Re: [gentoo-user] Getting printer working, the road of Pain.

[Ramon Fischer]

Hello Alan,



>> (meanwhile, Windows can print to the thing effortlessly....)
I guess, that you are going to configure a network printer.



I will try to explain you my setup; maybe you or others can derive 

something from this.



Make sure, that the user, which you configure the printer with, is a 

member of the group "lpadmin":



    $ gpasswd --add <some_user> lpadmin

    $ getent group lpadmin

    lpadmin:x:<some_group_id>:<some_user>



On the server-site, the configuration file "/etc/cups/cupsd.conf" should 

be configured like so. See comments for explanations:



    # Only listen for connections from the local machine.

    Listen localhost:631

    # custom - 20210706 - rfischer: set custom listen address to

    "192.168.1.80" to make it available via the network

    Listen 192.168.1.80:631

    Listen /run/cups/cups.sock



    # custom - 20210706 - rfischer: make cups available via "hostname"

    or "domain"

    ServerAlias *



    # Restrict access to the server...

    #<Location />

    #  Order allow,deny

    #</Location>

    # custom - 20210706 - rfischer: allow access from "localhost" and

    via the network

    <Location />

       Order allow,deny

       Allow localhost

       Allow from 192.168.1.*

    </Location>



    # Restrict access to the admin pages...

    #<Location /admin>

    #  Order allow,deny

    #</Location>

    # custom - 20210706 - rfischer: make administration page available

    via the network

    <Location /admin>

       Encryption Required

       Order allow,deny

       Allow localhost

       Allow from 192.168.1.*

    </Location>



Restart the daemon on the server-site:



    $ systemctl restart cups



This will also restart the Systemd socket unit "cups.socket" and 

"cups.path".



Make sure, that CUPS is running on "192.168.1.80:631":



    $ ss -tulpan | grep "631"

    tcp    LISTEN   0        5          192.168.1.80:631 0.0.0.0:*      

    users:(("cupsd",pid=2190,fd=8))

    tcp    LISTEN   0        5              127.0.0.1:631

    0.0.0.0:*       users:(("cupsd",pid=2190,fd=7))

    tcp    LISTEN   0        5 [::1]:631               [::]:*

    users:(("cupsd",pid=2190,fd=6))





If printing via hostname is desired, you can add the following entry for 

your local DNS server:



    192.168.1.80 cups.intern



This Forward DNS lookup entry can also be entered on the client-site in 

the configuration file "/etc/hosts".



Your CUPS isntance should be now available via "cups.intern:631". There 

you should be able to configure your printer.



I configured the server-site via USB:



    usb:/<some_printer_name>?serial=<some_serial_number>



In the best case, CUPS already has a pre-installed printer driver or you 

have a PPD (PostScript Printer Description) file, which you can upload, 

when adding the printer.



Once configured, the directory tree of "/etc/cups/" on the server-site 

should look like this:



    $ tree -ugp --noreport --charset iwantprintableasciiplease /etc/cups

    /etc/cups

    |-- [-rw------- root     lp      ]  classes.conf

    |-- [-rw-r--r-- root     root    ]  cups-browsed.conf

    |-- [-rw-r--r-- root     root    ]  cupsd.conf

    |-- [-rw-r--r-- root     root    ]  cups-files.conf

    |-- [drwxr-xr-x root     root    ]  interfaces

    |-- [drwxr-xr-x root     lp      ]  ppd

    |   |-- [-rw-r----- root     lp      ] <some_printer_name>.ppd

    |-- [-rw------- root     lp      ]  printers.conf

    |-- [-rw-r--r-- root     root    ]  raw.convs

    |-- [-rw-r--r-- root     root    ]  raw.types

    |-- [-rw-r--r-- root     root    ]  snmp.conf

    |-- [drwx------ root     lp      ]  ssl

    |   |-- [-rw-r--r-- root     root    ]

    <some_hostname_from_/etc/hostname>.crt

    |   |-- [-rw-r--r-- root     root    ]

    <some_hostname_from_/etc/hostname>.key

    `-- [-rw-r----- root     lp      ]  subscriptions.conf



Since I do not want to install the printer driver on every client and 

let the clients render the pages, I want to let the server handle these 

things.



On the client-site (localhost:631) therefore, I can just add the printer 

via "http/s" or "ipp/s" and transfer everything either via "IPP 

everywhere" or "raw":



    ipps://cups.intern:631/printers/<some_printer_name>



Be aware, that "raw" is deprecated and newer versions of CUPS will 

remove it. So "IPP everywhere" would be the choice, but I stick to 

"raw", since the former shuffles print jobs for some reason, when I want 

to print multiple files via "lpr <some_file1> <some_file2>" on either 

the client- or server-site.



You should now be able to print a test page on the client- and server-site.



Much success and a pinch of luck! :)



-Ramon



On 08/09/2022 18:52, Alan Grimes wrote:

> Ok. I'm going to have to do it. I'm going to have to get my blessed
> printer working.
>
> It is the finest laser printer money can buy. God himself uses it to
> process the paperwork involved in assigning souls to either heaven or
> hell... What I'm saying is that the printer is such an immaculate
> example of printing perfection that linux is going to give me absolute
> hell getting it working.
>
> I will be sthocked if I can get it working in less than two weeks
> working full time and without influcting a migraine and/or an ulcer on
> myself.
>
> (meanwhile, Windows can print to the thing effortlessly....)
>
> Right now linux is so broken that the CUPS web interface will deny all
> attempts to administer the printer and reject any password. The config
> file is written in moonspeak, I just need the motherfucking thing to
> say yes when I tell it to do a thing. I expect it to take 2-3 days
> just to get over this hurdle.
>
> How can people actually go around installing linux on people's
> computers as if they were doing them a favor when it really is this bad?
>


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