Setting Up Your .printers File

There is no need to set up a .printers file in your home directory if you don't need customized printer information. However, the .printers file enables you to establish your own custom printer aliases. You can use the alias _default to make a printer the default and also set up a special alias _all to define a list of printers affected when you cancel a print request or check the status of printers.

Keep in mind that after the SunSoft print commands check your home directory to locate printer configuration information before they check the name service. This means you can tailor your home printer configuration file to use custom printer information rather than the shared information in the name service.

See the printers(4) man page for detailed information about the .printers file.

How to Set Up Your .printers File

1. Log in on your system as yourself.

2. Start the file editor you want to use.

   You'll use the editor to create a .printers file in your home directory.

3. (Optional) Set up the _default alias to make a specific printer your default printer, using an entry similar to the one shown in the following example.

   _default printer

4. (Optional) Set up the _all alias to define the printers affected when you cancel a print request or check the status of printers, using an entry similar to the one shown in the next example.

   _all printer1, printer2, printer3

5. Save the file as .printers in your home directory.