system-config-printer: Windows/Samba printer authentication too complicated

Tim, can you have a look into this?

Try setting the PYSMBC_DEBUG environment variable to "1" before running your test program. What output do you get?

Hi @till-kamppeter, @twaugh,

Many thanks for the responses!

> Try setting the PYSMBC_DEBUG environment variable to "1"
> before running your test program. What output do you get?

Sorry I wasn't able to deliver this by now..

I just tried setting that variable, and calling:

PYSMBC_DEBUG=1 python test.py 2>&1 | tee logout_pysmbc_04-oct-2011.txt

... and the logout_pysmbc_04-oct-2011.txt is attached.

I tried to again obfuscate / search/replace all direct mentions of the work server addresses, and convert them to strings like in the original post example - except, for better accuracy, now it shows 'my.workdomain.com' for the domain I'm member of, printserver is thus 'printserver.workdomain.com' - and so the "master" site is "workdomain.com".

Note, I remember I did something at a certain point to increase log verbosity, but I can't really remember what - so this log may actually generate a bit more data than what PYSMBC_DEBUG=1 would cause..

Anyways, let me know if I can assist further with this.

Thanks again - Cheers!

Could the problem be to do with some unusual character in your password (or username)? Are you able to try with a "simpler" one?

I don't really know what the problem might be otherwise, I'm afraid.

Hi @twaugh,

Many thanks for your response! I don't believe I have any unusual characters in the password, but I think it will be possible for me to try with a new password (but that will take some time to report on).

Btw, one of the techies here mentioned once there were some changes in the SMB URI's (?!), I searched for that around a bit, and found this post for Mac, where (I guess) something similar is mentioned:

SMB client URL works in 10.4.10, breaks...: Apple Support Communities -
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/1209800?start=0&tstart=0

Could this have anything to do with this problem?

Thanks again,
Cheers!

[Expired for system-config-printer (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]

I noticed a that bug too. In my case the authentification is rejected when I lgoin via the prompt and when trying to verify my login data in the login data fields on adding the printer. But when use the "Search ... " (Durchsuchen)-button with entered MYWORKGROUP/server/, it asks not just for the username and the password but also for the workgroup and I can login and view all the available printers there.
So it seems that the workgroup give in the smb://-line isn't used correctly on login (it may use standard WORKGROUP instead).

Hopefully this may help.

Hi @s-hemer,

Many, many thanks for your note! I believe it helped me solve both this issue, and the issue in SO:7150774 (mentioned in OP).

(Also, note that in the text below, I tried to add links to the screenshots added as attachments)

> But when use the "Search ... " (Durchsuchen)-button with
> entered MYWORKGROUP/server/, it asks not just for the
> username and the password but also for the workgroup and I
> can login and view all the available printers there.

This was the critical tip - I take it you were talking about the `system-config-printer` applet; however, I had some problems finding exactly where this "Search" button is there.

First of all, in system-config-printer, upon "Add" / "Printer", one can choose "Find network printer":

https://launchpadlibrarian.net/96462666/sys-conf-print-findnet.png

... however, as the screenshot shows, the "Host" field there doesn't accept forward slash ("removed disallowed character /") nor backslash - so, an address like 'MYWORKGROUP/server/' cannot be entered.

So, I tried the "Windows Printer via SAMBA" option. But first, let me repeat my settings (a little more precisely than in the original post):

* My local username on my Ubuntu machine: MYUSERNAME
* Main address (domain) of the work network: myworkdomain.com
* My account name on the work network: MYWORKUSERNAME
* My work account is a member of workgroup MYWORKGROUP, which also has a subdomain myworkgroup.myworkdomain.com
* The print server on the work network is at printserver.myworkdomain.com
* The printer name (share) on the print server at work I want to access is PRINTSHARENAME

Note that in this work setup, my email address would be: <email address hidden>

Second of all - our IT at work supplies information, that in order to connect to printers, we should use the stanza:

smb://Userdomain/PrintServer/PrinterName

... in order to connect via CUPS (although, for some reason, the localhost:631 always kept failing for me - which is why I wanted to use system-config-printer instead).

So, the first part of the trick here, was to use the "Windows Printer via SAMBA" option in system-config-printer - *and* enter the *full* path to the given printer. I was otherwise hoping that I could use just `smb://Userdomain/PrintServer` and obtain a list of available printers, but cannot get that to work via system-config-printer (however, I can use either smbclient for that; or login to terminal console via rdesktop; and observe the printer names).

So, in my case, I enter:

smb://myworkgroup.myworkdomain.com/printserver.myworkdomain.com/PRINTSHARENAME

... in the "SMB Printer" field:

https://launchpadlibrarian.net/96464829/sys-conf-print-new-smb.png

... and then click on "Verify" button.

Finally, I can see the auth prompt window that has the domain:

https://launchpadlibrarian.net/96466242/sys-conf-print-smb-auth.png

And here I have to enter:
* Username: my full work email address, <email address hidden>
* .. and also password..

... however, the second part of the trick here, is that the "Domain:" field should have the workgroup name here in allcaps (as Windows usually refers to it) - for me, I *...

Principally using Windows/SMB-shared printers with authentication works, but the UI could be simplified a lot.

It looks to me that the problem here is both the "New Printer" dialog and "Authentication" alert require people to concatenate strings -- workgroup, server, port, printer, etc -- and to get the separator and capitalization exactly right each time.

So, why not have separate fields for each of those strings, then in the "New Printer" dialog, display the assembled URL as constantly-updating text underneath the last of those fields?

If the reason is that some people are given a pre-assembled smb:// URL by their IT department, then that constantly-updating URL can be its own editable field. Editing any of the component fields would live-update the URL field below, and editing the URL field would live-update the component fields above.

Just to add to the authentication issue:
On Ubuntu 12.04 I am experiencing this problem now.

I have a Kodak Hero 5.1 with the driver in synaptic as well as Launchpad.

Was working fine but since various updates I can no longer connect via wireless on this home printer.
I can connect easily via USB port.

Having spent all day with this, there has got to be a simpler way to do this, too many perameters, too confusing.
It's supposed to just work.

I have yet to check if my two Mint boxes can still print wirless. Don't want to know at the moment. Hmm

@steve taylor
have a look at bug 987212 it could be that you are affected by the same issue. Something in cup's dnssd module is seemingly broken (at least if you try to discover printers over WLAN).