1. Printing from Unix with CUPS

ECE/CIS uses a print system called CUPS and its programs are located in /usr/local/cups/bin.

The simplest way to print is to use lpr. It takes the name of the file to be printed and a -P printername option will cause it to go to printername instead of the default printer for that host. lpr will print text or PostScript files. For example, lpr -P cis filename. The CUPS system is also able to handle other file types such as PDF, and JPEG but it's best to convert these to postscript using commands like pdf2ps.

1.1 The default printer

When print programs are not given a -P printername they use the default printer. The default printer can be configured by each user by using lpoptions. For example, lpoptions -d cis2 will cause your default printer to be cis2. If the option is not set, then the programs will use default configured for the host the program is run on. Hosts are configured to go to a printer close to them, by default, or at least in the same building. To find the default printer just type "lpq". This will show the status for default printer including the location.

If you want to change you default printer run "lpoptions -d printername" where printername is the name of the printer you want Asto make the default.

1.2 Default paper size

The default paper size can also be set using lpoptions. Many times this is useful when printing to printers with both A4 and Letter support (ex: cis) since otherwise when printing a PDF for example, it will take the default paper size from what is encoded in the PDF. To see the paper size of a PDF you can run pdfinfo filename.pdf | grep Paper\ size or simply pdfinfo filename.pdf for the standard output. You can set a default paper size using lpoptions that will take precedence over the encoded paper size like so: lpoptions -p printername -o PageSize=papersize ex: lpoptions -p cis -o PageSize=Letter. Its recommended to set your default page size to letter on the print queues you use frequently to avoid stuck jobs where the printer is waiting for A4 paper, and only set it to A4 when you need it.

One exception is that lprclear does not use the CUPS printer options. A -P printername must be given to not use the default printer configured for the host.

2. Printer status from Unix with lpq

To get the print queue of the printers use lpq. It also takes a -P printername option to show the status of a printer other than the default one for that host. For example, lpq -P cis.

3. Finding list of printers

The list of printers and their current queues can be found with lpstat -a.

4. Removing jobs with lprm

Print jobs on the queue can be removed with lprm. It takes the job number, displayed by lpq, and removes the job. It also takes the -P printername option. Also you must run lprm on the same host the job was submitted from. For example, lprm -Pcis 111. If you run lprm -P printername without specifying a job number, it will delete your current print request.

Note: lprm is silent if there are no applicable print requests to be removed.

lprclear can be used to remove the top job on the printer when given the -r option. This should only be used when it appears that the print job at the top of the queue is causing the printer to hang. For example, lprclear -r -Pcis
Please use this command only when completely necessary.

5. Restarting the print server with lprclear

When lpq shows "no server present" or the printer appears to be hung or in an error state, the server can be restarted with lprclear. For example:

lprclear -Pcis

6. Restricted printer, permissions

The following is a typical error when trying to print to a restricted printer.

/usr/local/cups/bin/lpr: Not allowed to print.

Some printers are restricted to certain groups. For example, ee2, is restricted to the image group. If you need to print to a restricted printer one of the faculty members use the Help system, stating that you should be added to the group for that printer.

7. Printer Quotas

Many ECE/CIS printers have an accounting system on them that allows for quotas. This permits a way to cut down on the waste and abuse of printers and supplies of the Lab.

The reason for putting this accounting/quota system into place is to make people think about what they're printing, if it's really necessary, and to not use the printers as "copiers". This is in an effort to cut down on the use of expensive printer supplies, such as toner, as well as paper.

The quota system for CUPS is slighty different than past quota systems; instead of users having a quota per printer users have a global balance that will be charged on each print job on an ECE printer. Before this balance reaches zero warning emails will be sent, however all jobs will be denied once your balance reaches zero. The quota will not be enforced on CIS printers currently. A print summary of print usage per user and per printer will be done at the end of each month when balances are reset and emailed to people in the respected department. Faculty and staff have a balance that should never reach zero, with grad students having more than undergrad, and other users.

Users may find their current quota with "pbalance".

8. Using Samba server to print

Windows PCs (and Macs, if necessary) may print to ECE/CIS printers using the smb1 samba server. For more info please see the ECE/CIS SAMBA Mini-Howto.

9. Printing directly from Windows XP or Windows Vista

For the following direction you need to be connected to the EECIS network through either a wall-jack or the acad wireless network. Windows can print directly to CUPS print servers, but your user name under Windows must be the same as your EECIS username. If you attempt to print as a user with a different name, your print job will appear to execute, but will be silently discarded by the print server.

Note that you will need Administrator access to set up printers under Windows, but do not need to be an Administrator to print. To add printers:

Select Control Panel from the Start menu.
Click Switch to Classic View (just Classic View under Windows Vista) and then double-click Printers and Faxes (just Printers under Windows Vista).
Click Add a printer to start the Add Printer Wizard. Click Next under Windows XP.
Under Windows XP, choose "A network printer..." and click Next.
Under Windows Vista, click "Add a network, wireless or Bluetooth printer", then click "The printer that I want isn't listed". There is no need to wait for the "Searching" to finish.
Choose "Connect to this printer..." under Windows XP or "Select a shared printer by name" under Windows Vista.
Enter http://print1.eecis.udel.edu:631/printers/cis-color as the name of the printer (substituting the actual name of the printer you wish to add for "cis-color"). Click Next.
Choose Apple as the "Manufacturer" and "Apple LaserWriter 16/600 PS" as the "Printer" ("Apple Color LaserWriter 12/600" for color printers). Click OK. There may be a brief pause. Note: for some printers and some print clients (VISTA), you may get better results using HP as the "Manufacturer" and "LaserJet 5/5M Postscript" as the "Printer" ("HP LaserJet Color Printer Postscript" for color printers).
If you want to print to the new printer by default, select Yes, otherwise select No. (Under Windows Vista check or uncheck the "Set a the default printer" box.) Click Next.
Click Finish.

10. Printing from Mac OS X

CUPS is the native print queuing software for Mac OS X, but the features required to print to EECIS printers are not available via the "System Preferences". There are two ways to configure Macs for printing to EECIS printers.

Important Note: the "short name" of your Mac account must be the same as your EECIS login name! If they differ, you will either need to change your Mac account short name or use the printing instructions from the ECE/CIS SAMBA Mini-Howto.

10.1 Printing exclusively to EECIS printers

This method will automatically make all EECIS printers available to your Mac, but you will not be able to include any other printers. It is most appropriate for workstations and laptops that are only used around campus.

Create a file called ~/.cups/client.conf (if necessary, create the .cups folder in your home directory first) containing the single line: "ServerName print1.eecis.udel.edu".
Log off and back on again. All applications should now be able to print to all EECIS printers.

The above will configure only your account for printing. To have all users exclusively use EECIS printers, put the above client.conf file in /etc/cups. You will need to use a terminal and sudo for this. Note that only applications started after the change will see the printers.

10.2 Printing to mixed EECIS and other printers.

This method should be used if you wish to add only a subset of the EECIS printers and/or have non-EECIS printers available to your Mac. You'll be asked for a username and password: use a username and password of any local administrator (i.e. someone with sudo access).

Under the Apple menu, select System Preferences.
Choose Print & Fax.
If the "lock" icon is closed, click the lock to allow changes.
Click the + under the list of printers.
Find and select the Advanced option:
- OS X 10.4:
  1. Hold down the Alt/Option key and click More Printers.
  2. In the drop down box near the top, select Advanced.
- OS X 10.5 (note: the first three steps need only be taken one time, not once for each printer)
  1. Hold down the CTRL key and click in the icon bar.
  2. Select Customize toolbar from the context-menu
  3. Drag the Advanced button to the toolbar
  4. Click the Advanced button. There may be a delay before the drop-down boxes populate.
In the drop-down labeled Type (10.5) or Device (10.4), select Internet Printing Protocol (http) (10.5) or Internet Printing Protocol using HTTP (10.4)
Choose a name for the printer (e.g., cis-color) and enter it in the box labeled Name (10.5) or Device Name (10.4).
Enter http://print1.eecis.udel.edu:631/printers/cis-color as the Device URL (10.5) or Device URI (10.4). Substitute the actual name of the printer for "cis-color".
Under 10.5, you may enter a Location, if you wish.
Use a generic printer driver:
- 10.4: Select Generic for the Printer Model.
- 10.5: Select Select a driver to use next to Print Using and choose Generic PostScript Printer, 1.3 in the selection box that appears below. (NB: you can type in the entry box to narrow down the list of drivers; entering "generic" will let you find the Generic PostScript Printer, 1.3 more easily).

11. Printer User Manuals

There are PDF files of user manuals for some printers here.

12. July 2008 smb1 Changes

On July 16, the smb1 Samba server was moved to new hardware. As a result of these changes, machines on the acad network that were configured to print through smb1.eecis need to be reconfigured to print through smb1.acad.ece. This includes Windows laptops that are meant to print across the acad wireless network. If you are unable to print on a laptop or other machine that was previously capable of printing, you may need to reconfigure the printer settings as per these instructions

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I believe there's an option in vista to "right click" on the printer and select the "user/password" combination to use for the print server, so there is no need of opening a new account that matches.

Also, the Generic Driver described, generates gigantic files that take long time to queue, and for wireless users might even time them out (an unpleasant feeling for users).