You’ve just discovered SavaPage, but wonder: does this solution really meet my needs? We recognize it’s sometimes difficult to find ready-made answers in the User Manual for specific scenarios you have in mind.
Ask your questions here so that we can easily put you on track.
Hello everyone,
I would like to implement SavaPage on my company. We use here HID Proximity Card II for door access. I was wondering if the HID cards will be compatible with those ACS card readers the Linux library supports. I know nothing about RFID systems, could anyone of you point me in the right direction. Thank you in advance.
@eabreu savapage-nfc-reader uses Linux package libacsccid1 which is a PC/SC driver for ACS USB CCID smart card readers.
There are PC/SC driver packages for other smart card readers available, but I do not see a PC/SC driver for HID Proximity Card II readers in Linux (Debian).
HID Global does have Linux PC/SC HID OMNIKEY drivers available for download, but I have no experience with this solution and don’t know if this suits your requirement.
Finding out if/how this HID solution works will surely need substantial research. A first step would be to get plain RFID reading going in a proof-of-concept setting with target reader and sample card(s). Next, the proof-of-concept needs to be integrated into savapage-nfc-reader.
May be you can get support via the PCSC lite project to find out about HID support. I hope this helps you to get on your way.
Thank you for your quick answer @rijkr. I will dig into this topic with the information you have provided. Thanks again.
I have just installed my server. When I look at the proxy printers list it show configuration needed. I have checked all the settings, the printer is completely configured I think.
@crege2 Welcome to SavaPage!
The “Configuration needed” tag shows up to remind you to configure at least one (1) of the Media Sources, as explained in this section of the User Manual. I will adapt the manual to make this more clear.
Hello,
I have installed my demo server. but im getting “Setup is needed” although I have followed the manual and set a new admin passwordi set locale and currency type but the message “Setup is needed” does not disapear. what can be the issue?
Thanks
Hello rijkr,
Thanks for the prompt reply,
I have done it just now and it works now.
how do I get info about the pricing? Im intrested in using savapage on two printers.
Thanks
Regards,
@Sinan Any organization is welcome to join the SavaPage Community as Resident by subscribing to the software. Subscription consists of a one-time enrollment fee and a yearly amount. These fees are used to financially compensate Community Developers and Partners for their efforts and expenses when maintaining the software and supporting member organizations. You can read more about Residency in the User Manual. Subscription pricing is published on this Wiki page.
Hello @rijkr
I have two questions:
1 - I’m interested in integrating SavaPage with 1 FreeIPA directory and two Active Directories servers. All of them have different base dn. Is it possible?
2 - I want to configure SavaPage so that users can only print thru it, they will have to type user name and password or pin code to release print jobs. In that case SavaPage is going to be a single point of failure. Is there a way to configure an HA SavaPage cluster?
Thanks in advance
Hi @eabreu
1 - FreeIPA connectivity is on our to do list. If you actually want to use SavaPage + FreeIPA we can implement it, if you help us test it. Please contact us at support@savapage.org so we can discuss details.
SavaPage uses one (1) user source for synchronization. So it is not possible to simultaneously connect to one (1) FreeIPA directory and two (2) AD servers from one (1) SavaPage server instance.
2 - If you want SavaPage to be the only access point for printing, you can put your physical printers in a VLAN that can be accessed by SavaPage server only. In this way users will be forced to print to SavaPage first (with generic PostScript driver, or driverless with e.g. file upload), and after that follow one of the many Print Scenarios from within the SavaPage User Web App. Secure Print Release with userid/password, PIN or NFC is possible. You can optionally use a dedicated Custom Proxy Print Release Station positioned next to a printer.
As clustering is concerned: SavaPage is not designed for multiple concurrent server instances behind a dynamic routing (load balancing) proxy. Just a single SavaPage server instance can be active on a database, and on the file system where user data are persisted. As the database part is concerned, this is due to server-side Java/Hibernate caching of database data: concurrent server instances would probably produce SQL constraint violations on unexpected moments. NFS could be used to share file persistence, but again concurrent file access could give conflicts. Above that, HTTP session management and server push messaging will be flawed. Perhaps a fine grained micro-services approach could solve all these issues, but again SavaPage is not designed that way.
The best you can do is implement a static routing scheme where a proxy front-end routes to a single SavaPage server, either being the Primary SavaPage Server or a Fall-back SavaPage Server. Both server instances need to have identical configuration and connect to the same external database (preferably PostgreSQL) and same external user file system. You can use NFS to share the user file system and configure Alternative File Locations in SavaPage accordingly. You can consult this Technical Note where NFS sharing is explained in more detail.
Hi @rijkr and thanks for your quick answer.
Regarding the multiple directories integration with different base dn. I was thinking If I install multiple SavaPage server instances (one for each base dn) and I redirect the request based on DNS using an Apache web proxy. That part could work, but the problem would again arise on the printer release station. Any idea on this approach?
Hi @eabreu
Indeed, put a Release Station (kiosk) device next to each target printer. In case multiple SavaPage server instances share the same target printer, add a Release Station Terminal definition at each server instance for the station device IP address and assign the related proxy printer as Single Printer Target.
Assuming each SavaPage User Web App instance has a unique URL, accessible from the Terminal device, you can inject an HTML snippet into the User Web App login screen of each server instance with (graphic) links to all of the SavaPage User Web App server instances.
Well, as a user arrives at the Release Station they must first click on the picture in the Login screen to select their domain (if not already selected). This will load the right User Web App instance, so they can authenticate with their domain credentials. You can optionally attach an NFC card Reader as alternative authentication. Tip: CSS customize the Web Apps of each server instance with a distinguishable look-and-feel.
N.B. set a value for Idle Seconds before auto logout. This will make the Web App return to the Login screen after x idle seconds, in case a user forgets to log out after printing is done.
The printer next to the terminal will be the only printer available in the User Web App. Currently, users must create and execute the print job in the User Web App on the Release Station on the spot. If other scenarios are required, we need to discuss how SavaPage could be adapted to accommodate that.
Dear Sir
I work at a school in Belgium. I’m trying to replace the in-house developed printing solution. It’s been made to fully comply with the needs of the school. The current solution creates a cover page for every print-ticket with the name of the teacher and the name of the group(class). How can I do this with Savapage?
With kind regards
Sander Loones
Hello @sander.loones. You might want to take a look to Letterheads, in the user manual search for “3.6. Letterheads” (Chapter 3, section 6) . That could fit your needs.
Hi @sander.loones , welcome to SavaPage. Glad you joined!
Have a look at the org.savapage-job-sheets IPP attribute:
“This attribute determines which Job start/end sheet(s), if any, must be printed with a Job. Contrary to the IPP job-sheets definition, where sheets are part of the job, org.savapage-job-sheets are printed as a separate job. In this way sheets can be printed from a different media-source with distinctive org.savapage-job-sheets-media and media-color. A job sheet is a single monochrome page with job detail information.”
The job sheet indeed shows the name of the teacher and the name of the group/class in a so-called Delegated Print scenario.
Do a global search for job-sheet in the most recent "SavaPage *-rc • User Manual • PDF" version from the Download page. You will find all the information needed. It is an advanced topic that needs careful configuration. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask.
Hello @rijkr
I just finished implementing authentication using HID Proximity Card II. It works nice. There is a couple of things I have still to tune but it’s reading fine and the printer releases when the card is swiped. The card reader I used is HID Omnikey 5025-CL. Once everything will be set I’m gonna document the whole process. Thank you.
@eabreu Hi Eric. Great that you got HID Proximity Card II working! I’m looking forward to the details. Can you please post your findings as a reply to NFC Authentication: questions and answers
Dear Sir
Thank you for putting me in the right direction. I was looking for the wrong terminology. I found an error in the documentation. …/docs/manual/app-ppd-ext-job-ticket.html: *job-sheet-start --> *job-start-sheet. It took a while before I found the error.
I have yet another question. How can I let my users choose the tray for the job-start-sheet and could I name the tray to a color?
I’ve found how I can choose the papersize but cant seem to find how to choose the tray.
With kind regards
Sander