1cups(1) Apple Inc. cups(1)
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6 cups - a standards-based, open source printing system
7
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 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 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.
31 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 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 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 When you are asked for a username and password, enter your login user‐
53 name and password or the "root" username and password.
54 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 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 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 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.
77
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:
82 CUPS_ANYROOT
84 Whether to allow any X.509 certificate root (Y or N).
85 CUPS_CACHEDIR
87 The directory where semi-persistent cache files can be found.
88 CUPS_DATADIR
90 The directory where data files can be found.
91 CUPS_ENCRYPTION
93 The default level of encryption (Always, IfRequested, Never,
94 Required).
95 CUPS_EXPIREDCERTS
97 Whether to allow expired X.509 certificates (Y or N).
98 CUPS_GSSSERVICENAME
100 The Kerberos service name used for authentication.
101 CUPS_SERVER
103 The hostname/IP address and port number of the CUPS scheduler
104 (hostname:port or ipaddress:port).
105 CUPS_SERVERBIN
107 The directory where server helper programs, filters, backend, etc.
108 can be found.
109 CUPS_SERVERROOT
111 The root directory of the server.
112 CUPS_STATEDIR
114 The directory where state files can be found.
115 CUPS_USER
117 Specifies the name of the user for print requests.
118 HOME Specifies the home directory of the current user.
120 IPP_PORT
122 Specifies the default port number for IPP requests.
123 LOCALEDIR
125 Specifies the location of localization files.
126 LPDEST
128 Specifies the default print queue (System V standard).
129 PRINTER
131 Specifies the default print queue (Berkeley standard).
132 TMPDIR
134 Specifies the location of temporary files.
135
137 ~/.cups/client.conf
138 ~/.cups/lpoptions
139
141 CUPS conforms to the Internet Printing Protocol version 2.1 and imple‐
142 ments the Berkeley and System V UNIX print commands.
143
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).
149
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)
156
158 Copyright © 2007-2019 by Apple Inc.
15926 April 2019 CUPS cups(1)