CUPS

Common setup - DO THIS FIRST

sudo apt-get install cupsys cupsys-client

1. go to http://avasys.jp/eng/
2. click download
3. click the type of printer you have (e.g. inkjet)
4. choose the printer model and OS distribution, fill in other info, and click next.
5. download the installation file (e.g. pips-spt50-debian4.0-3.7.0-CG.tgz) to a temp location
6. tar xzf the file in the temp location - it conatains a pips-spt50-debian4.0-3.7.0-CG.install file
7. Run the install file as root, e.g.:
   sudo bash ./pips-spt50-debian4.0-3.7.0-CG.install
8. answer simple questions. On a machine with X it will bring up a window. Click OK. On non-X server the install will fail to run the gui thing. In that case you may have to (as root) edit /var/lib/dpkg/status and remove the entry for pips-st50 (or whatever package is showing 'half-configured'). This may be necessary to fix apt-get & dpkg dependancies. Remove the whole entry (all lines between the blank lines).
9. connect the printer to the computer
10. run a browser and browse to http://localhost:631
11. If you are doing this on a server with no browser, you can do this:
    • on a machine with a browser (e.g. laptop), run:
      ssh -X -L 1234:localhost:631 <server-name-or-ip-addr>
      replace <server-name-or-ip-addr> with the name (or IP) of the server the printer is connected to.
      replace 1234 with any number greater than 1024 (1234 usually works).
    • on the machine with the browser, run the browser and navigate to http://localhost:1234. This will use ssh's port forwarding feature to forward the localhost:1234 port on the browser's machine to the localhost:631 port on the server machine.
12. click Add Printer and follow directions.
13. You will need a root password for the server machine. On ubuntu set the root password to 'xyz' with:
    sudo passwd
    xyz
    xyz
    Later use the same procedure to set it to some random hard-to-guess value.
14. USB printer should be autodetected. Other types might need specification of port, etc.
15. When asked for a .ppd file, look in /usr/local/EPAva/printer/<name-of-printer>. For example, the Epson Artisan 50 printer seems to work with the /usr/local/EPAva/printer/spt50/ekas50.ppd file.
16. Once set up go to the printer (in the browser) and choose print test page from maintenance pulldown. Or open firefox and print a page to the printer.

1. Follow directions above to get the printer working locally on the server.
2. Get on the server's CUPS page: http://localhost:631 on the server (see above).
3. go to administration
4. check all of:
   • Show printers shared by other systems
   • Share published printers connected to this system
   • Allow printing from the Internet
   You can also check
   • Allow remote administration
   if you want.
5. click change settings
6. on the server command line run these commands:
   cupsctl --share-printers
   cupsctl 'BrowseLocalProtocols="cups dnssd lpd smb"'
   (I think these can also be added by editing the config file - not sure.)

Using a shared printer connected to a server from a client over network

1. Run browser on client and go to client's cups config page: http:localhost:631
2. click Administration
3. check
   • Show printers shared by other systems
4. click change settings
5. You may also need to run this command line:
   cupsctl BrowseRemoteProtocols=cups
6. click administration
7. click Add Printer
8. choose Other Network Printers: Internet Printing Protocol (ipp)
9. click continue
10. choose the printer you want and answer questions.
11. You may need a .ppd file - see above
12. Now print a test page or print a page from a browser, etc.
13. NOTE: When using a remote printer on a cups server, it seems that the client wants to use the servers fully qualified domain name. So if you have trouble printing you may need to add the server's IP address and fully qualified domain name (and/or hostname) to your /etc/hosts file. (This may only be a problem if the server has multiple names.) (xxx)

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    • Index of Web Pages from CVS
    • Acorn's Homepage
    • Acorn's Stuff Page