This module is intended to synchronise printer configurations registered in the cab Network Manager. Using this tool offers the following synchronisation possibilities:
Synchronisation is done by configuring printers according to a reference, a configuration image. A configuration image is a representation of the settings of a printer written to a file.
Advice: The synchronisation of printer parameters works under normal conditions trouble-free.
Problems may occur due to the synchronisation of printer setup parameters:
To avoid difficulties caused by an incorrect verification result or incorrect settings we recommend:
Consider also a manual verification, even when an automatic verification is implemented.
Before you can start to synchronise printers it is necessary to create a configuration image:
Picture 1: Information dialogue - Enables to save additional user specific information, too
The setup configuration saves every entry in the setup tree. All displayed values in the tree will be saved. The synchronisation process will not change printer specific parameters like:
Parameters like
will be saved for documentation purposes.
IMPORTANT: If a synchronisation changes the country settings the synchronisation has to
be done a second time
Concerning the image of the E-Mail Alerter settings, the alerts enabled and shown in the list like addresses or kind of alerts will be saved.
The SNMP configuration saves the current displayed settings for both users.
To synchronise printers select "Configuration synchronisation" in the cab Network Manager menu and the synchronisation dialogue will be shown. The process is divided into two steps:
Picture 2: File Synchronisation - Select your bookmarks. The left side shows information about the selected configuration. The right side gives information about the selected printers to be synchronised.
Note: The displayed and available bookmarks and configurations will be automatically loaded.
The file paths stored in the cab Network Manager preference are used as default path.
To initiate the synchronisation select "synchronisation" in the tools menu or press it's related button in the toolbar. The Synchronisation-Status dialogue will become visible. The dialogue is divided into three tab registers and a progress overview display below the tab registers:
It is possible to switch between the tabs all the time to watch what is happening.
Picture 2 is showing the "Synchronisation" tab register. The table contains the printers stored in the selected bookmark and displaying their types, names, IP address and connection status.
The connection status will be displayed as a coloured dot:
The dot colour is per default blue, which means "not a checked connection". Pressing the "Check" button on the left hand side below the tab can perform a check. If a printer could be reached over the network its dot will become green, otherwise it would gain the colour red. A check can be started all the time and will be performed independently.
Once the synchronisation has been started it can be stopped by pressing the "Stop" button. It is the same button like "Start", but its context meaning and label has changed. The progress of the synchronisation will be shown below the tab register, showing two progress bars. The upper bar gives information about the transfer of files, the lower shows the general status.
Picture 3: File Synchronisation - Start synchronisation
Pressing the "Start" button will initiate the synchronisation. All transfers concerning printer connection will be logged. The log can be viewed in register tab "Protocol". The log can be also be cleared or saved to a log file. Clearing and saving the log can be done by using the protocol menu entry and by using the pop-up menu of the log text area.
Picture 4: File Synchronisation - View synchronisation log
After the synchronisation printers will be sorted in groups of successful or failed processes, see picture 4. The status entry of a printer uses also a coloured dot to display the result:
Note: A verification of the synchronisation will be automatically performed after a transfer.
The "Successful" and "Failed" processes are showing already the final result compared with the file synchronisation.
Information: A transfer commonly fails due to an I/O error like a connection loss.
With the retry functionality a printer in the "Failed" group can be moved back to the synchronisation register tab to start over.
Picture 5: File Synchronisation - Status