Printing in Linux
Ø Printer may be local or networked.
Ø Print requests are sent to queues.
Ø Queued jobs are sent to the printer on a first come first served basis.
Ø Jobs may be canceled before or during printing.
The architecture of printer in Red Hat Linux is given below,
Printing Utilities
| Utility | Performance |
| enseript, awps | This commands test to post script and send it to the print queue or a file. They are often useful to send the output of a command to the printer via a pipe. |
| ggv | The ggv (GNOME Ghost view) utility is used to view post script and DDF files. |
| xpdf | PDF viewer. |
| ps2pdf | Post script to DDF converter. |
| pdf2ps | PDF to post script converter. |
| mpage | Prints multiple pages per sheet. |
Setup printer and Make queue
[root@localhost root]# printconf
[root@localhost root]# redhat-config-printer-tui
ð Above two commands are used to setup a printer.
[root@localhost root]# vi /etc/cups/copsd.conf
ð By default, all the information of printer is stored in the file.
[root@localhost root]# service cups start
Starting cups: [ OK ]
Examples of using printer commands
[root@localhost root]# lpr <>
ð Send a text file for printing to the Que.
| Option | Performance |
| –p | Option is used to select a queue other than the default. |
| -# | Is used to specify the number of copies. |
Example,
[root@localhost root]# lpr -p accounting -#5 report.ps
ð Here “accounting” is a queue name and 5 is the number of copies.
[root@localhost root]# lpq
aaa is ready and printing
Rank Owner Job File(s) Total Size
active root 3 anaconda-ks.cfg 2048 bytes
ð It will show all the jobs of printer in Que.
[root@localhost root]# lprm <>
ð To kill the job of printer.
[root@ localhost root]# lprm 3
[root@ localhost root]# lpq
aaa is ready
no entries
Normally, two method are used in Red hat for printing.
I. cups
II. LP rng
We shall need an rpm, when we are going to select one method from the two methods.
[root@localhost root]# rpm -ivh redhat-switch-printer.rpm
[root@localhost root]# redhat-switch-printer
ð We shall be got the switch option that which method we will use for printer.
