book but feel like I'll be there
>forever. Any tips on this are appeciated.
Hint: go to www.sendmail.org. I have the 8.9 binary, having built it
myself for
anti-spam reasons, and I can point you to a m4-cf generator that takes the
owch
out. If you want to modify your v5 config, sendmail.org has links to
instructions on how.
If you want the 8.9 binary, let me know. It works (I assume) well. (I assume
because you are reading this. I also have it installed on my personal domain,
basenji.com, where it works with majordomo on some biiiiiig mailing lists.)
My suggestion is to do the 8.9 thing, set it up for no relaying. Much better
version of sendmail, IMHO.
>I assume I'll want to keep NIS, does that come with the 2.6 package to
>install over NIS+?
Not a problem. Like Prego (tm) "It's in there!"
>Printing - Our other secondary Solaris server that is currently running
>2.5.1 has the Sun Soft Print Client on it to get lpr compatability. Given
>my print setup do I want to attempt System V style printing? Also, my
>users may complain if lpr goes away. From what I've read in some cases
>(like trying to print troff or some such thing) it actually works better. I
>do have some profs who still do formatting of journal articles on Unix.
You could cheat.. If they're HP printers, use the HP jetadmin software.
If not, use admintool.
**************************************************************
Philip Plane <philip@ra.tepapa.govt.nz>
Get sendmail 8.9.x (whatever is the latest) and use that. The m4 based config
stuff takes a lot of the pain out of configuration and there is a useful
document that comes with the distribution that shows how it works.
> I assume I'll want to keep NIS, does that come with the 2.6 package to
> install over NIS+?
Don't know, I avoid NIS.
> Printing - Our other secondary Solaris server that is currently running
> 2.5.1 has the Sun Soft Print Client on it to get lpr compatability. Given
> my print setup do I want to attempt System V style printing? Also, my
> users may complain if lpr goes away. From what I've read in some cases
> (like trying to print troff or some such thing) it actually works better. I
> do have some profs who still do formatting of journal articles on Unix.
Solaris printing is much better in 2.6. You may find it works out of the box.
I'd use the latest available bind 8.x for DNS, ISC dhcp for bootp, both
from ISC
(www.isc.org).
Amanda is well worth the effort to set up if you're backing up multiple hosts
over the network. It's reliable, fast, cheap, and if you need to you can
actually get the data back. This is much better than some other backup systems
I've used.
**************************************************************
"Shaun Amy, CSIRO TIP/ATNF" <Shaun.Amy@tip.CSIRO.AU>
>tcp wrapper and logdaemon
You will have to build these.
>mail hub (sendmail 8.8.8 running with an old V5 config YIKES!!)
I would get "sendmail 8.9.0" which has some nice anti-spam measures
that can be easily configured. If you use the 'm4' based configuration
it should be fairly easy to get going, particularly if you have a
single domain.
>popper for my Eudora clients
You will have to build this.
>NIS server
We don't run NIS+ and just use the NIS stuff that comes with Solaris
so that shouldn't be an issue.
>Print server (all printers are standalone on network/ most printouts are
>plain text)
In Solaris 2.x the print system has changed significantly over that
in SunOS 4.x (basically moved to SysV rather than BSD). Solaris 2.6
is significantly better than earlier version.
>DNS primary server
Install patch 105755-06 to update the resolver libraries and
then get and install BIND 8.1.2 (http://www.isc.org). It uses
named.conf rather than named.boot so you need to edit the
startup in /etc/init.d/inetsvc.
>Bootp server for our Macs (does bootp come built-in?)
Get the ISC DHCP daemon which also does BOOTP.
>NFS server
Part of the OS.
>Backup server (runs backups via perl scripts using dump, I'm thinking of
>switching to Amanda, comments appreciated)
We use Solstice backup so I can't comment although dump is called "ufsdump"
in Solaris 2.x
I suspect you will need a C compiler (gcc?) and also will probably have
to rebuild a lot of stuff that is in your /usr/local on SunOS 4.x
>Sendmail scares me the most since I have no experience with writing a
>config file and this machine serves as our primary mail hub. I have
>started slogging through the sendmail book but feel like I'll be there
>forever. Any tips on this are appeciated.
See my comments above.
>Printing - Our other secondary Solaris server that is currently running
>2.5.1 has the Sun Soft Print Client on it to get lpr compatability. Given
>my print setup do I want to attempt System V style printing? Also, my
>users may complain if lpr goes away. From what I've read in some cases
>(like trying to print troff or some such thing) it actually works better. I
>do have some profs who still do formatting of journal articles on Unix.
Well the BSD style tools are still there but the backend print spooling
system is what has changed. You can certainly still send jobs using
lpr etc on a Solaris 2.x machine. Does that help?
**************************************************************
Thorsten.Biel@ks.sel.alcatel.de
> tcp wrapper and logdaemon
both work fine under Solaris.
> mail hub (sendmail 8.8.8 running with an old V5 config YIKES!!)
Hm, I'd be *very* careful with that (see below).
> popper for my Eudora clients
No problem. Use qpopper (ftp://ftp.qualcomm.com/eudora/servers/unix/), it
has good features and is relatively secure.
> NIS server
Well, we've had 1 NIS slave upgraded to 2.6, and we had to downgrade to
2.5.1 a week later. We've never found out why, but the NIS services and
somteimes the entire machine were very unstable. May have been a hardware
issue, but it ran a lot cleaner with 2.5.1.
So, I'd be careful on that one, and keep a copy of 2.5.1 HW 11/97 handy.
> Print server (all printers are standalone on network/ most printouts are
> plain text)
See below.
> DNS primary server
Should be no problem.
> Bootp server for our Macs (does bootp come built-in?)
No, bootp is not built in. You'll have to get either the Freeware version,
or the one that comes with the HP printing software (hpnp).
> NFS server
No problem, unless you are running an older NFS client on PCs (don't know
about Macs) - those sometimes can't handle file locking with the NFS that
comes with Solaris 2.5 and higher. Some of our PC servers have to be kept
running on Solaris 2.4 because of this.
> Backup server (runs backups via perl scripts using dump, I'm thinking of
> switching to Amanda, comments appreciated)
I'd say if your backup scripts work fine, stick with them until you have
plenty of time to switch to something else. Amanda is good, but a backup
system always takes some time to configure. You won't have that time when
you're just upgrading from SunOS to Solaris, and you *will* need those
backups.... (Uncle Murphy is always with you in those moments)
> Sendmail scares me the most since I have no experience with writing a
> config file and this machine serves as our primary mail hub. I have
> started slogging through the sendmail book but feel like I'll be there
> forever. Any tips on this are appeciated.
I've decided to dump sendmail totally, at least on our mail servers. The
continuous upgrades because of security flaws, the counterintuitive
configuration syntax, and the high performance demands of sendmail drove
me to look for a replacement.
I'm using Exim (http://www.exim.org) now, and I'm absolutely happy. It's
easy to configure, and it does exactly what I need (multidomains, address
rewriting, flexible mail routing). And it's a drop-in replacement for
sendmail, the options and behaviour are nearly identical.
Sendmail now runs only on our "dumb" clients, which send all mail to
the "intelligent" hubs.
> I assume I'll want to keep NIS, does that come with the 2.6 package to
> install over NIS+?
Yes, the regular NIS (not NIS+) services come with the OS. Not sure whether
you have to explicitly choose NIS at install time.
> Printing - Our other secondary Solaris server that is currently running
> 2.5.1 has the Sun Soft Print Client on it to get lpr compatability. Given
> my print setup do I want to attempt System V style printing? Also, my
> users may complain if lpr goes away. From what I've read in some cases
> (like trying to print troff or some such thing) it actually works better. I
> do have some profs who still do formatting of journal articles on Unix.
I do not believe you want to attempt SysV printing on your main print server,
it is a plain pain in the.... As with sendmail, we looked for a better
solution and found it in lprng (http://www.astart.com/lprng/LPRng.html).
Actually, we're using an old version of this called PLP, but that's only
because we've been running it for so long and are unwilling to upgrade
a working system.
Lprng behaves like regular BSD printing, with a few extra features. It will
save you a lot of hassle compared to SysV.
On the other hand, if you only have a handful of printers (we have over 1,000),
it might be easier to just take a deep breath and delve into SysV lp. If
you don't have to change the configuration too often, or you only have
one print server, it might be better in terms of future compatibility
to stick with what Sun gives us. Not that *I* would... :)
When you do upgrade (if you're still willing to, after all these negative
comments...:), be sure to keep that old Sparc10 handy and ready to replace
your new server anytime in case something doesn't work as expected. I'm
not saying it won't work, just as a precaution. Murphy's law is fully
applicable in situations like these.....
**************************************************************
Andrew Hoerter <ahoerter@netcom.com>
with regard to the services you mention:
> tcp wrapper and logdaemon
not much to this one... make sure you're on teh latest version and that you
enable extended syntax on the hosts.[allow,deny] files if you use that now.
(should be -DPROCESS_OPTIONS in the makefile or some such)
> mail hub (sendmail 8.8.8 running with an old V5 config YIKES!!)
ditch sendmail pronto and use qmail instead (www.qmail.org). qmail is:
a) more secure
b) much faster
c) better designed and written
d) growing in popularity
e) used by pretty much everyone with a high mail volume
basically, sendmail sucks and personally i'd never use it unless i had to.
qmail is very easy to configure, in my experience, and although sendmail may
be more configurable i can't think of anything i haven't been able to do
with qmail that i would have with sendmail.
> popper for my Eudora clients
if you use the qualcomm popper (qpopper), make _absolutely sure_ you are on
the latest version (1.26 as of this writing, i believe). there have been
some very serious security holes discovered in qpopper.
> DNS primary server
grab bind v8 from www.isc.org... more secure and a lot of features included
over the v4 that comes stock with solaris.
> Bootp server for our Macs (does bootp come built-in?)
yeah, it should. no reason to get any other than the sun version.
> Backup server (runs backups via perl scripts using dump, I'm thinking of
> switching to Amanda, comments appreciated)
i played with amanda in jan or feb of this year. at that time it still
seemed very new and rough. it seemed like if you didn't have one of the
supported tape drives, things were pretty hard on you (that was my
situation). i never did quite get it working, and mission requirements for
that site didn't specify backups of user data, so that was it...
things may have changed significantly since then, it's worth checking out
imho. cool concept for a backup program.
> Sendmail scares me the most since I have no experience with writing a
> config file and this machine serves as our primary mail hub. I have
> started slogging through the sendmail book but feel like I'll be there
> forever. Any tips on this are appeciated.
see my suggestion above concerning qmail. burn your sendmail book for heat
during the winter, if it's cold where you live. or use it for .357 target
practice. given the typical config procedures for sendmail, most people
find it hard to resell their copy due to goat blood staining the pages.
sendmail is horrid....
> I assume I'll want to keep NIS, does that come with the 2.6 package to
> install over NIS+?
dunno on this one.
> Printing - Our other secondary Solaris server that is currently running
> 2.5.1 has the Sun Soft Print Client on it to get lpr compatability. Given
> my print setup do I want to attempt System V style printing? Also, my
> users may complain if lpr goes away. From what I've read in some cases
> (like trying to print troff or some such thing) it actually works better. I
> do have some profs who still do formatting of journal articles on Unix.
the bsd lpr package is freely available on the net, don't know offhand what
might be the best way to hack that into your setup. with some work you
could even develop a perl/sh script that emulates lpr but calls lp instead,
which is something so logical i'm sure someone's done it already. i don't
do much work with the unix print spooler, but system v printing seems fairly
painless to set up.
******************************************************************
Lisa Weihl, System Administrator E-mail: lweihl@cs.bgsu.edu
Department of Computer Science Office: Hayes 225
Bowling Green State University Phone: (419) 372-0116
Bowling Green, Ohio 43403-0214 Fax: (419) 372-8061
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.2 : Fri Sep 28 2001 - 23:12:49 CDT