cups(1) manual page
Table of Contents
cups - a standards-based, open source printing system
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.
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.
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.
The CUPS web site (http://www.CUPS.org) 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.
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.
~/.cups/client.conf~/.cups/lpoptions
CUPS conforms to the Internet
Printing Protocol version 2.1 and implements the Berkeley and System V UNIX
print commands.
cancel(1)
, client.conf(7)
, cupsctl(8)
, cupsd(8)
,
lp(1)
, lpadmin(8)
, lpinfo(8)
, lpoptions(1)
, lpr(1)
, lprm(1)
, lpq(1)
, lpstat(1)
,
CUPS Online Help (http://localhost:631/help), CUPS Web Site (http://www.CUPS.org),
PWG Internet Printing Protocol Workgroup (http://www.pwg.org/ipp)
Copyright
[co] 2007-2014 by Apple Inc.
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