How to Add a New Network Printer by Using LP Print Service Commands

This procedure describes how to add a new network printer with the expanded printer support that is available in this release. There are two examples that follow this procedure. The first example shows you how to add a new network printer with PPD files by using lp commands. The second example shows you how to add a new network printer without PPD files by using lp commands.

The following steps are necessary to set up a network printer by using the network printer support software. The use of this software is intended for printers that do not come with vendor-supplied software.

For overview information about adding a new network printer or modifying an existing network printer with PPD files, see What's New in Printing?.

1. Connect the printer to the network, and turn on the power to the printer.

   Consult the printer vendor's installation documentation for information about the hardware switches and cabling requirements. Get an IP address and select a name for the printer node. This step is equivalent to adding any node to the network.

2. Collect the information that is required to configure a new network printer with PPD files.

   • Printer name and port device

   • Network printer access name

   • Protocol

   • Timeout

   • File content type

   • PPD file

     To determine the PPD file, first define the printer make, model, and driver that the printer will use.

   For more information, see the terms that are described inAdding a Network Printer.

3. Define the printer name, port device, file content type, and PPD file that the printer will use. When using PPD files, the file content type is usually PostScript.

   1. Specify the printer name and the port device that the printer will use.

      # lpadmin -p printer-name -v /dev/null

      The device to use is /dev/null.

   2. Specify the interface script that the printer will use.

      # lpadmin -p printer-name -m netstandard_foomatic

      The interface script that is supplied with the support software for network printer is /usr/lib/lp/model/netstandard_foomatic.

   3. Specify the file content type and PPD file that the printer will use.

      # lpadmin -p printer-name -I content-type -n /usr/lib/lp/model/ppd/manufacturer/ppdfile

      The PPD file that you specify is located in the /usr/lib/lp/model/ppd/manufacturer/ directory

      For more information, see lpadmin(1M).

   4. Specify the printer description.

      # lpadmin -p printer-name -D "printer-description"

4. Set the printer destination, protocol, and timeout values.

   # lpadmin -p printer-name -o dest=access-name:port -o protocol=protocol -o timeout=value

   -p printer-name	Specifies the network printer name.
   -o dest=access-name:port	Sets the printer destination to the network printer access name and a designated printer vendor port, if the port is defined in the printer vendor documentation.
   -o protocol=protocol	Sets the over-the-wire protocol used to communicate with the printer. Both BSD and raw TCP are supported.
   -o timeout=value	Sets a retry timeout value that represents a number of seconds to wait between attempting connections to the printer.

5. (Optional) Add filters to the print server.

   # cd /etc/lp/fd # for filter in *.fd;do > name=`basename $filter .fd` > lpfilter -f $name -F $filter > done

6. Enable the printer to accept print requests and to print those requests.

   # accept printer-name # enable printer-name

7. Verify that the printer is correctly configured.

   # lpstat -p printer-name

8. Add client access to the new printer.

   Now that the printer has been added, create access to the printer for the clients. For more information, see Setting Up a Print Client. For information about how to define a print client by using a name service, see

9. Complete any optional tasks.

   There are several optional tasks that you might want to complete when setting up a printer. For pointers to the remaining tasks, see Setting Up Printing (Task Map). For information abot how to define print clients by using the name service, see Printing Support in the Name Service Switch.

Example—Adding a New Network Printer With PPD Files by Using LP Print Service Commands

This example shows how to add a new network printer with PPD files. The -n option to the lpadmin command enables you to add a new print queue by specifying PPD files. The commands used in this example must be executed on the print server. The following information is used as an example only. The information that you provide will vary.

• Printer name : luna1

• Device: /dev/null

• Interface: /usr/lib/lp/model/netstandard_foomatic

• Network printer access name: nimquat:9100

• Protocol: tcp

• Timeout: 5

• File content type: postscript

• PPD file: /usr/lib/lp/model/ppd/manufacturer/ppdfile

  # lpadmin -p luna1 -v /dev/null 1 # lpadmin -p luna1 -m netstandard_foomatic 2 # lpadmin -p luna1 -o dest=nimquat:9100 -o protocol=tcp -o timeout=5 3 # lpadmin -p luna1 -I postscript 4 # lpadmin -p luna1 -n /usr/lib/lp/model/ppd/manufacturer/ppdfile 5 # lpadmin -p luna1 -D "Second floor color printer"6 # cd /etc/lp/fd # for filter in *.fd;do > name=`basename $filter .fd` > lpfilter -f $name -F $filter > done 7 # accept luna1 destination "luna1" now accepting requests # enable luna1 8 printer "luna1" now enabled # lpstat -p luna1 9 printer luna1 is idle. enabled since Mon Apr 19 15:31:15 2004. available.

1. Defines printer name and sets the device to /dev/null

2. Defines the interface script for network printers

3. Sets the destination, protocol, and timeout

4. Specifies the file content types to which the printer can print to directly

5. Specifies the PPD file to use

6. Adds a description for the printer

7. Adds print filters to the print server

8. Accepts print requests for the printer and enables the printer

9. Verifies that the printer is ready to print

Example—Adding a New Network Printer Without PPD Files by Using LP Print Service Commands

This example shows how to add a new network printer without PPD files. The commands must be executed on the print server. The following information is used as an example. The information that you provide will vary.

• Printer name: luna1

• Device: /dev/null

• Interface: /usr/lib/lp/model/netstandard

• Network printer access name: nimquat:9100

• Protocol: tcp

• Timeout: 5

• File content type: postscript

• Printer type: PS

# lpadmin -p luna1 -v /dev/null 1
# lpadmin -p luna1 -m netstandard 2
# lpadmin -p luna1 -o dest=nimquat:9100 -o protocol=tcp 
-o timeout=5 3
# lpadmin -p luna1 -I postscript -T PS 4# lpadmin -p luna1 -D "Room 1954 ps" 5
# cd /etc/lp/fd
# for filter in *.fd;do	
	   > name=`basename $filter .fd`	
	   > lpfilter -f $name -F $filter	
	   > done 6
# accept luna1
	destination "luna1" now accepting requests
# enable luna1	 7
printer "luna1" now enabled 
# lpstat -p luna1 8
 printer luna1 is idle. enabled since Feb 28 11:21 2003.  available.

1. Defines printer name and sets the device to /dev/null

2. Defines the interface script for network printers

3. Sets the destination, protocol, and timeout

4. Specifies the file content type to which the printer can print directly, and the printer type

5. Adds a description for the printer

6. Adds print filters to the print server

7. Accepts print requests for the printer and enables the printer

8. Verifies that the printer is ready for printing