Setting up a print server OR securing/password protect a networked printer

ok...here's my problem:
i manage a 25-person creative department. several other coworkers - outside of my department, keep using our two networked printers. i need to find some way to password protect or limit access to the printers to only those in my department.
currently, the printers are online and those of us on Macs access them via AppleTalk. they also have a static IP and some using PCs access them via the IP printing. the printers are a Xerox Phaser 7700 color laser and a GCC Elite 20/1200 b&w laser.
i have a Dual 2.5 G5 that we use as our department file sharing server. anyway i can set up some sort of printer server on it and only let authorized users print?
anyway i can use the "print sharing" feature on it? i've read post about using CUPS...but that scared me...over my head!
any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.
thanks in advance.

Connect the two printers via USB to the server.
Now it gets harder. Copy the file cupsd.conf by going to the Go menu > Go To Folder /etc/cups. Drag the file cupsd.conf to the desktop (it makes a copy).
Edit the cupsd.conf (on desktop) with Text Edit or Text Wrangler from BBEdit. Find the line
#<Location /printers> and remove the # (which means uncomment that line).
Now find
## Require a username and password (Basic Authentication)
uncomment the two lines just below that:
#AuthType Basic
#AuthClass User
Now find the next #</Location>
and uncomment it. (It's about 5 lines down from AuthClass User)
Save the file. You have now created a new version of cupsd.conf that will require user authentication.
To install it, Start up the terminal. Type these commands:
cd /etc/cups
sudo mv cupsd.conf cupsd.conf.old
(when it asks for password, use the same one you use for installing software)
sudo cp [Drag the cupsd.conf from desktop here] cupsd.conf
(the drag types the file location for you)
Restart the Mac - it's an easy way to get CUPS to recognize the changed configuration.
At this point, you must make sure that every print user has an account on the server and that the password is the one they will use for printing - I recommend the same password they log onto their own computer with. Keychain on each computer should do the authentication after the first time.
Good luck.

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Password protecting a networked printer

Hello, here's the situation. My family has a networked printer (Brother 402cn) that's shared via a linksys 802.11g router with three computers (iMac G5, PB and Toshiba). The iMac is the main computer and I would like to password protect the printer so that one needs to input a password to be able to print from the iMac. How would I go about doing this?
Thanks for your time,
Eric
PowerBook 12-inch 867 Mac OS X (10.4.5)

Unless password protection is a feature built into the printer driver, which I assume is not the case and for which you should be talking to Brother anyway, the only reliable way to do this is to:
1 get a network operating system, such as AppleShareIP, OS X Server, Novell, or one of the Windows servers
2 install the NOS on one computer; note that ASIP is going to require a Mac capable of booting OS 9, OS X Server is going to require a Mac capable of booting OS X, and the Novell and Windows servers will require machines capable of booting Windows.
3 plug the printer directly into the computer running the NOS.
4 set up and configure the print server software in the NOS. In particular, enable the password provisions.
5 put the NOS onto the network.
This is a non-trivial task. It is also a non-cheap task. Normally network printers on small home networks are set up so that anyone can print to them at any time. I have a Brother laser on my home net; when I don't want anyone to print to it, I either remove the paper (it can't print if there's no paper to print to... ) or simply unplug the power.
May I ask why you need to password-protect the printer? Even though I have a server installed, I'd not go to all the trouble of setting up passwords for the printer. Things could get very sticky if She Who Must Be Obeyed ever found out that she was locked out of the printer...

What is the print server username and password?

I am trying to install a Kodak ESP 5210 printer.
I set up the printer - it is on my wireless network.
I installed the Kodak printer software - it too installed correctly.
At the final step I need to "add printer" I click + in the printer window.
I then choose the kodakaio directory under "Windows".
I then choose kodakesp5200_00.
I am asked for the print server username and password.
I tried my log in password with just my first name in lowercase as username as this field was filled out by default.
I tried lots of different things, including no password, but the printer "Add" button never becomes not greyed out.
Would appreciate help. Kodak were no help.
I have pinged the printer successfully so its definitely on the network.
Thanks

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A number of vendor drivers written for OS X cannot be used when connecting via SMB to a printer that is shared by Windows. This is due to limitations of the driver.
In some cases, if you were to enable the LPD Print Service in Windows, you can connect to the share using the same syntax as SMB but on the Mac you would use the LPD as the protocol.
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I don’t understand what you are saying or implying Liam.   Just need to secure password protect,
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Specify the content to include in the secure area.
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To the top
Create a login page to access the secure area
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     6.
To the top
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The third element of a secure zone is a registration page that lets visitors sign up to access the secure area.
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- Ensure that you select the secure zone in the Edit Properties screen of the web form.
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To the top

I use IMAC upstairs connected to the house wifi downstairs where the networked printer is. I have 'found' the network printer on my IMAC settings but when i send to print I am getting a pop-up box which has 'apple' as user name and is asking for password.

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You are asking several different questions. If you need to store your photos, music, and movies on an external volume, you certainly can. Any externally connected hard disk drive will work, connected either directly to your Mac or to your Time Capsule as a shared volume.
You should not rely upon using that as a backup device though. Although you certainly may use it for both purposes, it is a better idea to have dedicated backup devices for a variety of reasons not limited to redundancy. You would not want to simultaneously lose all your pictures as well as your backup. If they are all on the same device, that could happen. Furthermore, a backup cannot back up the volume on which it is running.
As for adding an Extreme or Express, using its LAN port for your iMac, and then enable Internet sharing so you can effectively use the iMac as a "hotspot", you can do that too, but I am unclear on what benefit you believe this arrangement would convey for you.
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Password protecting a network

I just moved into a new house – a six-week sublet – and we’re using one of the apple wireless routers, but it’s painfully slow. It’s not password protected, so I imagine some of our neighbors are picking up on it. I’m sure the girls I moved in with don’t have any of the settings, passwords, etc. Is it still possible for me to figure out how to password protect our network?
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Hi Alec
Yes - you can administer the Airport base station using the Airport Admin Utility in your Utilities folder. Launch it, and it should detect the base station on your network. The base station itself (not the network) may be protected by a password. You can reset the password by soft-resetting the base station:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107451
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Is there a way to password protect my wireless printer?

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I'm trying to figure out how to password protect a USB laser printer that is shared between two 10.4.x G5s. I don't mind altering the cupsd.conf file, I just need some clear directions. I looked at the CUPS documentation online, but found it a little less "user-friendly" than I'd like.
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The first flash drive I ever bought was a Lexar 128mb and there was software that came installed on it to allow for password locking of the drive.
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Google "Password Protection for flash drives" and you'll be treated to a host of results. Your best bet may be here: http://www.rohos.com/free-encryption/
Message was edited by: MaclessInAZ

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It's one router, one computer, one connection- but my airport finds 2 networks with different names that are from my one internet connection, along with other people's wireless networks in my area.
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Setting up a print server OR securing/password protect a networked printer

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