Chapter 15. Authenticated Printing

Table of Contents

15.1. Key Concepts
15.1.1. User
15.1.2. Person
15.1.3. Abstract User
15.1.4. Domain User
15.1.5. Synchronized User
15.1.6. Synchronized Person
15.1.7. Internal Person
15.1.8. Authenticated User
15.1.9. Authenticated Abstract User
15.1.10. Authenticated Person
15.1.11. Trusted SavaPage Queue
15.1.12. Public SavaPage Queue
15.1.13. IP Based Authentication
15.1.14. Mail Print Authentication
15.1.15. Local User
15.1.16. Local Abstract User
15.1.17. Local Person
15.1.18. User Alias
15.2. Single Sign-On Domains
15.2.1. Authentication Loopholes
15.2.2. Unauthenticated Users
15.3. Peer to Peer Networks
15.4. User Name Aliases

Authentication in a printing environment is the act of confirming the digital identity of the person who issued a print job. Knowledge of this identity is crucial for SavaPage to securely offer its services to the right user. The next sections discuss authenticated printing in:

But first, let us introduce the key authentication concepts where our discussion is based upon.

15.1. Key Concepts

This section lists the main authentication concepts headed with a short term. Each term is defined with a concise description, optionally followed with more details and a list of invariants.

15.1.1. User

An actor with a unique identity.

15.1.2. Person

A User who represents a real human being, as opposed to an abstract human role, software service or hardware device.

  • Only Persons can login to SavaPage.

  • Any User can print to a SavaPage Printer. However, SavaPage assigns a print job to a Person.

15.1.3. Abstract User

A User who is not a Person.

15.1.4. Domain User

A User defined in a SSO domain.

15.1.5. Synchronized User

A SavaPage User synchronized from a User Source.

  • SavaPage assumes each Synchronized User is a Person, but Administrators can mark a user as Abstract.

15.1.6. Synchronized Person

A Synchronized User that is a Person.

15.1.7. Internal Person

A Person who is internally defined in SavaPage (opposed to a Synchronized Person).

15.1.8. Authenticated User

A User authenticated on a SSO domain by a workstation login.

15.1.9. Authenticated Abstract User

An Abstract User authenticated on a SSO domain by a workstation login.

  • Before Authenticated Abstract Users can print to a SavaPage Printer they need to login to the SavaPage Web App on the same device from which they use the printer.

15.1.10. Authenticated Person

A Synchronized Person authenticated on a SSO domain by a workstation login.

  • Authenticated Persons can print to SavaPage without being logged in to the Web App.

15.1.11. Trusted SavaPage Queue

A SavaPage Print Queue whose print jobs are trusted to originate from Authenticated Users.

  • Each SavaPage Print Queue is trusted by default. However, administrators can mark SavaPage Print Queues as untrusted.

  • Every job of a Trusted SavaPage Queue is checked for the originating User. When this user is an Abstract User, SavaPage uses IP Based Authentication to deduce the associated Person. When the Person cannot be deduced the job is ignored.

  • Note that the trust qualification is SavaPage internal use only, and not related to network domain trust in any way.

  • SavaPage Print Queues are IPP based and, from a network point of view, are publicly accessible by nature.

  • In the Microsoft Active Directory world IPP Printers cannot be encapsulated as native domain resource and subjected to native domain access control like JetDirect compatible devices. This is why SavaPage does not bet on native domain trust alone, and accepts public network access as a given fact. But even in this case, SavaPage Print Queues can still be internally trusted if access is limited to authorized users on a network level. Stated the other way round: administrators need to prevent that users who connect to the network unauthenticated, e.g. with their personal laptop, use Trusted SavaPage Queues. SavaPage adds a helping hand here with an option to restrict print queue usage to a specific range of IP addresses. This makes it possible for instance to deny trusted queue access for wireless users who get their IP addresses from a distinct DHCP server issuing leases from a distinct IP range.

    Caution

    When non-domain users are allowed to print to Trusted SavaPage Printers an accidental match with a Synchronized Person may lead to undesirable results.

15.1.12. Public SavaPage Queue

A SavaPage Print Queue where print jobs are not trusted to originate from Authenticated Users.

  • Since each SavaPage Printer is trusted by default, this queue must be explicitly marked as untrusted in the SavaPage Admin Web App.

  • SavaPage handles every job from a Public SavaPage Printer as originating from an Abstract User.

15.1.13. IP Based Authentication

Deduction of the printing Person by matching the IP address of the originating host of the print job with the authenticated SavaPage Web App Session on the same host.

15.1.14. Mail Print Authentication

Deduction of the printing Person using the email address of the sender.

  • This type of authentication is applied for print jobs coming in from Mail Print.

  • When no unique matching Person is found, or when the Person is disabled, authentication fails. Consult Section 4.4.4, “Edit User” on how to mark a User as (enabled) Person.

15.1.15. Local User

A User defined on a local device.

15.1.16. Local Abstract User

An Abstract User defined on a local device.

15.1.17. Local Person

A Person defined on a local device.

15.1.18. User Alias

An alternative name for a User.

  • A single User can have several aliases.

  • An alias is applied at the following levels:

For more information see Section 15.4, “User Name Aliases”.