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ef416fc2 1README - CUPS v1.2.0b1 - 01/10/2006
2-----------------------------------
3
4*****************************************************************
5*****************************************************************
6**** ****
7**** WARNING: THIS IS BETA RELEASE SOFTWARE AND MAY BE ****
8**** TOTALLY UNSTABLE. DO NOT USE IN ENVIRONMENTS ****
9**** WHERE RELIABLE SOFTWARE IS REQUIRED! ****
10**** ****
11*****************************************************************
12*****************************************************************
13
14Looking for compile instructions? Read the file "INSTALL.txt"
15instead...
16
17*****************************************************************
18*****************************************************************
19**** ****
20**** IF YOU HAVE A NON-POSTSCRIPT PRINTER, YOU WILL ALSO ****
21**** NEED TO INSTALL ESP GHOSTSCRIPT OR A PATCHED VERSION ****
22**** OF A STANDARD GHOSTSCRIPT RELEASE. ****
23**** ****
24*****************************************************************
25*****************************************************************
26
27
28INTRODUCTION
29
30CUPS provides a portable printing layer for UNIX(r)-based
31operating systems. It has been developed by Easy Software
32Products to promote a standard printing solution for all UNIX
33vendors and users. CUPS provides the System V and Berkeley
34command-line interfaces.
35
36CUPS uses the Internet Printing Protocol ("IPP") as the basis
37for managing print jobs and queues. The Line Printer Daemon
38("LPD") Server Message Block ("SMB"), and AppSocket (a.k.a.
39JetDirect) protocols are also supported with reduced
40functionality. CUPS adds network printer browsing and
41PostScript Printer Description ("PPD") based printing options to
42support real-world printing under UNIX.
43
44CUPS includes an image file RIP that supports printing of image
45files to non-PostScript printers. A customized version of GNU
46Ghostscript for CUPS called ESP Ghostscript is available
47separately to support printing of PostScript files within the
48CUPS driver framework. Sample drivers for Dymo, EPSON, HP, and
49OKIDATA printers are included that use these filters.
50
51Drivers for thousands of printers are provided with our ESP
52Print Pro software, available at:
53
54 http://www.easysw.com/printpro/
55
56CUPS is licensed under the GNU General Public License and GNU
57Library General Public License. Please contact Easy Software
58Products for commercial support and "binary distribution"
59rights.
60
61
62SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
63
64Binary distributions require a minimum of 10MB of free disk
65space. We do not recommend using CUPS on a workstation with less
66than 32MB of RAM or a PC with less than 16MB of RAM.
67
68If you are installing from source you'll need ANSI-compliant C
69and C++ compilers and optionally one or more image file support
70libraries. Complete source installation instructions can be
71found in the file "INSTALL.txt".
72
73
74SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS
75
76The following operating system software is required to install
77one of the binary distributions from Easy Software Products:
78
79 - AIX 4.3 or higher
80 - HP-UX 11.00 or higher
81 - IRIX 6.5 or higher
82 - Linux 2.4 with glibc 2.2 or higher
83 - Solaris 7 or higher (SPARC or Intel)
84
85
86INSTALLING "PORTABLE" CUPS DISTRIBUTIONS
87
88We are currently distributing "portable" CUPS binary
89distributions in TAR format with installation and removal
90scripts generated by our ESP Package Manager (EPM) software,
91which is available from:
92
93 http://www.easysw.com/epm
94
95WARNING: Installing CUPS will overwrite your existing printing
96system. Backup files are made by the installation script and
97restored by the removal script, so if you experience problems
98you should be able to remove the CUPS software to restore your
99previous configuration. However, Easy Software Products makes
100no warranty for this and will not be liable for any lost
101revenues, etc.
102
103To install the CUPS software you will need to be logged in as
104root (doing an "su" is good enough). Once you are the root
105user, run the installation script with:
106
107 ./cups.install ENTER
108
109After asking you a few yes/no questions the CUPS software will
110be installed and the scheduler will be started automatically.
111
112
113INSTALLING HOST-SPECIFIC (RPM, DEBIAN, ETC.) DISTRIBUTIONS
114
115The host-specific distributions use the operating system
116software installation tools. To install a host-specific
117distribution please consult the CUPS Software Administrators
118Manual or your operating system documentation.
119
120
121READING THE DOCUMENTATION
122
123Once you have installed the software you can access the
124documentation (and a bunch of other stuff) on-line at:
125
126 http://localhost:631
127
128If you're having trouble getting that far, the documentation is
129located in the "/usr/share/doc/cups" directory in the binary
130distributions, and under the "doc" directory in the source
131archives.
132
133Please read the documentation before asking questions.
134
135
136GETTING SUPPORT AND OTHER RESOURCES
137
138If you have problems, READ THE DOCUMENTATION FIRST! We also
139provide many discussion forums which are available at:
140
141 http://www.cups.org/newsgroups.php
142
143Commercial support (with a guaranteed response time) is available
144from Easy Software Products. For more information see:
145
146 http://www.easysw.com/cups/
147
148See the CUPS web site at "http://www.cups.org/" for other site
149links.
150
151
152SETTING UP PRINTER QUEUES USING YOUR WEB BROWSER
153
154CUPS 1.2 includes a web-based administration tool that allows you
155to manage printers, classes, and jobs on your server. To access
156the printer administration tools open the following URL in your
157browser:
158
159 http://localhost:631/admin
160
161You will be asked for the administration password (root or any
162other user in the sys/system/root group on your system) and then
163shown a menu of available functions.
164
165DO NOT use the hostname for your machine - it will not work with
166the default CUPS configuration. To enable administration access
167on other addresses, consult the CUPS Software Administrators
168Manual.
169
170
171SETTING UP PRINTER QUEUES FROM THE COMMAND-LINE
172
173CUPS works best with PPD (PostScript Printer Description)
174files. In a pinch you can also use System V style printer
175interface scripts.
176
177Six sample PPD files are provided with this distribution that
178utilize the PostScript and image file RIPs and the sample EPSON
179and HP printer drivers. To add the sample DeskJet driver to the
180system for a printer connected to the parallel port, use one of
181the following commands:
182
183 HP-UX:
184
185 /usr/lib/lpadmin -p DeskJet -m deskjet.ppd -v parallel:/dev/c2t0d0_lp -E
186
187 IRIX:
188
189 /usr/lib/lpadmin -p DeskJet -m deskjet.ppd -v parallel:/dev/plp -E
190
191 Linux:
192
193 /usr/lib/lpadmin -p DeskJet -m deskjet.ppd -v parallel:/dev/lp0 -E
194 /usr/lib/lpadmin -p DeskJet -m deskjet.ppd -v parallel:/dev/lp1 -E
195 /usr/lib/lpadmin -p DeskJet -m deskjet.ppd -v parallel:/dev/lp2 -E
196
197 Solaris:
198
199 /usr/lib/lpadmin -p DeskJet -m deskjet.ppd -v parallel:/dev/bpp0 -E
200 /usr/lib/lpadmin -p DeskJet -m deskjet.ppd -v parallel:/dev/ecpp0 -E
201
202Similarly, for the other sample drivers you can use:
203
204 Driver PPD File
205 ----------------------------- ------------
206 Dymo Label Printers dymo.ppd
207 EPSON Stylus Color Series stcolor.ppd
208 EPSON Stylus Photo Series stphoto.ppd
209 EPSON Stylus New Color Series stcolor2.ppd
210 EPSON Stylus New Photo Series stphoto2.ppd
211 EPSON 9-pin Series epson9.ppd
212 EPSON 24-pin Series epson24.ppd
213 HP DeskJet Series deskjet.ppd
214 HP New DeskJet Series deskjet2.ppd
215 HP LaserJet Series laserjet.ppd
216 OKIDATA 9-Pin Series okidata9.ppd
217 OKIDATA 24-Pin Series okidat24.ppd
218
219These sample drivers provide basic printing capabilities, but
220generally do not exercise the full potential of the printers or
221CUPS. For commercial printer drivers check out our ESP Print
222Pro software at:
223
224 http://www.easysw.com/printpro/
225
226
227PRINTING FILES
228
229CUPS provides both the System V "lp" and Berkeley "lpr" commands
230for printing:
231
232 lp filename
233 lpr filename
234
235Both the "lp" and "lpr" commands support printing options for
236the driver:
237
238 lp -omedia=A4 -oresolution=600dpi filename
239 lpr -omedia=A4 -oresolution=600dpi filename
240
241CUPS recognizes many types of images files as well as PDF,
242PostScript, HP-GL/2, and text files, so you can print those
243files directly rather than through an application.
244
245If you have an application that generates output specifically
246for your printer then you need to use the "-oraw" or "-l"
247options:
248
249 lp -oraw filename
250 lpr -l filename
251
252This will prevent the filters from misinterpreting your print
253file.
254
255
256LEGAL STUFF
257
258CUPS is Copyright 1993-2006 by Easy Software Products. CUPS,
259the CUPS logo, and the Common UNIX Printing System are the
260trademark property of Easy Software Products.
261
262The MD5 Digest code is Copyright 1999 Aladdin Enterprises.
263
264The PDF filter (pdftops) is based on the Xpdf software,
265Copyright 1996-2005 by Derek B. Noonburg.
266
267This software is based in part on the work of the Independent
268JPEG Group.
269
270CUPS is provided under the terms of the GNU General Public
271License and GNU Library General Public License. This program is
272distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY
273WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY
274or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the "LICENSE.html",
275"LICENSE.txt", or "cups.license" files for more information.
276
277For commercial licensing information, please contact:
278
279 Attn: CUPS Licensing Information
280 Easy Software Products
281 44141 Airport View Drive, Suite 204
282 Hollywood, Maryland 20636 USA
283
284 Voice: +1.301.373.9600
285 Email: cups-info@cups.org
286 WWW: http://www.cups.org
287
288Note that commercial licensors may also require a license from
289Derek B. Noonburg who developed the Xpdf software used to print
290PDF files.