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1.\"
2.\" "$Id$"
3.\"
4.\" cups (intro) man page for CUPS.
5.\"
6.\" Copyright 2007-2014 by Apple Inc.
7.\" Copyright 1997-2006 by Easy Software Products.
8.\"
9.\" These coded instructions, statements, and computer programs are the
10.\" property of Apple Inc. and are protected by Federal copyright
11.\" law. Distribution and use rights are outlined in the file "LICENSE.txt"
12.\" which should have been included with this file. If this file is
13.\" file is missing or damaged, see the license at "http://www.cups.org/".
14.\"
15.TH cups 1 "CUPS" "4 March 2014" "Apple Inc."
16.SH NAME
17cups \- a standards-based, open source printing system
18.SH DESCRIPTION
19.B CUPS
20is the software you use to print from applications like word processors, email readers, photo editors, and web browsers. It converts the page descriptions produced by your application (put a paragraph here, draw a line there, and so forth) into something your printer can understand and then sends the information to the printer for printing.
21.LP
22Now, since every printer manufacturer does things differently, printing can be very complicated.
23.B CUPS
24does its best to hide this from you and your application so that you can concentrate on printing and less on how to print. Generally, the only time you need to know anything about your printer is when you use it for the first time, and even then
25.B CUPS
26can often figure things out on its own.
a99f5c6a 27.SS HOW DOES IT WORK?
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28The first time you print to a printer,
29.B CUPS
30creates a queue to keep track of the current status of the printer (everything OK, out of paper, etc.) and any pages you have printed. Most of the time the queue points to a printer connected directly to your computer via a USB port, however it can also point to a printer on your network, a printer on the Internet, or multiple printers depending on the configuration. Regardless of where the queue points, it will look like any other printer to you and your applications.
31.LP
32Every time you print something,
33.B CUPS
34creates a job which contains the queue you are sending the print to, the name of the document you are printing, and the page descriptions. Job are numbered (queue-1, queue-2, and so forth) so you can monitor the job as it is printed or cancel it if you see a mistake. When
35.B CUPS
36gets a job for printing, it determines the best programs (filters, printer drivers, port monitors, and backends) to convert the pages into a printable format and then runs them to actually print the job.
37.LP
38When the print job is completely printed,
39.B CUPS
40removes the job from the queue and moves on to any other jobs you have submitted. You can also be notified when the job is finished, or if there are any errors during printing, in several different ways.
a99f5c6a 41.SS WHERE DO I BEGIN?
2909c66c 42The easiest way to start is by using the web interface to configure your printer. Go to "http://localhost:631" and choose the Administration tab at the top of the page. Click/press on the Add Printer button and follow the prompts.
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43.LP
44When you are asked for a username and password, enter your login username and password or the "root" username and password.
45.LP
2909c66c 46After the printer is added you will be asked to set the default printer options (paper size, output mode, etc.) for the printer. Make any changes as needed and then click/press on the Set Default Options button to save them. Some printers also support auto-configuration - click/press on the Query Printer for Default Options button to update the options automatically.
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47.LP
48Once you have added the printer, you can print to it from any application. You can also choose Print Test Page from the maintenance menu to print a simple test page and verify that everything is working properly.
49.LP
50You can also use the
51.BR lpadmin (8)
52and
53.BR lpinfo (8)
54commands to add printers to
55.BR CUPS .
56Additionally, your operating system may include graphical user interfaces or automatically create printer queues when you connect a printer to your computer.
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57.SS HOW DO I GET HELP?
58The
59.B CUPS
60web site (http://www.CUPS.org) provides access to the
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61.I cups
62and
63.I cups-devel
64mailing lists, additional documentation and resources, and a bug report database. Most vendors also provide online discussion forums to ask printing questions for your operating system of choice.
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65.SH ENVIRONMENT
66.B CUPS
67commands use the following environment variables to override the default locations of files and so forth. For security reasons, these environment variables are ignored for setuid programs:
68.TP 5
2909c66c 69.B CUPS_ANYROOT
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70Whether to allow any X.509 certificate root (Y or N).
71.TP 5
2909c66c 72.B CUPS_CACHEDIR
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73The directory where semi-persistent cache files can be found.
74.TP 5
2909c66c 75.B CUPS_DATADIR
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76The directory where data files can be found.
77.TP 5
2909c66c 78.B CUPS_ENCRYPTION
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79The default level of encryption (Always, IfRequested, Never, Required).
80.TP 5
2909c66c 81.B CUPS_EXPIREDROOT
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82Whether to allow expired X.509 certificate roots (Y or N).
83.TP 5
2909c66c 84.B CUPS_EXPIREDCERTS
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85Whether to allow expired X.509 certificates (Y or N).
86.TP 5
2909c66c 87.B CUPS_GSSSERVICENAME
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88The Kerberos service name used for authentication.
89.TP 5
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90.B CUPS_SERVER
91The hostname/IP address and port number of the CUPS scheduler (hostname:port or ipaddress:port).
92.TP 5
93.B CUPS_SERVERBIN
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94The directory where server helper programs, filters, backend, etc. can be found.
95.TP 5
2909c66c 96.B CUPS_SERVERROOT
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97The root directory of the server.
98.TP 5
2909c66c 99.B CUPS_STATEDIR
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100The directory where state files can be found.
101.TP 5
2909c66c 102.B CUPS_USER
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103Specifies the name of the user for print requests.
104.TP 5
2909c66c 105.B HOME
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106Specifies the home directory of the current user.
107.TP 5
2909c66c 108.B IPP_PORT
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109Specifies the default port number for IPP requests.
110.TP 5
2909c66c 111.B LOCALEDIR
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112Specifies the location of localization files.
113.TP 5
2909c66c 114.B LPDEST
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115Specifies the default print queue (System V standard).
116.TP 5
2909c66c 117.B PRINTER
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118Specifies the default print queue (Berkeley standard).
119.TP 5
2909c66c 120.B TMPDIR
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121Specifies the location of temporary files.
122.SH FILES
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123.nf
124.I ~/.cups/client.conf
125.I ~/.cups/lpoptions
126.fi
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127.SH CONFORMING TO
128.B CUPS
129conforms to the Internet Printing Protocol version 2.1 and implements the Berkeley and System V UNIX print commands.
130.SH SEE ALSO
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131.BR cancel (1),
132.BR client.conf (7),
133.BR cupsctl (8),
134.BR cupsd (8),
135.BR lp (1),
136.BR lpadmin (8),
137.BR lpinfo (8),
138.BR lpoptions (1),
139.BR lpr (1),
140.BR lprm (1),
141.BR lpq (1),
142.BR lpstat (1),
143CUPS Online Help (http://localhost:631/help),
144CUPS Web Site (http://www.CUPS.org),
145PWG Internet Printing Protocol Workgroup (http://www.pwg.org/ipp)
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146.SH COPYRIGHT
147Copyright \[co] 2007-2014 by Apple Inc.
148.\"
149.\" End of "$Id$".
150.\"