Printer Configuration File

/etc/qconfig

Let’s talk about where the actual information is stored for the print queues and devices

Three directories reside under: /var/spool/lpd

/var/spool/lpd/qdir

When printing a file in AIX, a file is created in /var/spool/lpd/qdir that contains environment information of the user who sent the print job, as well as where to find what is being printed

Viewing the print queue

lpstat -W
lpstat -t

Note:- This information may look like garbage, but it can be very useful. An administrator can view this file and try to discern why a print job has failed by looking at the user’s environment, which is included in the file.

/var/spool/lpd/stat

This directory contains status information on the print devices. Each device will have a file in this directory. Unfortunately, the files are not in ASCII format, so there is little to view here, but it’s good to know where these files reside.

/var/spool/lpd/pio

This directory contains information on the back end that qdaemon uses. This is where the print queue typically reads and writes its back-end data.

Note:- The directory /var/spool/qdaemon is an important directory in the printing process on AIX. It contains a copy of the actual file being printed

Terminating a print job

There are several ways to terminate print jobs in AIX. You could use cancel, lprm, or qcan among many other commands. This article focuses on just cancel.

The command cancel is straightforward. You can specify either an individual print job number, a group of print job numbers, or the entire queue.

lpstat output

lpstat -W

Canceling a single print job

echo $PRINTER
cancel 1169
lpstat -W

This is good; the first print job was removed, but the queue is still down. Now, remove jobs 1171, 1173, and 1176. Listing 15 shows the code.

Canceling multiple print jobs

cancel 1171 1173 1176
lpstat -W

Canceling the entire print queue

cancel
lpstat -W

Disabling the print queue

lpstat -W
disable –c
lpstat -W

Enabling the print queue

lpstat -W
enable
lpstat -W

 

List print queues only

lsallq
List print queues, printers and description (good for checking if PostScript is used)

/usr/lib/lpd/pio/etc/piolsvp -p
List all print queues with status information

enq -AsW