Description of the Command-Line Options for the ppdmgr Utility

In this section, the command-line options for the ppdmgr utility are described. Additional information about processes, guidelines, and restrictions for administering PPD files by using the ppdmgr utility are also described.

The PPD Manager (ppdmgr) utility is located in /usr/sbin/ppdmgr.

To add a PPD file to a system, you would use the following syntax:

ppdmgr -a ppd-file-path

The -a option copies the PPD file that is specified in ppd-file-path to the PPD repository, then updates the PPD cache file to reflect the change. If you do not specify a PPD file repository by using the -R option, the PPD file is stored in the user PPD file repository. If you do not specify a label by using the -L option, the PPD file is stored in the user label directory.

The following verifications are performed when you use the -a option with the ppdmgr utility:

• Label verification – A label name must not be a reserved label name.

  The following label names are reserved:

  • caches

  • ppdcache

  • manufaliases

  • all

• PPD File Path verification – The specified ppd-file-path must be accessible and must contain either the .pdd or ppd.gz extension.

• PPD file verification – The PPD file that is specified in ppd-file-path must be a valid PPD file.

If you provide information that does not pass the various verification checks, or if any of the actions that are performed by the ppdmgr utility are unsuccessful, an error message is displayed, and the utility exits.

Additional Actions Performed:

• If needed, parent directories of the destination path are created.

• If a version of the PPD file with a .gz extension already exists in the PPD file repository, and the gzipped versions are not duplicates, an error message is displayed.

• The ppd-file-path is copied to the destination path.

• To reflect the change in the ppdcache file, the update action is then applied.

To specify PPD file repository, you would use the following syntax:

ppdmgr -R repository

The -R option with repository is used to identify one of the supported PPD file repositories. When the -R option is not specified, the default repository is user. When the -R option is specified with the -a option, the valid repository names are user and admin. See PPD File Repositories for more information about all of the supported repository names and their locations.

To specify a label, you would use the following syntax:

ppdmgr -L label-name

The -L option with the label-name is used to identify a grouping of PPD files within a PPD file repository. The label is also the name of the directory that is located in the PPD file repository. The label can be comprised of any characters from the portable character set. However, the label cannot contain a semicolon (;).

When the -L option is not specified, the following are the defaults that are used for specifying a label name.

To request an update of the PPD cache file, you would use the following syntax:

ppdmgr -u

This option updates the cache file to reflect modifications within PPD file repositories. The PPD cache file is updated only if modifications are detected.

When the -a option is specified, an update of the PPD cache file occurs automatically to reflect the change in the label directory within the repository where the PPD file was copied.

When the -R or -L option is not specified, the PPD cache file is updated to reflect modifications in the all label directory within the user repository.

To request a rebuild of PPD cache file, you would use the following syntax:

ppdmgr -r

The -r option rebuilds the cache by removing and regenerating any intermediary cache files that are associated with the specified label within the specified PPD file repository. This action results in an update of the PPD cache file, /var/lp/ppd/ppdcache, if any intermediary cache files are removed. Because a regeneration of the specified label within the specified PPD file repository is required, the regeneration of the PPD cache information can be very time-consuming. The time that it takes to rebuild the PPD cache file depends upon the number of PPD files that are affected, Therefore, the -r option should only be used when PPD cache file corruption is suspected.

When the - R or - L option is not specified, intermediary cache files that are associated with all of the labels within the user PPD file repository are removed. These modifications are then reflected in the PPD cache file.

To display the full path of PPD File in the repository, you would use the following syntax:

ppdmgr -a ppd-file-path -w

The -w option must be specified with the -a option, and the PPD file is added to the system successfully, the full destination path of the PPD file is displayed on stdout. Otherwise, this option is ignored.