2.3.3 Interaction Details

Print servers access data in the Active Directory through the domain controller, which acts as an LDAP server. Print servers locate the domain controller by using the mechanism specified in [MS-ADTS] section 6.3.6.1. The remainder of this section describes the sequences of steps performed by print servers in their interactions with the Active Directory.

Unless noted otherwise, the print server SHOULD detect any LDAP failures that can occur during all of the following operations: publishing a print queue to the Active Directory (section 2.3.3.1), modifying or deleting a print queue in the Active Directory (section 2.3.3.2), or searching for print queues in the Active Directory (section 2.3.3.3). If the print server detects an LDAP failure, it SHOULD retry the complete publish, modification, deletion, or search operation. Retries SHOULD be separated by time intervals decaying from 10 seconds to 2 hours.

Because of LDAP failures, print queue objects in the Active Directory do not necessarily match the state of the print server at all times. Aside from update operations executed at print server initialization or periodically (section 2.3.3.4), print servers can attempt to maintain consistency between their internal state and the objects in the Active Directory using other processes.