Chapter 26. Printer Configuration
Printer Configuration Tool allows users to
configure a printer in Red Hat Linux. It helps maintain the
/etc/printcap configuration file, print spool
directories, and print filters.
Starting with version 8.0, Red Hat Linux ships with two printer systems.
Printer Configuration Tool configures the printing
system called LPRng. LPRng is also the default printing system. This
chapter focuses on using Printer Configuration Tool to configure
LPRng. For more information on the alternate printing system called CUPS,
refer to the Section called Configuring the CUPS Printing System.
To use Printer Configuration Tool, you must have root
privileges. To start the application, select (on the Panel) => =>
, or type the command
redhat-config-printer. This command automatically determines
whether to run the graphical or text-based version.
You can also force Printer Configuration Tool to run as a
text-based application by using the command
redhat-config-printer-tui from a shell prompt.
To add a printer using the command line version, refer to the Section called Command Line Configuration.
 | Important |
|---|
| | Do not edit the /etc/printcap file. Each time the
printer daemon (lpd) is started or restarted, a new
/etc/printcap file is dynamically created.
|
If you want to add a printer without using
Printer Configuration Tool, edit the
/etc/printcap.local file. The entries in
/etc/printcap.local are not displayed in the
Printer Configuration Tool but are read by the printer
daemon. If you upgrade your system from a previous version of Red Hat Linux, your
existing configuration file is converted to the new format used by this
application. Each time a new configuration file is generated, the old file
is saved as /etc/printcap.old.
Five types of print queues can be configured:
— a printer attached
directly to your computer through a parallel or USB port. In the
main printer list as shown in Figure 26-1, the
Queue Type for a local printer is set to
LOCAL.
— a
printer attached to a different UNIX system that can be accessed
over a TCP/IP network (for example, a printer attached to another
Red Hat Linux system on your network). In the main printer list as shown in
Figure 26-1, the Queue Type
for a remote UNIX printer is set to LPD.
— a
printer attached to a different system which is sharing a printer
over a SMB network (for example, a printer attached to a Microsoft
Windows machine). In the main printer list as shown in Figure 26-1, the Queue Type for a
remote Windows printer is set to SMB.
— a
printer attached to a different system which uses Novell's NetWare
network technology. In the main printer list as shown in Figure 26-1, the Queue Type for a
remote Novell printer is set to NCP.
— a printer
connected directly to the network through HP JetDirect instead of to a
computer. In the main printer list as shown in Figure 26-1, the Queue Type for
a JetDirect printer is set to JETDIRECT.
| Important |
|---|
| | If you add a new print queue or modify an existing one, you need to
restart the printer daemon (lpd) for the changes to
take effect.
|
Clicking the Apply button saves any changes that
you have made and restarts the printer daemon. The changes are not
written to the /etc/printcap configuration file until
the printer daemon (lpd) is restarted. Alternatively,
you can choose => and then choose =>
to save your changes and then
restart the printer daemon.
If a printer appears in the main printer list with the Queue
Type set to INVALID, the printer
configuration is missing options that are required for the printer to
function properly. To remove this printer from the list, select it from
the list and click the Delete button.
Adding a Local Printer
To add a local printer such as one attached to the parallel port or USB
port of your computer, click the New button in
the main Printer Configuration Tool window. The window shown
in Figure 26-2 will appear. Click
Next to proceed.
You will then see the screen shown in Figure 26-3.
Enter a unique name for the printer in the Queue
Name text field. This can be any descriptive name for your
printer. The printer name cannot contain spaces and must begin with a
letter a through z or
A through Z. The valid
characters are a through
z, A through
Z, 0 through
9, -, and
_.
Select from the menu, and click Next.
Printer Configuration Tool attempts to detect your printer
device and model as shown in Figure 26-4. If your printer device is not
shown, click Custom Device. Type the name of your
printer device and click OK to add it to the
printer device list. A printer device attached to the parallel port is
usually referred to as /dev/lp0. A printer device
attached to the USB port is usually referred to as
/dev/usblp0. If your printer model does not appear,
you will be given the opportunity to select it in the next step. Click
Next to continue.
If Printer Configuration Tool detected your printer model, it
will display the recommended print driver. Skip to the Section called Selecting the Print Driver and Finishing to continue.
