Setting Up Printers by Using CUPS Print Manager

This section describes tasks that are required to set up printers by using CUPS Print Manager.

Local Server Configuration

Each system that uses CUPS can be both a print server and a print client. The system acts as the server for any printer that is physically connected to it and for any print queues that are created on that system.

To configure advanced settings and options for a local CUPS server, start CUPS Print Manager, then choose Server → Settings. In the Basic Server Settings dialog, click the Advanced button. The following advanced server settings and options can be viewed or configured:

• Job History – Controls the print job history for a specified printer or printers

• Browse Servers – Enables you to restrict browsing by CUPS to certain print servers for the purpose of polling print queues

In the Basic Server Settings dialog you can configure the following settings:

• Show printers that are shared by other systems – Enables other CUPS print queues to be visible to the local system.

• Publish shared printers connected to this system – Publishes a list of print queues that are configured on a system to the other systems on a local area network (LAN). You can also publish print queues to be accessible beyond the LAN. The Allow Printing from the Internet option is only available if this setting has been selected.

• Allow remote administration – Enables you to administer the print queue from a remote system by using either CUPS Print Manager or the CUPS web browser interface.

• Allow users to cancel any job (not just their own) – Enables users to cancel any print jobs.

• Save debugging information for troubleshooting – Enables the logging of debugging information for troubleshooting purposes.

Remote Server Configuration

You can configure CUPS to administer print queues on a remote print server. Typically, you can connect to remote servers within the same local area network (LAN). Only those print queues that are owned by the remote print server to which you are connected can be modified. Each remote server determines whether its configured print queues can be shared or remotely modified based on the Settings dialog for the specified printer.

Published printers are printers that are publicly announced by the server on the LAN, based on how the cupsd.conf file has been configured for browsing. Shared or published printers can be detected by remote print clients but unshared or unpublished printers are not announced on the network.

How to Configure CUPS to Administer Remote Print Queues

1. Start the CUPS Print Manager GUI by choosing System → Administration → Print Manager from the desktop's main menubar or by typing the following command in a terminal window:

   $ system-config-printer

2. From the Server menu, choose Settings.

   The Basic Server Settings dialog is displayed.

3. Select the following options:

   • Publish Shared Printers Connected to This System – Displays the shared or published printers that can be detected by remote print clients. If you do not enable this option, some printers might not be displayed in the list of available printers when you connect to the remote server.

   • Allow Remote Administration – Enables you to connect to a remote server.

4. Click OK.
5. From the Server menu, choose the Connect option.

   The Connect to CUPS Server dialog is displayed.

6. Select the desired remote server from the CUPS server list.
7. (Optional) If you require encryption, select the Require Encryption option.
8. Click the Connect button.
9. Type the root password for the remote system.

   You can now remotely administer print queues on the remote system in the same way that you administer local print queues.

Selecting a Print Device

When you set up a new printer or when you modify the properties of a configured printer, you must select an appropriate device for that printer. The following table describes the device choices that might be displayed in the Select Device window.

How to Set Up a New Local Printer

The following procedure describes how to set up a new locally attached printer by using the CUPS Print Manager GUI.

1. Connect the new printer to your local system, then power it on.
   • When the printer is detected by the system, the Printer configuration dialog appears, displaying information about the newly detected printer.
   • If you are adding a new printer that was not automatically detected, do the following:
     1. Start CUPS Print Manager by choosing System → Administration → Print Manager from the desktop's main menubar or by typing the following command in a terminal window:

        $ system-config-printer

     2. Choose Server → New → Printer from the main menu.

        Alternatively, you can click the New icon that is located on the menubar.

     3. When prompted, type the root password.

        The Printer configuration dialog appears, displaying all of the configured printers and the newly connected printer.

2. In the Select Device window, select the appropriate device, then click Forward.

   By default, CUPS selects the USB device that is physically connected to your system or the device that was detected by HAL. Note that these two entries might be for the same printer. For more information about selecting a device, see Selecting a Print Device.

3. In the Choose Driver window, select a make for your printer, then click Forward.
4. Determine whether to accept the default printer driver or provide a PPD file.
   • To use the default driver, leave the Select Printer From Database option selected.
   • To provide a PPD file:
     1. Select the Provide PPD File option.

        The Select a File window is displayed.

     2. Locate the specified PPD file on your system, then click Open to associate the PPD file with the new printer.
5. From the left pane of the next Choose Driver window, select a printer model. From the right pane, select a printer driver. Then, click Forward.

   By default, CUPS selects a “recommended” printer model and driver for your printer. However, you can optionally make another selection from the list of available drivers.

6. In the Installable Options window, change any of the options that are available for your particular printer model, then click Forward.

   For more information, see Configurable Printer Properties.

7. In the Describe Printer window, provide the following information:

   • Printer Name

   • Description

   • Location

8. To save your changes, click Apply. If prompted, type the root password.

   After you have saved your changes, the newly configured printer is displayed in the CUPS Print Manager window.

9. (Optional) To set the printer as the default, right-click the printer name.
   1. Choose the Set as Default option.
   2. In the Set Default Printer window, choose one of the following options:

      • Set as the system-wide default printer (default)

      • Set as my personal default printer

10. Click OK to save the printer configuration.
11. (Optional) To verify that the printer is configured correctly and is working, print a test page.