Configuring a Windows/SMB Shared Printer – SUSE Linux

Sharing a printer from a Windows computer is a cost-effective way of making the printer available
to everyone on a network. As such, it’s often done in a home environment, where a printer
can be shared among computers used by family members, or in an office environment, where a
printer might be connected to a particular workstation or server.
To connect to a shared printer from SUSE Linux, you’ll need to

• The network address of the computer. This can be the IP address or fully qualified
  domain name (FQDN).
• The share name of the printer. To find this name, on the Windows computer, open the
  Printers and Faxes window, right-click the printer, and select Sharing. You’ll see the
  name in the Share Name box.
• The username and password required to access the share, if required.

1. Start YaST and click Hardware ?Printer.
2. In the Printer Configuration window, click Add.
3. Click Network Printers, and then click the Next button.
4. In the list, select Print via SMB Network Server, and then click Next.
5. Enter connection information as follows:

• The Workgroup box can be left blank, unless you work in a large office environment
  with multiple network workgroups—see your administrator if this is the case.
• Enter the network address of the computer into the Hostname of Print Server box.
• In the Remote Queue Name box, enter the share name of the printer.
• If the printer is attached to a Windows XP Professional, 2000, or NT computer, you
  may need to enter a valid Windows username and password in the Username and
  Password boxes to be able to access the printer, so do so. If you’re running Windows
  XP Home, which doesn’t normally require a username and password to access a
  shared resource, you still need to enter something in the Username box, even if it’s
  gibberish. I suggest entering guest. Without an entry for the username, YaST will
  report an error. In the case of a Windows XP Home printer share, you can leave the
  Password box empty.

1. Click the Test Remote SMB Access button. If you’ve entered the correct details, you should see a dialog box saying the connection works correctly, as in Figure 8-19. If you get a message saying that SUSE Linux can’t connect, check the details in the text boxes.Click Next when you’re ready to continue.
2. In the Name for Printing box, enter a familiar name by which you can identify the
   printer in future. The Printer Description and Printer Location boxes can be left empty.
   Make sure there’s a check in the Do Local Filtering box. Click Next.
3. Choose your make and model of printer from the list. If you can’t find an exact match,
   choose the nearest model. Then click Next.
4. You now have an opportunity to fine-tune some of the printer’s settings. These settings
   will then be used as the default. The Restriction Settings option can be used to limit
   which users can use the printer. The State and Banner Settings options let you add text
   to each printout.
5. To tweak the printer quality settings, double-click the Filter Settings entry in the list.
   This will open the Configuration Options window. The range of options you’ll see
   depend on the model of printer you’re using. To change an option, select it in the
   Options list, and then make your choice in the Values box beneath. When you’ve finished,
   click OK.

   The printer will now be available within SUSE Linux applications.