RE: Can't connect to shared printers on a Clustered Print Server.

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anonymous_at_discussions.microsoft.com
Date: 03/03/04 

Date: Wed, 3 Mar 2004 05:12:39 -0800

Thanks Jeff,

This however was the paper I used to setup my Print
Cluster. Drivers are there and shared. I can fail the
nodes over to the other node without problem. It's just
that when you try to print connect to the shared printer,
it says it lost it's connection or the name is incorrect.
Any other ideas?

>-----Original Message-----
>Hi Ernie,
>
>Thanks for posting!
>
>My name is Jeff and I understand your issue to be:
>Failed to setup Print on a clustered server.
>
>If I have misunderstood your issue please let me know.
>
>Based on your description, it seems you did not setup
the Printer correctly
>on the cluster.
>
>Basically, the cluster server can only cluster the
printer spooler.
>
>Here is an article with very detailed steps about how to
do it in Windows
>Server 2003:
>
>278455 How to Set Up a Clustered Print Server
>http://support.microsoft.com/?id=278455
>
>For your convenience, I have included the main part
below:
>
>=====================================================
>SUMMARY
>=======
>
> This article describes how to set up a clustered print
> server.
>
>MORE INFORMATION
>================
>
> You can use Windows Clustering to host print server
> functionality. The configuration steps
in Microsoft Windows Server 2003
>differ
> from those in Microsoft Windows NT
Server 4.0, Enterprise Edition,
>Microsoft
> Windows 2000 Advanced Server, and
Microsoft Windows 2000 Datacenter
>Server. To
> set up a clustered print server, you
need to configure only the Spooler
> resource in Cluster Administrator and
then connect to the virtual
>server to
> configure the ports and print queues.
This is an improvement over
>previous
> versions of Windows Clustering in which
you had to repeat the
>configuration
> steps on each node in the cluster.
>
>How to Configure the Spooler Resource for the Cluster
>-----------------------------------------------------
>
> The first step in setting up a clustered printer server
is to
> create a Spooler resource for the
service on a clustered server. The
> appropriate resources need to be made
available to the spooler service.
>To do
> this, create a Spooler resource in
Cluster Administrator:
>
>
>1. To open Cluster Administrator, click "Start",
click "Run", type
> "cluadmin" (without the quotation marks), and then
click "OK".
>
>2. Right-click in the left pane, and then
click "Configure Application".
>
>3. At the Welcome screen, click "Next", and then
click "Next" again to
> create a new virtual server.
>
>4. Click "Use an existing Resource Group", and then
click an existing
> group that has a Disk resource in which you want to
store the spooler
> and printer drivers. Click "Next".
>
>5. For the resource group name, provide a name that
accurately
> represents the group, such as "SPOOLER." Note: This
name is for
> administrative purposes only in Cluster Administrator.
>
>6. At the Virtual Server Access Information screen:
>
>
> a. Under Network Name, enter a NetBIOS name
to which
>
clients will connect. This is the NetBIOS virtual server
name that
>is used by
>
clients to access the printers:
>
>
> \\<VirtualServer>\Printer
> Note: Microsoft recommends adhering to
the 8.3-naming standard to
>
assure compatibility with earlier versions of the client.
>
> b. Enter the IP address that clients will
use to connect
>
to this virtual print server. If the nodes of the cluster
have
>Print Services
>
for Unix installed and running, clients can connect using
line
>printer remote
>
(LPR) to this IP address.
>
>7. Click "Next".
>
>8. At the Advanced Properties screen, you can make
modifications to the
> resources that are about to be created, and then
click "Next".
>
>9. At the Create a Resource for My Application screen,
click "Next".
>
>10. Click "Print Spooler", and then click "Next".
>
>11. Give the Spooler resource a name. Note: This name is
for
> administrative purposes only in Cluster
Administrator.
>
>12. Set the dependencies for the Spooler resource:
>
>
> a. Click "Advanced Properties", and on the
>
         "Dependencies" tab, click "Modify".
>
> b. Double-click the Physical Disk resource
on which you
>
want the spooler files to be located, and the Network
Name resource
>that you
>
just created.
>
> c. Click "OK" twice.
>
>13. Click "Next".
>
>14. Click "Finish" to complete the wizard.
>
>15. Verify configuration and test failover:
>
>
> a. Right-click the spooler group, and then
click
>
         "Bring Online".
>
> b. Verify that all resources come online,
and then check
>
the event logs for errors.
>
> c. Right-click the spooler group, click "Move
>
Group", move the Spooler resource to each node in the
cluster that
>is a
>
possible owner, and then verify that all resources come
>online.Note: If you are setting up an active/active
print server, you need
>to
> create one group for each
node and you want to set each spooler group
>to have a
> different preferred
owner. You cannot have multiple Spooler resources
>in the
> same group. An
active/active print server configuration is one in which
>there
> are multiple nodes in the
cluster that are processing print jobs for
>clients
> with multiple spoolers.
This could include as many as two to four nodes
>that
> are actively handling
requests.
>
> When a single node is hosting
> multiple groups with
print spoolers, you will be able to browse all
>printers
> from all groups.
>
>For additional information, click the article
> number below to view
the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
>
> KBLink:170762.KB.EN-US: Cluster Shares Appear in
Browse List Under
> Other Names
>
>
>How to Create the Printer Queues
>--------------------------------
>
> Now that you have properly configured the Spooler
resource with
> the necessary resources, you can create
all of the print queues for all
>of the
> physical printers. You can also use the
Clustool utility from the
>Resource Kit
> to migrate previously existing printer
queues on a server to a clustered
> server. After that, use the Print
Migrate utility to migrate the printer
> drivers. For best results, avoid having
multiple servers configured to
> communicate directly with the same
printer.
>
>
>1. From one of the nodes or a remote computer that has
administrative
> permissions to the cluster click "Start",
click "Run", type
> "\\<VirtualServer>" (without the quotation marks)
where <VirtualServer>
> is the name that is specified for the Network Name
resource on which
> the Spooler resource is dependent.
>
>2. Double-click the "Printers" folder.
>
>3. Double-click "Add Printers" to open the Add Printer
Wizard, and then
> click "Next".
>
>4. Select "Create a new port", and then click
> "Next".
>
>Note: TCP/IP ports are the only supported port type on a
Windows
> Clustering. Use
the "Standard TCP/IP Port" option unless the
> printing clients need RFC-
compliant LPR ports. If this is the case,
>follow
> these steps:
>
>
> a. In Control Panel, double-click "Add/Remove
>
Programs", and then click "Add/Remove Windows
>
Components" to start the Windows Components Wizard.
>
> b. Under "Components", scroll down and
>
click to select the "Other Network File and Print
Services"
>
check box.
>
> c. Click "Details" to open the Other
>
Network File and Print Services window, click to select
the "Print
>
Services for UNIX" check box, and then click "OK" to
>
close the Other Network File and Print Services window.
>
> d. Click "Next" to continue with the
>
Windows Components Wizard.
>
> When you complete the wizard, the LPR
port
>
will be available as a port type. By default, according
to RFC
>1179, LPR will
>
use only eleven TCP ports.
>
>5. Type the IP address of the network printer that you
want to
> process the print jobs in
the "Printer Name or IP Address"
> box.
>
>Note: Bi-directional printing can also be a problem when
using LPR
> printing. Some printer
drivers enable this option by default. When you
>create
> the LPR port and printer,
disable the "Bi-directional printing"
> option. If this option is
enabled, it may cause a printer to accept one
>or more
> print jobs, and then stop
accepting jobs until the printer is physically
> reset.
>
> You no longer have to create a locally-defined printer
port
> configuration for each
node. In Windows 2000 (and later) the port
>configuration
> is stored in the cluster
registry and is therefore shared between all
>cluster
> nodes, under the
following key:
>
> HKEY_Local_Machine\Cluster\Resources\%Spooler
GUID%\Parameters\Monitors\
>
>6. Choose the appropriate driver for this printer, and
then click
> "Next".
>
>7. Give the printer a unique name on the cluster server.
>
>8. Choose a share name for the printer; this name must
also be unique
> on this cluster. You do not want to have any other
printers with the
> same share name on this cluster, even if they are in
a different group
> and associated with a different Spooler resource. In
the event of a
> failure, in an active/active configuration the same
node in the cluster
> may own both spooler groups. If this occurs, printers
that share a
> common name will not be available. Again, it is
recommended to adhere
> to the 8.3-naming standard for compatibility with
earlier versions.
> Note: The installation process then copies the
printer driver files to
> the \\<VirtualServer>\print$ share. The printer
drivers are copied to
> the %SystemRoot%\System32\Spool\Drivers\<Spooler
GUID>\Drivers folder
> of the node in the cluster that owns the Network Name
resource for this
> virtual name. The drivers are also copied to the
shared disk in the
> \PrinterDrivers folder.
>
>9. Test the printing for this printer: After you add all
the desired
> print queues, use Cluster Administrator to move the
group that contains
> the Print Spooler resource to all other nodes. This
copies the printer
> drivers from the \PrinterDrivers folder on the shared
disk to the
> %SystemRoot%\System32\Spool\Drivers\%Spooler GUID%
\Drivers folder on
> that node. Note: Printing is available immediately to
clients when the
> queue has been created even though the drivers have
not been copied to
> all other available nodes. It is not necessary to
move the spooler
> group over to all other nodes immediately after
creating the queues for
> the cluster to function. You can do this later when
you can schedule a
> brief outage during which time you can take the
Spooler resource
> offline.
>
>=====================================================
>
>Hope it helps!
>
>Please feel free to let me know if you have any further
concerns or
>questions regarding the issue.
>
>Have a nice day.
>
>Best Regards,
>
>Jeff Qiu
>Microsoft Online Partner Support
>MCSE 2000, MCDBA, MCSA
>Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security
>This posting is provided "as is" with no warranties and
confers no rights.
>
>--------------------
>>Content-Class: urn:content-classes:message
>>From: "Ernie" <ernie.coldwell@us.mahle.com>
>>Sender: "Ernie" <ernie.coldwell@us.mahle.com>
>>Subject: Can't connect to shared printers on a
Clustered Print Server.
>>Date: Tue, 2 Mar 2004 09:12:37 -0800
>>microsoft.public.windows.server.clustering
>>
>>Ok, I am new to clustering. I have a two node clustered
>>Printserver, Active/Active.
>>On one node, I installed printers for our SAP system.
On
>>the other node, I installed only one printer to start,
>>for regular Windows printing. If I navigate to either
>>node or the central virtual server, I can see my shared
>>printers. When I double click them or drag and drop or
>>right click and connect, I get the message: Operation
>>could not be completed. Either the printer name was
typed
>>incorectly, or the specified printer has lost its
>>connection to the server. Click Help for more info.
>>Help provides nothing.
>>Can anyone steer my in the right direction? All help
is
>>appreciated!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
>>
>
>
>.
>

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