The IBM Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) Server for AS/400

Resolving The Problem

This document provides information about the IBM Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) Server for IBM AS/400 and how to enable it to provide additional support for printers that are attached to an IBM iSeries family of servers.

Note: For more information, click on the following links to the manual: Printer Device Programming. Much of the information in this document was taken directly from Printer Device Programming, Chapter 18, The IBM Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) server for AS/400.

This document was last updated on 14 May 2013.

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What is the Internet Printing Protocol?

The Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) defines an industry standard method of delivering print jobs using Internet technologies. The IPP protocol was developed by the Printer Working Group, a consortium of the major companies involved in network printing.
IPP is transported over HTTP/1.1 using a message body whose content-type is "application/ipp". The well-known port 631 has been assigned to IPP.

Why use the IPP server?

IPP provides a single standard interface for submitting print jobs to the iSeries family. IPP works on any TCP/IP network, so you can use the same process to submit print jobs on your local area network, your intranet, or the Internet.
IPP allows business travelers, telecommuters, or anyone working remotely to submit and manage print jobs on a remote iSeries family.

What is supported by the IPP server?

The IPP server supports IPP version 1.0. The following required operations are supported:

o	Print-job
o	Validate-job
o	Get-printer-attributes
o	Get-jobs
o	Cancel-job
o	Get-job-attributes

Additionally, the following optional IPP operations are supported:

o	Pause-printer
o	Resume-printer
o	Purge-jobs
o	Hold-job
o	Release-job
o	Restart-job

The IPP server can be configured to provide security features for user authentication and encryption of print data.

Setting up the IPP server
You can administer and configure the IPP server using the IBM IPP Server Administrator, a browser-driven graphical user interface. Before using the interface, verify that the IBM HTTP Server is installed on your system. For SSL support, you must also have installed the Digital Certificate Manager and a Cryptographic Access Provider licensed program.

Setting up your Internet browser
To allow the administrator interface to function correctly, JavaScript must be enabled for your Internet browser. This can usually be enabled by accessing the preferences or options feature of your browser.
To select the display language for the administrator, access the language selection for your Internet browser, and select or enter a supported locale that is installed on your system. Normally, there is a list to choose from. If a list is not displayed, you can manually enter a locale. The locale is usually a two-letter abbreviation that represents a language. For example, English is represented by the letters "en". Sometimes the locale may be further defined by a country. For example, French spoken in Switzerland is represented by "fr_CH". If the locale defined for the browser is not installed or supported by the administrator interface, the language associated with the user profile is used. If this is language is not supported, English is used by default.

Using the Administrator Interface
To access the administrator interface, verify that the IBM HTTP Server is installed and the *ADMIN server instance has been started. This is done so that your Internet browser can access the iSeries Tasks or AS/400 Tasks page.
To start the *ADMIN server instance, use the following command:

STRTCPSVR SERVER(*HTTP) HTTPSVR(*ADMIN)

Access the iSeries Tasks or AS/400 Tasks page from a Web browser using a URL such as the following:

http://iseries-server:2001/HTTPAdmin/

where iseries-system is the name of the iSeries family. From the iSeries Tasks or AS/400 Tasks page, click on the icon for the IBM IPP Server.
The IBM IPP Server Administrator interface is shown. From here, you can configure the IPP server, create and delete IPP printer configurations, set up preferences for using the browser interface, and manage the IPP server.

The administrator interface is divided into the following sections: A navigational frame on the left and a form frame on the right. The form frame is further broken down into a form content frame, a button frame, and a message frame. The message frame, located at the bottom of the form frame, is the location where messages appear during normal operation of the browser interface.
To change navigational menus, use the navigation tabs located above the frames near the top of the browser window. The choices available are:

Administration
Provides a form for managing the IPP server.
Configuration
Provides forms for configuring the IPP server, including SSL, defining access log and error log protocol, and creating and deleting IPP printer configurations.
Other Links
Provides links to related Web sites.

There are two document links at the top of the browser interface as well. Each of the document links will display the selected document in a separate browser window. The document links are:

Getting Started
Provides information on using the interface.
Printer Device Programming Guide
Links directly to the online version of the Printer Device Programming Guide.


Configuring the IPP server

If SSL connections are desired for any IPP printer, you must first enable the IPP server to use SSL by specifying an SSL port. To enable SSL connections, do the following:

1.	Click on the Configuration tab to load the configuration navigational menu.
2.	Click on Basic Configuration to load the basic configuration form.
3.	Select the Enabled radio button.
4.	Fill in a valid port number in the SSL Port text field.
5.	Click Apply.

The IPP server is automatically configured to port 631 for non-SSL data. To disable SSL connections, select the Disabled radio button on the form and click Apply.

Note: Whenever a change is made to the configuration of the IPP server, whether it is for SSL connections or logging information, the IPP server must be stopped and then started again for the change to become effective.
To configure how you want access logs created, written, and archived, do the following:

1.	Click on the Configuration tab to load the configuration navigational menu.
2.	Expand the Logs and Errors menu item.
3.	Click on Access Logs to load the access logs form.
4.	Complete the form with the appropriate information.
5.	Click Apply.

To configure how you want error logs created, written, and archived, do the following:

1.	Click on the Configuration tab to load the configuration navigational menu.
2.	Expand the Logs and Errors menu item.
3.	Click on Error Logs to load the error logs form.
4.	Fill in the form with the appropriate information.
5.	Click Apply.

Note: The IBM IPP Server Administrator and the IBM IPP Server are different applications. However, error logging must be enabled for the IPP server to allow administrator interface error logging to be enabled. If an error occurs using the IPP server, check the IPP server error log (specified using the error log form of the administrator interface) to help locate the problem.

Creating an IPP Printer Configuration

To create an IPP printer configuration do the following:

1.	Click on the Configuration tab to load the configuration navigational menu.
2.	Expand the Internet Printers menu item.
3.	Click on Create configuration to start the create task wizard.
4.	Follow the task steps to create an IPP printer configuration.
5.	Click Finish on the confirmation panel to create the configuration.

Viewing an IPP printer configuration

To view all of the IPP printers configured on the system, do the following:

1.	Click on the Configuration tab to load the configuration navigational menu.
2.	Expand the Internet Printers menu item.
3.	Click on Internet Printers.

Deleting an IPP printer configuration

To delete an IPP printer configuration, do the following:

1.	Click on the Configuration tab to load the configuration navigational menu
2.	Expand the Internet Printers menu item.
3.	Click on Delete configuration to display a list of configured IPP printers.
4.	Select the IPP printer to delete.
5.	Click the Delete button.

Managing the IBM IPP Server

Using the Manage IBM IPP Server form, use the start, stop, and restart buttons to perform the given action for the IPP server. The current server status, along with the ports the server is listening on, is displayed in the table. At most, there will be two ports the IPP server will be listening on at one time. One port is for non-SSL data (port 631) and one port is for SSL data. The last time the table information was updated is also displayed. The table can be refreshed by clicking Refresh.

To manage the IPP server, do the following:

1.	Click on the Administration tab to display the administration navigational menu.
2.	Click on the Manage IBM IPP Server menu item.

The IPP server is initialized using a special configuration file. The file is QIBM/UserData/OS400/Ipp/conf/qippsvr-cust.conf. Do not manually edit this file. The configuration file is changed via the IBM IPP Server Administrator browser interface.

Starting the IBM IPP Server

The QIPPSVR member in the QUSRSYS/QATMHINSTC file contains the command string to start the QIPPSVR instance under Apache.

In 5.4 i5/OS, the command string is as follows:

-apache -f /QIBM/ProdData/OS400/Ipp/Config/qippsvr.conf

However, in 6.1 and 7.1 i5/OS, the command string is:

-apache -d /QIBM/UserData/OS400/Ipp/www/QIPPSVR -f /QIBM/UserData/OS400/Ipp/www/QIPPSVR/conf/httpd.conf

Disabling the IBM IPP Server

If the IPP server job (QIPPSVR) fails at startup and the IPP Server is not used to receive print data from other hosts (such as from Windows, Mac or Linux) using the Internet Print Protocol (IPP), then it can be disabled.

To disable the IPP server, do the following:

1.	Run the following Work with Members Using PDM (WRKMBRPDM) command to work with the QUSRSYS/QATMHINSTC file: WRKMBRPDM FILE(QUSRSYS/QATMHINSTC)
2.	Take Option 18 (Change using DFU) next to the QIPPSVR member and press the Enter key.
3.	Press the Page Down key to get to the following instance: -apache -f /QIBM/ProdData/OS400/Ipp/Config/qippsvr.conf
4.	Edit that line to have it end with "-AutoStartN", for example: -apache -f /QIBM/ProdData/OS400/Ipp/Config/qippsvr.conf -AutoStartN and then press the Enter key.
5.	Press the F3 (Exit) key two times to exit DFU (data file utility).
6.	Take Option 5 (Display) to confirm that the QIPPSVR member is set up with "-AutoStartN".

The IPP server job (QIPPSVR) should no longer be started automatically when the HTTP Server is started.

Troubleshooting

If an error occurs using the IBM IPP Server Administrator, the message frame box usually contains the error data and provides information on how to correct the problem. For additional information, internal tracing can be used. Tracing provides a mechanism for retrieving state information during execution of the administrator and the IPP server. To activate tracing, specify a valid error log file name using the Error Logs form. Then, select a logging level below Critical. Selecting a logging level of Debug will provide the maximum amount of tracing information. The trace log containing detailed information on the operation of the administrator is located in file /QIBM/UserData/OS400/Ipp/Logs/qippcfg.log. The trace log containing detailed information on the operation of the IPP server is located in file /QIBM/UserData/OS400/Ipp/Logs/qippsvr.log.

To stop internal tracing for the administrator and the IPP server, select a logging level above Error (for example, Critical, Alert, or Emergency) on the Error Logs form and click Apply.

Note: The trace files /QIBM/UserData/OS400/Ipp/Logs/qippcfg.log and qippsvr.log are deleted every time tracing/error logging is started. If you wish to trace, it is recommended that at regular intervals you stop tracing, archive the trace file, and start the tracing again.

Use the following table to help troubleshoot other problems that may be encountered working with the IBM IPP Server Administrator or the IBM IPP Server.

Table 18-1. Troubleshooting

You do not have the correct authority to a file.	To modify any configuration files, IBM IPP Server Administrator browser interface users require at least *IOSYSCFG authority. Verify that you have the correct authority.
File does not exist or is corrupt.	Always make sure the following files exist on your system: /QIBM/UserData/OS400/Ipp/conf/qippsvr-cust.conf /QIBM/UserData/OS400/Ipp/conf/preferences.properties /QIBM/UserData/OS400/Ipp/conf/printer.properties You should not manually edit these files unless you know exactly what you are doing. Modifying one file may require you to modify additional files. Manually changing these files could result in failure of server initialization.
The log file name is not valid.	Click the "?" help icon for the log file name field for more information on valid log file names.
You made changes to the IPP server configuration, but they do not appear to be recognized.	Stop the IPP server and start it again. Whenever a change is made to the server's configuration, the IPP server needs to be restarted for the change to become effective.
The browser interface is not being displayed in the language specified.	The language specified in the browser is not supported by the IBM IPP Server Administrator browser interface application.
You cannot find help for a field.	Click the "?" help icon for information concerning a particular field. You may also activate "verbose" for the form, which provides a more detailed overview of the entire form.
An internal error occurred using the browser interface.	Turn on tracing and examine the trace file to help locate the problem.
The IPP server does not start or stay running after you attempt to start it.	An error has probably occurred during initialization. Whenever the IPP server is started, an IBM OS/400 or IBM i5/OS fully-qualified job name is displayed in the message frame, in the form: JobNumber/JobUser/JobName If the IPP server fails to start, do the following: 1 Log on the iSeries family. 2 WRKJOB JOB(JobNumber/JobUser/JobName) 3 Select Option 4, Work with Spooled Files. 4 Using display Option 5, view any spooled files to help locate the cause of the problem. If you have manually edited the IPP server configuration file, a newly specified directive may be causing the IPP server to fail initialization. If this is the case, edit the configuration file and remove the directive in error.
The IPP server does not stop after you attempt to stop it.	An error has occurred on the iSeries family. To stop the IPP server manually, do the following: 1. Log on the iSeries family. 2. WRKACTJOB SBS(QHTTPSVR) 3. Find the QIPPSVR jobs. 4. Use Option 4 and end the jobs immediately.