Print Queue Logs

The scheduler for each system keeps a log of print requests in the /var/spool/lp/tmp/system and /var/spool/lp/requests/system directories. Each print request has two files, one file in each directory, that contain information about the request. The information in the /var/spool/lp/requests/system directory can be accessed only by superuser or lp. The information in the /var/spool/lp/tmp/system directory can be accessed only by the user who submitted the request, superuser, or lp.

The following example shows the contents of the /var/spool/lp/tmp/starbug directory:

$ ls /var/spool/lp/tmp/starbug
5     5-0
# cat 5-0
C 1
D print1
F /etc/profile
P 20
T /etc/profile
t simple
U root
s 0000
v 2

These files remain in their directories only as long as the print request is in the queue. Once the print request is finished, the information in the files is combined and appended to the /var/lp/logs/requests file. This file is described in the next section.

Use the information in the /var/spool/lp/logs directory if you need to track the status of a print request that is currently in the queue.