Shared printing: Linux to Mac OS X, Windows and of course other Linux boxes!

[Firewing1]

Hey,
I've been trying for a while to get shared printing to work from Linux to Windows and Mac OS X. Recently, I managed! So I'd like to share:


(1) Setup the printer in Linux


This part is fairly straightforward. Just plugin your printer, and it should be added automatically. If it's not, then let's configure it:

su -
yum install system-config-printer-gui
system-config-printer-gui

Add your printer from the printer configuration utility.
Now, click 'Apply' to finalize your print settings. Close the configuration utility.

Now, let's start the utility again and enable printer sharing:

su -
system-config-printer-gui

Click on your printer, and click 'Default'. Next, go to:
File menu > Sharing...
Please make sure 'This queue is available to other hosts' is checked (enabled). Click 'OK' to confirm sharing settings and 'Apply' if needed to finalize them.


(2) Configure using the CUPS backend


Next, we have to make sure CUPS is OK with the sharing. Open up Firefox or your other favourite browser and browse to:
http://localhost:631/printers
On that same printer your configured before, make sure that one of the buttons says:

Unpublish Printer

and not

Publish Printer

If you see 'Unpublish Printer', then sharing is correctly enabled. Please skip to step 3.

If you DID see 'Publish Printer', then please click that button. When it asks for a username and password, enter root for a username and root's password for the password. When you now browse back to http://localhost:631/printers, it should say 'Unpublish Printer'.

Now, browse to:
http://localhost:631/admin. Make sure that 'Share published printers connected to this system' is checked (enabled).


(3) Configure the clients


Now that your printer is correctly shared via IPP (Internet Printing Protocol), the last and final step is to configure the clients.


Client: Mac OS X


Open up a Finder windows and browse to Applications. The easiest way to do this is to click the 'Macintosh HD' icon on your desktop and then to simply click 'Applications' at the top.

Open the Utilities folder, and open Printer Setup Utility. Click 'Add' at the top, and then hold the left option / alt key as your press 'More Printers'.

From the drop-down menu that appears, select 'Advanced'. Type in the information as you like - Queue name is the name for the printer. I like to just use the Linux queue name but add _remote after it so I know it's shared...

The 'Address' field is the important one. Enter the address like this:

ipp://hostname-or-ip:631/printers/linux_host_queue_name

So, for example, in Linux I have a HP DeskJet 5550 attached, and it's queue name is deskjet5550. The box's IP is 192.168.1.2, so the line looks like:

ipp://192.168.1.2:631/printers/deskjet5550

Now, choose the right driver for the remote printer - In some cases if you just stick with 'Generic' it won't print properly. If you're printer isn't listed there, then try going to your provider's site and downloading their driver or, if you have a HP printer, you can install HPIJS for Mac. For other (non-HP) printers, there's also the gimp-print drivers for Macs. In both cases, you'll need to install ESP GhostScript first.


Client: Linux


In Linux, adding a shared printer can all be done via the printer configuration tool. Let's start it again:

su -
system-config-printer-gui

Click 'Add'. Give your new network printer a name and description, it can be whatever you want. This part doesn't really matter. I like to just use the Linux queue name but add _remote after it so I know it's shared...

Click 'Next'. You'll see a drop-down menu at the top that says 'Locally-connected'. Change it to 'Networked CUPS (IPP)'. Complete the fields:
'Server' - enter your hostname or IP of the Linux box.
'Path' - Enter

/printers/linux_host_queue_name

So, for example, in Linux I have a HP DeskJet 5550 attached, and it's queue name is deskjet5550. The box's IP is 192.168.1.2, so my fields would look like:
Server - 192.168.1.2
Path - /printers/deskjet5550

Click 'Next'. For the printer driver, select 'Generic' and then click 'PostScript' in the list.

Click 'Next' (again...) and then 'Finish'. You're done!


Client: Windows

** NOTE: If using Windows ME or earlier you might need Windows patches for IPP printing. The ME one is here **

To add your IPP printer, first get into the "Add a Printer" wizard. It's accessible by:
Start > Control Panel > Printers and Faxes > Add a new Printer

Now that you're in the Wizard, click "Next". It will ask if you're adding a local or networked printer - Select Networked.

Enter your address as:
http://linux_hostname_or_ip:631/printers/linux_host_queue_name

When it asks for a driver, select the "Generic" category and then as a printer model select the "MS Publisher Imagesetter" printer.

Finish the wizard, and now you should be able to print via the IPP printing.

Firewing1

[carramba]

hi!
nice tut, but I have one question, what do you mean by *linux_host_queue_name* and how do I find out mine? do you mean printer name in cups?

when I tryed to print test page from cups page I get:
Error:
Quota limit reached.

**
I tryed to remove printer and reinstall... but now I endet upp with error:

"Filter "ppmtospl2" for printer "Samsung_ML-1710_USB_1" not available: No such file or directory"

EDIT :FIXED
well gote things working, but I hade to use samba to share printer, didn't succedet with cups

[Firewing1]

Yes - For example my real printer name is HP Deskjet 5550 but CUPS adds it as "deskjet5550", so I use that.
Firewing1

[rossheth]

I'd be much obliged if someone could work out how to share a printer attached to a Linux box to a Windows client-I've been trying to do it for weeks. I tried Samba, no luck, and I tried the above method-no go. It's rather annoying.

[coolbeansdude51]

Did you check your error logs. I have tried the above message and my logs have a 403 message. So I am trying to figure out where my permissions have gone wrong.

[Firewing1]

I'd be much obliged if someone could work out how to share a printer attached to a Linux box to a Windows client-I've been trying to do it for weeks. I tried Samba, no luck, and I tried the above method-no go. It's rather annoying.

I just figured out how to get it working in Windows, so I changed the howto - It works on Windows XP for me at least.
EDIT: As for the permission denied problem - The only thing that I changed in CUPS but didn't put into the howto because I though it didn't do anything was I went into http://localhost:631 and clicked "Manage Server" > "Edit Configuration File" and see this part:

<Location />
  # Allow shared printing...
  Order allow,deny
  Allow @LOCAL
</Location>

I added a line to make it look like:

<Location />
  # Allow shared printing...
  Order allow,deny
  Allow @LOCAL
  Allow 192.168.1.*
</Location>

Because all my home network uses the IP scheme of 192.168.1.[whatever]. Try changing it to reflect your network and then try again...
Firewing1

[coolbeansdude51]

SUCCESS!! And soo much easyier than Samba! Thanks so much! Great work!

[carramba]

nice! by some reason I had to edit this

<Location /printers/samsung>
  Order Allow, Deny
  #Deny From All
  Allow From 127.0.0.1
  #AuthType None
  Allow from 192.168.2.*
</Location>

and now it's works fine without password auth, thanx Firewing1

[rossheth]

Finally works under XP, thank you Firewing.

[Snowflake]

I am trying to connect to a Kyocera printer by way of IP addy following your linux instruction and am not sure about the queue name. I have the information sheet for the printer and there is an item called printer name but i'm not sure if i'm suppose to use that or if there is another one. I tried looking for answers on the web but nothing was helpful. Also this printer is connected to a windows server (i think) and other windows computers (i'm running FC4) does any of that matter as to how i set it up? Thanks!

[kgkast]

Digital Nirvana has arrived - at least for the time being. My printer is now shared with my other FC5 desktop and my XP laptop. The XP client configuration worked the first time. The FC5 client configuration took three or four times. That's not unusual for me and I can never figure out why it worked the last time and not on the other tries.

Thanks a lot Firewing, it seems like I have been working on getting the FC5 installation and configuring for most of the summer and this is it for now.

Ken K.

[kgkast]

I had printing working great on my system (two desktops running FC5, one wireless laptop running XP Home, shared HP5550 printer). Earlier this week I decided to set up daily updates via "yum". Now there is no sharing. I have tried (more than once) to reconfigure the Linux client as per the instructions and no errors are apparent until I try to print. I get the following message:

An error occurred while retrieving the printer list.

Connection to CUPS server failed. Check that the CUPS
server is correctly installed and running. Error: the
IPP request failed for an unknown reason.

I have restarted CUPS on both the client and server to no effect.

Any ideas?

I noticed from the "yum" log that CUPS has been updated since I started the daily updates. Could that be a problem? And am I going to have to re-install my printer every time there is an update?

Thanks,

Ken K.

[Firewing1]

Well, I'd update again incase there was a quickfix for the CUPS, and if not then restart and re-configure the server. Usually this fixes it, as sometimes updates will replace configuration files.
Firewing1

[kgkast]

I now have printing working again, sort of. I reconfigured the host computer using the CUPS backend. The printer (HP5550) seems to work fine from the host. I configured the Linux client using Firewing1 instructions. It prints text, including PDF files. When I click on "Print" for such files, the only printer that appears is the one that automatically shows up when one checks "Sharing" on the host, i.e., the "Browsed queues" printer in the "Printer Configuration" tool.

I cannot print from a browser. When I try, both the "Browsed queues" printer and the one I set up using Firewing1 instructions show up in the "Printer" dialog box. I have tried printing from each. It behaves like it is going to print but nothing comes out of the printer. Another interesting observation: When I click on Control Center -> Peripherals -> Printers only the "Browsed queues" printer shows. If I then log in to "Administrator" mode, I get one of two behaviors: Either both printers will show up for a few seconds, then disappear for a few seconds, then reappear, etc. Or I will get the message:

An error occurred while retrieving the printer list. Connection to CUPS server failed.

I set up the Windows printer using the Firewing1 instructions. It seems to print fine from a browser and MS Word. It will not print a PDF file.

I have spent way too much time with this printer problem. Help is badly needed.

Thanks.

[Firewing1]

Make sure you've enabled the shared queue option on the CUPS backend for the printer, and also that you're setup a IPP printer in the Linux systems and you're not just using the 'browse queue'.
Firewing1