1cups(1)                          OpenPrinting                          cups(1)
2
3
4

NAME

6       cups - a standards-based, open source printing system
7

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.
14
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.
21
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 pa‐
25       per, 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. Re‐
29       gardless of where the queue points, it will look like any other printer
30       to you and your applications.
31
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.
40
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.
45
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.
51
52       When you are asked for a username and password, enter your login  user‐
53       name and password or the "root" username and password.
54
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.
61
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.
66
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.
71
72   HOW DO I GET HELP?
73       The  OpenPrinting  CUPS  website  (https://openprinting.github.io/cups)
74       provides  access  to  the cups and cups-devel mailing lists, additional
75       documentation and resources, and a bug report  database.  Most  vendors
76       also  provide  online  discussion  forums to ask printing questions for
77       your operating system of choice.
78

ENVIRONMENT

80       CUPS commands use the following environment variables to  override  the
81       default  locations  of  files and so forth. For security reasons, these
82       environment variables are ignored for setuid programs:
83
84       CUPS_ANYROOT
85            Whether to allow any X.509 certificate root (Y or N).
86
87       CUPS_CACHEDIR
88            The directory where semi-persistent cache files can be found.
89
90       CUPS_DATADIR
91            The directory where data files can be found.
92
93       CUPS_ENCRYPTION
94            The default level of encryption (Always, IfRequested,  Never,  Re‐
95            quired).
96
97       CUPS_EXPIREDCERTS
98            Whether to allow expired X.509 certificates (Y or N).
99
100       CUPS_GSSSERVICENAME
101            The Kerberos service name used for authentication.
102
103       CUPS_SERVER
104            The  hostname/IP  address  and  port  number of the CUPS scheduler
105            (hostname:port or ipaddress:port).
106
107       CUPS_SERVERBIN
108            The directory where server helper programs, filters, backend, etc.
109            can be found.
110
111       CUPS_SERVERROOT
112            The root directory of the server.
113
114       CUPS_STATEDIR
115            The directory where state files can be found.
116
117       CUPS_USER
118            Specifies the name of the user for print requests.
119
120       HOME Specifies the home directory of the current user.
121
122       IPP_PORT
123            Specifies the default port number for IPP requests.
124
125       LOCALEDIR
126            Specifies the location of localization files.
127
128       LPDEST
129            Specifies the default print queue (System V standard).
130
131       PRINTER
132            Specifies the default print queue (Berkeley standard).
133
134       TMPDIR
135            Specifies the location of temporary files.
136

FILES

138       ~/.cups/client.conf
139       ~/.cups/lpoptions
140

CONFORMING TO

142       CUPS  conforms to the Internet Printing Protocol version 2.1 and imple‐
143       ments the Berkeley and System V UNIX print commands.
144

NOTES

146       CUPS printer drivers, backends, and PPD files are deprecated  and  will
147       no  longer  be supported in a future feature release of CUPS.  Printers
148       that do not support IPP can be supported  using  applications  such  as
149       ippeveprinter(1).
150

SEE ALSO

152       cancel(1),  client.conf(5),  cupsctl(8),  cupsd(8),  lp(1), lpadmin(8),
153       lpinfo(8), lpoptions(1), lpr(1), lprm(1), lpq(1), lpstat(1),  CUPS  On‐
154       line  Help  (http://localhost:631/help),  OpenPrinting  CUPS  Web  Site
155       (https://openprinting.github.io/cups), PWG Internet  Printing  Protocol
156       Workgroup (http://www.pwg.org/ipp)
157
159       Copyright © 2021-2023 by OpenPrinting.
160
161
162
1632021-02-28                           CUPS                              cups(1)
Impressum