Topic: Windows XP workgroup users unable to add SME server printer

[Penguinista]

I am having trouble with Windows XP (SP2) users being unable to add a printer set up in SME Server 7.0's printer panel.

1. I created a user in SME Server User Panel. In the interest of full disclosure, the test user had a different username and password than the Windows logon.

2. I added a new printer in Windows XP using the Add Printer wizard. I selected the "network printer, or printer attached to another computer" option. I then gave it the server name and printer name.

3. A dialog box popped up, requesting username and password (indicating that the sme server box is on my workgroup). I gave it the credentials I created on the sme server box; it informed me that it could not locate the printer.

4. I added the printer again, following the same procedure. This time, on a hunch, I used the "admin" user and the admin password. It added the printer without incident.

5. Clearly, this is not a good solution to the problem, because of the obvious security issue. As I browsed through the box, I noticed that "admin" is part of the lp group, but my test user was not. I thought about adding the user manually to /etc/group, but I am sure that is a very bad idea because of the templating system.

Can anyone give me some ideas on what I can do to enable my users to add the printer under their assigned credentials?

Thanks!

[arnie25]

You have to create same user in Win XP as you created one in SME server. If your user can access an ibay in SME server, he will be able to use a printer as well. You don't need to use an admin account for that.

Read the manual:

As a final item, you should be aware that in order to use the printers available through your server a user must be logged in to their client system with a user name and password that is valid on the server. For instance, if a user is logged in as tturtle on their Windows desktop and that user account does not exist on the server, the user will not be able to print to the printers managed by the server. Either the user will have to logout and log back in as a valid user or the tturtle account will need to be created on the server.