Share FAX Modem on OS X Server

Hi,
is there a way to share the built-in fax modem on OS X Tiger Server ?
In the client version of Tiger there are buttons for printer&fax network sharing in the system preferences. I really miss this feature in Tiger Server!

Because the fax modem is no postscript printer i can´t add it in the print Server queue (in Server Admin).
Maybe it´s possible to share the fax modem via CUPS. Does anyone has an idea? I can see it on the Cups Site at least.

How can i add it to CUPS or the Printserver queue?
How can I share the modem on the network using Tiger Server?
Can the fax server be promoted via Bonjour for the clients ?
If it´s then not possible to add the fax modem on the Client Workstations using Bonjour, how can i add it on the client in the print center as a generic printer/modem?

Best regards
Björn

Posted on Jun 1, 2005 2:45 PM

52 replies

Jun 4, 2005 8:10 AM in response to Community User

Hi Björn,

I am fighting with the same problem. No solution yet, however. This is the track I am on right now: comparing between the Client and the Server, I found that /Library/Preferences/com.apple.print.FaxPrefs in the Client has an entry

<key>ShareFax</key>
<true/>

when the sharing is enabled, but this is apparently not sufficient. Also the file /etc/cups/printers.conf must have an entry "Shared Yes" for the modem device, but if I edit the file by hand, it gets recreated with "Shared No" when setting up printers.

Hope somebody here will find the missing link.

Jun 4, 2005 8:49 AM in response to Community User

It seems I got a bit further.

1) Stop the Print services
2) add the modem to /library/preferences/com.apple.printservice.plist
3) set "<key>ShareFax</key><true/>" in /library/preferences/com.apple.print.FaxPrefs.plist
4) set "Shared Yes" for the modem in /etc/cups/printers.conf
5) Start the Print services

makes the shared fax visible to clients. Seems that there is still a tiny piece missing though, because the queue does not show up in the Server Manager under "Queues", and a test fax did not go past the state "dialling" on the server.

Jul 16, 2005 9:34 AM in response to J. Anderson

J.
My problem is with one of the details you mentioned

"create a print queue with your modem as the printer."

How did you do this?

I could not find anything about this specific point in the documentation. Sharing the queue is straight forward as you say. But getting the queue is the problem.

At the server, I told it to fax something somewhere. It set up the Fax queue for the server itself. Server Admin then showed a new printer called "Internal Modem" in the lists for jobs and printers. Then went to Server Admin>Setup>queues to share the new queue and it was not listed there.

Would you be able to be more specific on the creation of a print queue with the modem as the printer?

Thanks.

Jul 26, 2005 3:51 AM in response to Community User

Yes, I wished this would be described somewhere, or Apple would just plain fix it. After all, what makes more sense, to share your PERSONAL fax with the world, or to share the fax on a SERVER?

I have set up an Xserve as the central service provider, and it has a USB Fax modem, etc. but it's useless, because nobody can access it unless they log in on the server with Remote Desktop... Haha... Not exactly what my plan was.

Ronald

Aug 23, 2005 11:35 PM in response to Community User

Sorry about the disappearing act folks. I kinda forgot about this thread. I'll list the necessary steps and wait for feedback (and actually check).

First go to System Preferences and verify your Fax. Test that it sends a fax.

Now:
1 In Server Admin, select Print in the Computers & Services list.
2 Click Settings.
3 Click Queues.
4 Click the Add ➕ button (below the list).
5 Choose LPR in drop down menu
6 Type in IP address of your server
5 Type in a distinctive Queue Name
6 Choose the following Protocols: IPP, LPR and Show name in Bonjour
7 Save
8 Restart Print Services

You should now have a Generic PostScript Printer queue being shared via IPP and LPR. Bonjour will automatically enable any remote computer to see the new Print Queue.

Aug 24, 2005 4:26 PM in response to J. Anderson

J.,

Followed your tips, but before I got too far, I first verified the FAX; did a test and it worked.

When I went into COMPUTER & SERVICES --> PRINT --> QUEUES, there already was a queue called "Internal Modem". I'm assuming that this is a good thing. Since this queue was already there, I didn't go to the next steps of creating a Generic Postscript Printer queue, like you suggested.

Now comes the big question: how do we share that internal modem queue with the rest of the network? Is there a preference? Does something need to be done in Terminal? What are we missing?

Alternatively, what were your steps in sharing the FAX modem and getting it to work?

Please help...

Sep 17, 2005 5:59 PM in response to J. Anderson

Hi, i created the generic post script printer as you said - but what´s next ? This new generic printer can be shared and is seen by my clients via bonjor. But this printer is not connected with the fax server / internal modem on mac os x server.

Print jobs are just spooled in a file on the server.

How can this generic printer move the jobs to the internal modem ?
How can i create this pass-through device ?

There is also the panel for the fax number missing on the client site in the print dialog. The generic printer appears like a printer, but a real shared fax modem is differnet because it should appear at pdf fax botton... and then on the fax panel in the Modem pull down menu. But there is only the local internal Modem. We want to see there in this list our Fax Server Modem.

Has anyone any ideas ?

Sep 22, 2005 10:31 PM in response to JDM

I May have figured this out.

credit goes to the people in this link though:

http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20050204171237879&query=fax

It appears that the fax modem is not actually handled as a printer. So you cannot share it like a printer. It is though, when shared on a server anyway, somewhat confusingly controlled in the print section of Server Admin.

*On the server, make a garbage text document.
*Tell the server to print and then choose "fax PDF" from PDF pop up in the bottom left of the print dialog. If the "fax machine" has not been set up yet, the server will do it for you. You will get the usual fax dialog box.
*Insert a fax number and send.
The server has now sent a fax directly from its own "fax machine"

*Open Printer Setup Utility on the server itself.
*Select "show fax list" in the View menu. You should have the server's "internal modem" shown as a fax.
*Select "internal modem" from the list and press the "show info" icon in the bar at the top of the window. You get a window similar to the one where you would set up a printer's options on a client (or server for that matter).
*Change the name of the fax from "internal modem" to something that will make it easy to spot later. I choose "ServerFax." I did not test if spaces are permitted. This is done because all faxes are called "internal modem" by Apple and we will want to find the shared one later.

Go to a client, for the time being I assume that the following works only on the local subnet as with CUPS hosted printers. My client is VPN'd in so it thinks its on the same subnet as the server.
*On the client, make a garbage text document, "print" the document, but tell the client to "fax PDF" by selecting the PDF menu at the bottom left of the print dialog.
*Under "modem" in the fax dialog you hopefully now have "shared faxes" just like when we get "shared printers" on the same subnet from the server.
*If you renamed the server's fax to "ServerFax," that is what you will see in the "shared faxes" list. Choose the shared fax.
*Insert destination information as usual and "fax"

If you open the "ServerFax" queue on the client computer, the job will dissapear but not show up in the "completed jobs" list. However, if you go back to the queue "ServerFax" in printer setup utility>show faxes on the server itself you will see your job from the client there.

You will also now find that you have a new print queue in Server Admin "ServerFax." and that you can monitor existing fax jobs in the same way you monitor existing print jobs in the queues.

The key here appears to be that once the "fax machine" is created on the server... It is already being "served" as a fax queue.

The only issue with all of the above is that I do not currently (midnight EST) have a phone line plugged into my server which is at a remote location. I will confirm that this actually results in a sent fax in the next day or so. Currently my test faxes are on hold automatically in the queue on the server.

An additional detail: You don't need a server to do this. Following the above for any combination of machines (two non-servers for example) will lead to a shared "fax machine" on one of them. This last bit I gather from the web page referenced above. I did not test it.

If anyone gets this to work, please follow up with any changes.

I am hoping this will work across multiple subnets...but I doubt it. Of course I am looking for CUPS on Apple OS X to do the same for printers, but have yet to find the answer to that one.

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

Share FAX Modem on OS X Server

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