[comp.sys.hp] Spooling

mic@sun.soe.clarkson.edu (Mic Lacey) (03/30/89)

I am looking into getting two 340C+ workstations to run some of the Ideas 
MCAE (CAD) software from SDRC.  I have an HP D size plotter, an hp A/B size
plotter, Hayse 1200 baud modem, and an epson LQ1000 printer avialible to me if
I can use them.  My problem is that according to the "HP 9000 HP-UX Operating 
System" pamplet "only the cluster servers can support spooled peripherals".
Unfortunately the 340 has only one serial port and I am told that I can not put 
both a 4-port rs-232 mux card and a high speed disk interface (either HP-IB 
or SCSI) in the 340.  I would like to put the mux card on the workstation I 
plan on  using as a diskless node, but then I run into the problem with 
spooled periphs off a diskless node.

I also have an hp310 which has its own 55Meg disk and free DIO slots, but
no lan card, and it is running hp-ux 5.0, which didn't include ns-arpa or
nfs when we got it (a few years ago).

Now I don't care if I hook the 310 into the 340's, but I do need to hook the
printer and at least one plotter into the 340's (and I can not use hp-ib to
talk to the plotters).  AND I got to do this cheaply, I am already planing
on spending a little more than has been aproved.

Any insights would be greatly appreciated. thanx.

	Mic@sun.soe.clarkson.edu (128.153.12.3)

web@hpubmaa.HP.COM (Bill Bennett) (04/03/89)

>I can use them.  My problem is that according to the "HP 9000 HP-UX Operating 
>System" pamplet "only the cluster servers can support spooled peripherals".

That's true.  Only the server *supports* spooled peripherals.  Spooling
to a diskless cnode has been configured locally; I believe remsh was used
to do the dirty work.  Note that support implies 'clean'.  Our approach may
not be 'clean', but gets the job done.

>I also have an hp310 which has its own 55Meg disk and free DIO slots, but
>no lan card, and it is running hp-ux 5.0, which didn't include ns-arpa or
>nfs when we got it (a few years ago).

To get nfs, you need at least 6.0.  To get 6.0, you need at least an 80Mb disk.
It's probably too costly to upgrade the 310 to be a useful member of this
network.  Also, 6.5 is the last HP-UX release to support 310's.  You might
look into a trade-in instead.

Bill Bennett	hpfcse!hpubmaa!web

shankar@hpclscu.HP.COM (Shankar Unni) (04/07/89)

> both a 4-port rs-232 mux card and a high speed disk interface (either HP-IB 
> or SCSI) in the 340.  I would like to put the mux card on the workstation I 
> plan on  using as a diskless node, but then I run into the problem with 
> spooled periphs off a diskless node.

Spooled peripherals on a diskless node are not officially supported, but
it's not impossible to do this. To achieve this, try doing the following
(strictly unsupported, caveat emptor):

Turn the following files/directories into CDF's:

   /usr/spool/lp/
                 FIFO
		 SCHEDLOCK
		 pstatus
		 qstatus
		 outputq
		 request     /* this is a directory - see below */
		 default     /* if you want different default printers */

If you make "request" a CDF, it will create the directories under request
in only the rootserver's context. You must manually copy the contents to
the other contexts.

If you want a local printer for each cnode, try the following in addition:

make /usr/spool/lp/interface/lp (or whatever you want to call it) a CDF.
Then on each client, set up "lp" as desired (most diskless workstations
have an RS232 port or an HP-IB port, so you can set up the local printer
appropriately.) 
----
Shankar.

bdale@col.hp.com (Bdale Garbee) (04/13/89)

Consider using named pipes instead of remsh.  Have the lp spooler on the
diskless server cat to the pipe, and from inittab on the diskless node set up
a cat from the pipe to the device...  It's been a while since I did this, so
details aren't fresh in my mind, but it worked great...

Bdale "now sitting in a cubicle near a laser printer..."