Handling Inactive or Unused servers

Uniprint has the ability to set servers that are no longer in service to “inactive”, meaning the server is marked as “inactive” in the Pharos Database. Doing so stops unnecessary network traffic in the system without removing the server and the associated transaction records from the Pharos Database.

Setting the server to inactive is useful in cases where you have servers that are no longer in use, but you want to retain Pharos Uniprint records for reporting purposes. You can also use this feature for maintenance purposes. For example, servers can be temporarily taken offline and can be reactivated once the maintenance task is over.

Setting a server to inactive has the following effects:

  • The server no longer performs status checks or contact other services such as the Updater or the Printer Services. This prevents the server from generating additional network traffic from each decommissioned server.
  • The server is excluded from typical server listing operations. For example, when adding a Queue, the inactive server will no longer appear for selection in the drop-down box.
  • The amount of noise generated by log files due to communication failures to the inactive server is reduced.
  • In the Server Configuration context, the server is shown under a new grouping called Inactive Servers.

Setting a server to inactive

1. In the Actions pane, select the Set to Inactive action.

2. In the dialog box that appears, select the server that you want to set to inactive and then click OK.

You may encounter warning messages when setting a server to inactive. For details, please refer to the Warning messages encountered when setting a server to inactive topic below.

3. Click Yes on the confirmation page that appears.

4. Click Change Control to update the system with this new status.

The server selected will be added to the list of Inactive Servers.

After setting a server to ‘inactive’ on Pharos Administrator, Pharos Services running on that server will continue to run. You will need to manually stop the Secure Release Service running on the server so that Uniprint will not attempt to process print jobs when contacted. You will also need to set the Service Startup type of the Secure Release Service and the Print Service to Manual to prevent these Services from starting automatically if the server is rebooted. If the server also has MobilePrint Worker Services running on it, we recommend manually stopping the service and then setting the start type to Manual. This is so the inactive server will not be listed on the MobilePrint > Server Locations tab on Print Center.

When a server is to be installed or upgraded and an inactive server with the same name exists, you will see a warning message informing you that the server already exists in the database. Clicking OK continues the installation and reactivates the existing server record.

Warning messages encountered when setting a server to inactive

When setting a server to inactive, take note of any warning messages. For example, you will get a warning if the server that you are trying to set to inactive still has active Queues associated with it. The action to take will depend on your purpose of setting the server inactive. For instance, if you are removing the server permanently, you will need to delete queues (related to the server being made inactive) from the system to prevent users from inadvertently sending print jobs to them.

Setting a server to active

You can set the server that you have set to inactive back to an "active" state. Click on the Set to Active action found in the Actions Pane and select the server that you want to reactivate.

After setting a server back to an active state on Pharos Administrator, you will need to manually start Pharos Services running on the server. Uniprint does not automatically restart Pharos Services by default.

Removing a server

This action will permanently remove the server from the Pharos Database. This action is particularly useful in cases where a particular server has been inactive over a long period of time and you want to remove the server record from the database.

Before you can remove a server, you must first archive and remove transactions and other settings related to the server,

  1. In the Actions pane, select the Remove Server action.
  2. Select the server that you want to remove.
  3. Click Yes on the confirmation page that appears.