The following important changes are a result of the removal of the LP print service:
Solaris Print Manager is no longer available in the desktop. CUPS Print Manager replaces this tool. See Configuring and Managing Printing in Oracle Solaris 11.3.
Several LP print commands, files, and services are no longer available. Some LP print commands, for example lp, lpadmin, lpc, lpr are still available. In Oracle Solaris 11, these commands are managed by CUPS. For a complete list of the commands, services, and files that have been removed, refer to Removal of Legacy System Management Commands, Files, and Services.
Printer configuration that is stored in the NIS naming service in Oracle Solaris 10 is not used by CUPS. CUPS auto-discovers printers on a network, enabling you to print to these printers without any manual configuration. Administrators can share network printers that are configured by using CUPS by turning on the sharing feature. See How to Unshare or Share a Printer in Configuring and Managing Printing in Oracle Solaris 11.3.
In Oracle Solaris 10 and previous releases, the /etc/printers.conf file is where details about all of the printers that are set up by using the LP print service is stored. In Oracle Solaris 11, this file is no longer generated after a fresh installation. Any information about printers that were configured by using lp print commands is removed. The resulting behavior is as though these printers were never configured on the system. Any previously configured printers must be reconfigured by using CUPS. Note that you do not need to delete existing printers prior to reconfiguring them. For information about setting up your printing environment to work with CUPS, see How to Set Up Your Printing Environment After an Installation.
Printers that are configured on a per-user basis in the ~/.printers file no longer work. Printer configuration is solely managed by using CUPS. The default printer can be set on a per-user basis, by setting either the LPDEST or PRINTER environment variables, or by using the new lpoptions command. The lpoptions command creates an ~/.lpoptions file that has the default printer entry listed within that file. By default, all print jobs are directed to this printer.
List specific options for a printer as follows:
# lpoptions -l printer-name
Set the default destination or instance for the default printer by using the –d option:
# lpoptions -d printer-name
See Setting a Default Printer in Configuring and Managing Printing in Oracle Solaris 11.3.
The lp entry in the /etc/passwd file is as follows:
lp:x:71:8:Line Printer Admin:/:
The lp entry in the /etc/group file remains as it is in previous releases.