Using the CUPS Web Browser Interface (Overview)

The CUPS web browser interface is one of two supported GUIs that you can use to manage your printing environment in the Oracle Solaris OS. To access the web browser interface, type http://localhost:631 in the location bar of your browser. The CUPS web browser interface can be accessed from all supported browsers. Depending on the task that you are performing, you might be prompted for a user name and password, or for the root user name and password.

Common print administration tasks that you can perform by using the CUPS web browser interface include the following:

• Customizing a print server setup

• Pointing a print client to a common print server

• Setting up and managing directly-attached printers and printer classes on servers

• Setting up and managing remote printers and printer classes on servers

• Managing print jobs from print clients

Requirements for Using the CUPS Web Browser Interface

The following are requirements for using the CUPS web browser interface:

• The CUPS software packages must be installed on the host that is accessing the CUPS web pages. If you are running the Oracle Solaris 11 Express release, these software packages are installed on your system by default.

  Required CUPS packages include the following:

  • cups

  • cups-libs

  • foomatic-db

  • foomatic-db-engine

• The CUPS print service must be the default print service on the host. If you are running the Oracle Solaris 11 Express release, CUPS is the default print service.

  To determine which print service is the default on your system, use the new print-service command, as follows:

  $ print-service -q
  active print service: cups

• The CUPS scheduler, svc:/application/cups/scheduler, must also be running on the host.

  To verify that the CUPS scheduler is running, open a terminal window and type the following command:

  $ svcs cups/scheduler
  STATE          STIME    FMRI
  online         10:07:54 svc:/application/cups/scheduler:default

• The JavaScript scripting language must be supported and enabled on the browser that you are using to access the CUPS web pages.

  Most current browsers support the use of the JavaScript language. To determine if the JavaScript language is enabled, check the Content tab of your browser's Preferences menu. Choose Edit -> Preferences from the browser's main menu. Note that this location might vary, depending on the browser that you are using.

Troubleshooting Issues With CUPS Web Browser Interface Access

If you encounter an error while attempting to access the CUPS web browser interface, or you cannot access the interface, check Requirements for Using the CUPS Web Browser Interface to make sure all of the requirements have been met. In addition, check your browser's proxy settings to determine if a proxy server has been configured. If yes, try disabling the proxy server, then attempt to access the CUPS web browser interface again.

For example, if you are using Firefox Version 3.5.2 or a compatible browser, choose Edit -> Preferences-> Advanced -> Network -> Settings -> No proxy.

To determine whether the CUPS web browser interface is running, you can also attempt to connect to the CUPS port (Port 631) by typing the telnet command in a terminal window, as follows:

mymachine% telnet localhost 631
Trying ::1...
Connected to mymachine
Escape character is ^].
^]q
telnet> q
Connection to mymachine closed.
mymachine%

To break out of the telnet session, press the Control-]. To quit the telnet session, type q.