Chapter 12

Guide to Linux Installation and Administration, 2e 1

Chapter 12

Printing in Linux

Objectives

In this chapter, you will:• Configure and use the traditional Linux printing

architecture • Understand the Common UNIX Printing System

(CUPS) • Print files from different applications • Locate and relieve system bottlenecks• Manage networked printing resources

Using Traditional Linux Printing

• The traditional Linux printing architecture is called LPRng and is based on the system developed for BSD UNIX

• LPRng printing allows multiple users to print files at the same time to either local or networked printers

The Printing Process

• Printer definitions, or print queues describe the type of printer and the features to be used when something is printed on it

• The file submitted for printing is called a print job• The print job is processed by a print filter• After sending the print job through a print filter,

the printing utility stores the print job in a print spool directory

• The print server program, lpd, keeps track of all the print jobs in all the print queues on the system

A Single Print Queue Can Refer to Multiple Physical Printers

Many Print Queues Can Refer to a Single Physical Printer

Understanding Print Filters and Drivers

• Linux uses special programs called print filters• A Linux print filter converts documents or images

into a format that the printer can use

Printer Languages

• A page description language is a special set of codes that determine the graphics elements, text font, and everything else about what appears on a printed page

• The most widely used page description languages are PostScript and Printer Control Language (PCL)

The Magic Filter

• Most Linux distributions use a “magic filter” that can convert documents into formats for many different printers

• The “magic filter” doesn’t generally allow Linux to use the specialized features of each printer

Configuring Local Printer Definitions

• A local printer is a printer directly attached to your computer

• Define one or more printers before you can print documents

Reviewing printcap

• Each LPRng printer definition is created as a print queue entry in the /etc/printcap configuration file

• To use a local printer, you must provide the appropriate Linux device name when you configure the printer

• The format of a printcap entry consists of a print queue name, followed by a series of two-character option codes that apply to that printer

Configuring printcap Graphically

• Several graphical tools can create basic printcap entries:– Printer Configuration Tool printconf-gui in Red Hat

Linux– YAST utility in SuSE Linux– Webmin in Caldera OpenLinux

Defining the Printer Name and Type in the printconf-gui Utility

Selecting a Printer Driver in printconf-gui

The Main Window of printconf-gui

Selecting the Print System to Configure within the KDE Control

Center

Selecting a Printer in the KDE Printer Manager Wizard

Reviewing Printer Driver Settings in KDE

Managing Printers in the KDE Control Center

Printing Remotely Using lpd

• Define a printer on your system that refers to the remote computer and a print queue on the remote system

• The lpd daemon on your computer communicates with the lpd program on the remote computer, transferring the print job

Printing to a Remote Printer Using lpd

Defining a Remote lpd-based Printer in printconf-gui

Defining a Remote lpd-based Printer in KDE

Understanding the Common Unix Printing System

• The Common UNIX Printing System (CUPS) provides a new architecture for Linux and UNIX printing

• CUPS lets users and system administrators browse the network to find and print to networked printers and other devices

• CUPS lets system administrators manage printer definitions and print jobs across the network

Configuring Printers within CUPS

• The cupsd print server daemon uses HTTP protocol and accepts requests and processes print jobs sent over the network

• The cupsd print server daemon manages printers using a Web browser interface

• The CUPS architecture uses network port 631 to communicate between CUPS-enabled print servers

The Main Page of the CUPS Browser-Based Interface

The Printers Page in the CUPS Web Interface

Configuring an Existing Printer in CUPS

Setting up CUPS Classes

• CUPS class is a group of printers to which a user can submit a print job

• Whichever printer within the class is first available will be used to print the job

The Classes Page within the CUPS Configuration

Printing Files

• You can print files– from a command line– from a specialized graphical tool– from any graphical application

Printing from a Command Line

• The basic printing command is lpr• The lpr command is used for printing to both

LPRng and CUPS-based printers• Command options for lpr apply to a specific print

job, not to all print jobs sent to the printer

Command Options for lpr

lpr Options Supported by CUPS

Printing from Graphical Applications

• You typically print from a graphical application by choosing Print from the File menu

• Graphical applications rely on the lpr utility• You can print to a file• Gnome and KDE applications build upon a

standard dialog box

The Print Dialog Box in Gnumeric

The Print Dialog Box in KWord

The Print Dialog Box in Netscape Communicator

Managing the Printing Environment

• A system administrator manages printing• The system administrator takes care about

printer supplies and solves printer-related problems

Deciding on Printing Policies

• A printing policy is a brief statement of rules describing how printing resources can be used and how printers will be managed

• A printing policy is a helpful document for any organization with more than two or three users who rely on the same printer

Using the lpc Utility

• The lpc utility is the printer control utility• The lpc command-line utility lets you control

LPRng or CUPS printing, specifying how print jobs are accepted and processed

• You must be root to use lpc• You can include an lpc command as a parameter

on the command line

lpc Commands

Using lpc to Control the Printing Process

Tracking Print Jobs

• To view the print jobs in the default print queue, the lpq command is used

• The lprm command deletes a print job from a queue

Using Graphical Print Management Utilities

• You can use two KDE graphical utilities to manage printing:– KDE Print Job Viewer– KLpq program

The KDE Print Job Viewer

The KLpq Printing Manager

Managing CUPS Print Jobs in a Browser

Summary• The traditional Linux printing architecture is called

LPRng and is based on the system developed for BSD UNIX

• Printers are typically connected locally to either a parallel or serial port

• A system administrator creates printer definitions, which act as print queues

• Printer definitions are stored in /etc/printcap and can be created using printconf-gui or other text-mode or graphical tools

• Users submit print jobs to a named print queue using either the lpr command or a graphical dialog box

Summary• The data that a user submits as a print job is

processed using a print filter, which converts raw document data into a format a printer can understand, such as PCL or PostScript

• A printing policy informs users of how they can use printing resources and what they can expect from the system administrator who manages the printers

• The Common UNIX Printing System (CUPS) provides a new architecture for Linux and UNIX printing

• Print jobs waiting to be printed on a system using CUPS can be managed using the CUPS browser-based interface

Chapter 12

Documents

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