Tribblix: manual page: cups.1

cups(1) OpenPrinting cups(1)

NAME

cups - a standards-based, open source printing system

DESCRIPTION

CUPS is the software you use to print from applications like word
processors, email readers, photo editors, and web browsers. It
converts the page descriptions produced by your application (put a
paragraph here, draw a line there, and so forth) into something your
printer can understand and then sends the information to the printer
for printing.

Now, since every printer manufacturer does things differently,
printing can be very complicated. CUPS does its best to hide this
from you and your application so that you can concentrate on printing
and less on how to print. Generally, the only time you need to know
anything about your printer is when you use it for the first time,
and even then CUPS can often figure things out on its own.

HOW DOES IT WORK?
The first time you print to a printer, CUPS creates a queue to keep
track of the current status of the printer (everything OK, out of
paper, etc.) and any pages you have printed. Most of the time the
queue points to a printer connected directly to your computer via a
USB port, however it can also point to a printer on your network, a
printer on the Internet, or multiple printers depending on the
configuration. Regardless of where the queue points, it will look
like any other printer to you and your applications.

Every time you print something, CUPS creates a job which contains the
queue you are sending the print to, the name of the document you are
printing, and the page descriptions. Job are numbered (queue-1,
queue-2, and so forth) so you can monitor the job as it is printed or
cancel it if you see a mistake. When CUPS gets a job for printing, it
determines the best programs (filters, printer drivers, port
monitors, and backends) to convert the pages into a printable format
and then runs them to actually print the job.

When the print job is completely printed, CUPS removes the job from
the queue and moves on to any other jobs you have submitted. You can
also be notified when the job is finished, or if there are any errors
during printing, in several different ways.

WHERE DO I BEGIN?
The easiest way to start is by using the web interface to configure
your printer. Go to "http://localhost:631" and choose the
Administration tab at the top of the page. Click/press on the Add
Printer button and follow the prompts.

When you are asked for a username and password, enter your login
username and password or the "root" username and password.

After the printer is added you will be asked to set the default
printer options (paper size, output mode, etc.) for the printer. Make
any changes as needed and then click/press on the Set Default Options
button to save them. Some printers also support auto-configuration -
click/press on the Query Printer for Default Options button to update
the options automatically.

Once you have added the printer, you can print to it from any
application. You can also choose Print Test Page from the maintenance
menu to print a simple test page and verify that everything is
working properly.

You can also use the lpadmin(8) and lpinfo(8) commands to add
printers to CUPS. Additionally, your operating system may include
graphical user interfaces or automatically create printer queues when
you connect a printer to your computer.

HOW DO I GET HELP?
The OpenPrinting CUPS website (https://openprinting.github.io/cups)
provides access to the cups and cups-devel mailing lists, additional
documentation and resources, and a bug report database. Most vendors
also provide online discussion forums to ask printing questions for
your operating system of choice.

ENVIRONMENT

CUPS commands use the following environment variables to override the
default locations of files and so forth. For security reasons, these
environment variables are ignored for setuid programs:

CUPS_ANYROOT
Whether to allow any X.509 certificate root (Y or N).

CUPS_CACHEDIR
The directory where semi-persistent cache files can be found.

CUPS_DATADIR
The directory where data files can be found.

CUPS_ENCRYPTION
The default level of encryption (Always, IfRequested, Never,
Required).

CUPS_EXPIREDCERTS
Whether to allow expired X.509 certificates (Y or N).

CUPS_GSSSERVICENAME
The Kerberos service name used for authentication.

CUPS_SERVER
The hostname/IP address and port number of the CUPS scheduler
(hostname:port or ipaddress:port).

CUPS_SERVERBIN
The directory where server helper programs, filters, backend,
etc. can be found.

CUPS_SERVERROOT
The root directory of the server.

CUPS_STATEDIR
The directory where state files can be found.

CUPS_USER
Specifies the name of the user for print requests.

HOME Specifies the home directory of the current user.

IPP_PORT
Specifies the default port number for IPP requests.

LOCALEDIR
Specifies the location of localization files.

LPDEST
Specifies the default print queue (System V standard).

PRINTER
Specifies the default print queue (Berkeley standard).

TMPDIR
Specifies the location of temporary files.

FILES

~/.cups/client.conf
~/.cups/lpoptions

CONFORMING TO

CUPS conforms to the Internet Printing Protocol version 2.1 and
implements the Berkeley and System V UNIX print commands.

NOTES

CUPS printer drivers, backends, and PPD files are deprecated and will
no longer be supported in a future feature release of CUPS. Printers
that do not support IPP can be supported using applications such as
ippeveprinter(1).