PaperCut NG/MF synchronizes its user directory with the underlying operating system or network. The Linux version of PaperCut NG/MF ships with two user directory implementations. Due to the nature of Linux, some organizations might have customized user directory implementations. PaperCut NG/MF can support customization in this area. This section details the user/group/authentication options available as standard, as well has how one would go about developing customized implementation.
Standard Unix
The Standard Unix user directory provider uses standard Unix API’s to enumerate user and group information. This allows group information to be defined on either the local system or via another source as configured via nsswitch.conf. For example, you can configure the system using nsswitch.conf to obtain user directory information from a centralized LDAP server or Novell’s eDirectory.
User password authentication is performed via PAM. (Note: For administrators wanting to customize the PAM authentication method at the application level, PaperCut NG/MF reports itself as “papercut”.)
Samba/Windows domain
If the user and group information is provided by a Windows Domain such as an NT Style Domain or Active Directory, the Samba option is most appropriate. This option would normally be used on networks where the printers are hosted on a Linux server and exposed to Windows users via Samba. The server needs Samba installed and configured, but does not need to be a member of the domain.
At the technical level, the Samba support is implemented as a set of Perl script wrappers around standard Samba commands such as net and smbclient. Administrators should ensure these Samba commands are on the papercut user’s path.
The wrapper script is located in [app-path]/server/bin/[arch]/sambauserdir.
Comments