1cups(1)                           Apple Inc.                           cups(1)
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NAME

6       cups - a standards-based, open source printing system
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DESCRIPTION

9       CUPS  is the software you use to print from applications like word pro‐
10       cessors, email readers, photo editors, and web  browsers.  It  converts
11       the  page  descriptions  produced  by your application (put a paragraph
12       here, draw a line there, and so forth) into something your printer  can
13       understand and then sends the information to the printer for printing.
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15       Now, since every printer manufacturer does things differently, printing
16       can be very complicated.  CUPS does its best to hide this from you  and
17       your  application  so  that you can concentrate on printing and less on
18       how to print. Generally, the only time you need to know anything  about
19       your  printer is when you use it for the first time, and even then CUPS
20       can often figure things out on its own.
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22   HOW DOES IT WORK?
23       The first time you print to a printer, CUPS creates  a  queue  to  keep
24       track  of  the  current  status  of  the printer (everything OK, out of
25       paper, etc.) and any pages you have printed. Most of the time the queue
26       points to a printer connected directly to your computer via a USB port,
27       however it can also point to a printer on your network,  a  printer  on
28       the  Internet,  or  multiple  printers  depending on the configuration.
29       Regardless of where the queue points,  it  will  look  like  any  other
30       printer to you and your applications.
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32       Every  time  you print something, CUPS creates a job which contains the
33       queue you are sending the print to, the name of the  document  you  are
34       printing,  and  the  page  descriptions.  Job  are  numbered  (queue-1,
35       queue-2, and so forth) so you can monitor the job as it is  printed  or
36       cancel  it  if you see a mistake. When CUPS gets a job for printing, it
37       determines the best programs (filters, printer drivers, port  monitors,
38       and  backends)  to  convert  the pages into a printable format and then
39       runs them to actually print the job.
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41       When the print job is completely printed, CUPS removes the job from the
42       queue  and  moves on to any other jobs you have submitted. You can also
43       be notified when the job is finished, or if there are any errors during
44       printing, in several different ways.
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46   WHERE DO I BEGIN?
47       The  easiest  way  to  start is by using the web interface to configure
48       your printer. Go to "http://localhost:631" and choose  the  Administra‐
49       tion  tab at the top of the page. Click/press on the Add Printer button
50       and follow the prompts.
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52       When you are asked for a username and password, enter your login  user‐
53       name and password or the "root" username and password.
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55       After the printer is added you will be asked to set the default printer
56       options (paper size, output mode,  etc.)  for  the  printer.  Make  any
57       changes  as needed and then click/press on the Set Default Options but‐
58       ton to save them.  Some  printers  also  support  auto-configuration  -
59       click/press  on  the Query Printer for Default Options button to update
60       the options automatically.
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62       Once you have added the printer, you can print to it from any  applica‐
63       tion.  You can also choose Print Test Page from the maintenance menu to
64       print a simple test page and verify that everything  is  working  prop‐
65       erly.
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67       You  can also use the lpadmin(8) and lpinfo(8) commands to add printers
68       to CUPS.  Additionally, your operating  system  may  include  graphical
69       user interfaces or automatically create printer queues when you connect
70       a printer to your computer.
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72   HOW DO I GET HELP?
73       The CUPS web site (http://www.CUPS.org) provides access to the cups and
74       cups-devel mailing lists, additional documentation and resources, and a
75       bug report database. Most vendors also provide online discussion forums
76       to ask printing questions for your operating system of choice.
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ENVIRONMENT

79       CUPS  commands  use the following environment variables to override the
80       default locations of files and so forth. For  security  reasons,  these
81       environment variables are ignored for setuid programs:
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83       CUPS_ANYROOT
84            Whether to allow any X.509 certificate root (Y or N).
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86       CUPS_CACHEDIR
87            The directory where semi-persistent cache files can be found.
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89       CUPS_DATADIR
90            The directory where data files can be found.
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92       CUPS_ENCRYPTION
93            The  default  level  of  encryption  (Always,  IfRequested, Never,
94            Required).
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96       CUPS_EXPIREDCERTS
97            Whether to allow expired X.509 certificates (Y or N).
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99       CUPS_GSSSERVICENAME
100            The Kerberos service name used for authentication.
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102       CUPS_SERVER
103            The hostname/IP address and port  number  of  the  CUPS  scheduler
104            (hostname:port or ipaddress:port).
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106       CUPS_SERVERBIN
107            The directory where server helper programs, filters, backend, etc.
108            can be found.
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110       CUPS_SERVERROOT
111            The root directory of the server.
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113       CUPS_STATEDIR
114            The directory where state files can be found.
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116       CUPS_USER
117            Specifies the name of the user for print requests.
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119       HOME Specifies the home directory of the current user.
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121       IPP_PORT
122            Specifies the default port number for IPP requests.
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124       LOCALEDIR
125            Specifies the location of localization files.
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127       LPDEST
128            Specifies the default print queue (System V standard).
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130       PRINTER
131            Specifies the default print queue (Berkeley standard).
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133       TMPDIR
134            Specifies the location of temporary files.
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FILES

137       ~/.cups/client.conf
138       ~/.cups/lpoptions
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CONFORMING TO

141       CUPS conforms to the Internet Printing Protocol version 2.1 and  imple‐
142       ments the Berkeley and System V UNIX print commands.
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NOTES

145       CUPS  printer  drivers, backends, and PPD files are deprecated and will
146       no longer be supported in a future feature release of  CUPS.   Printers
147       that  do  not  support  IPP can be supported using applications such as
148       ippeveprinter(1).
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SEE ALSO

151       cancel(1), client.conf(7),  cupsctl(8),  cupsd(8),  lp(1),  lpadmin(8),
152       lpinfo(8),  lpoptions(1),  lpr(1),  lprm(1),  lpq(1),  lpstat(1),  CUPS
153       Online    Help    (http://localhost:631/help),    CUPS     Web     Site
154       (http://www.CUPS.org),   PWG   Internet   Printing  Protocol  Workgroup
155       (http://www.pwg.org/ipp)
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158       Copyright © 2007-2019 by Apple Inc.
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16226 April 2019                        CUPS                              cups(1)
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