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Using the CUPS browser interface

CUPS' printer controls are located, conveniently, here:

http://localhost:631/

There's a menu of tasks to choose from, from which you can configure new printers and manage the jobs of already-configured ones. You'll have to be root for this, but working through a browser that a user owns. (So, just open up your favorite browser in an X-session as you, and then enter root's name and password at the prompt.)

From here, it's easy. Go to ``Manage Printers,'' then ``add printer.'' You'll be prompted for a ``device URI,'' which apparently stands for Universal Resource Identifier. Since you're printing to a Windoze printer over samba (you choose this somewhere), it'll start you off with smb://. Just fill in the path of your remote printer from there. My printer was on
BRN_31D11E
(trust that Windoze to come up with some weird, arbitrary printer domain name!), and the printer name was BINARY_P1, so my device URI looked like this:

smb://BRN_31D11E/BINARY_P1

Pretty straightforward.

My printer model (Brother HL-1270N) didn't show up in the list, so I just clicked ``generic printer'' (or whatever it was).

And, presto! The thing's configured! Try printing a test page -- mine worked perfectly.

Now, you can use the BSD-style lpr commands to queue things up. Either remember to specify the printer each time (with the -P switch, so: lpr -P printername foo), or set your $PRINTER environment variable to the name of your printer (which, in my case, was BINARY_P1).


next up previous
Next: Getting OpenOffice to print Up: Printing to a Windoze Previous: Printing to a Windoze
Nori Heikkinen 2003-07-08