Printer Sharing with Linux clients

From openSUSE

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This document will guide you through how to share your printer/s with other clients across the network.

openSUSE 11.1

Sharing a printer among your local LAN is quite simple. OpenSUSE 11.1 is setup to automatically look remotely for printers that are being shared. The client side setup should be limited to verification of being able to print.

Server

Prerequisite: You will need a properly working printer.

The Server will be the machine that the printer is connected to. Start off by opening YaST -> Hardware -> Printer

Notice there is a printer that works.

Select Share Printers on the right. Select "Allow Remote Access", also select "For Computers within the local network" and "Publish printers by default within the local network". By publishing the printer, it should show up automatically on all clients that are set to look remotely.

Client(s)

Clients should "automagically" now be able to print. To confirm, take a look on a client to be sure the settings are correct.

If the remote printer does not show up, make sure the "Print via Network" settings have selected "Recieve Printer Information from Remote CUPS servers".

Troubleshooting

11.1 solution

Please note an error, which is in 11.1 (and also 11.0). An solution is described in this thread:

OpenSUSE 11.1 Installation problems solved: CUPS, CD, DVD 

If you are using CUPS.

First solution

When I first installed open SuSE 10.1, I tried to add a printer to CUPS using the web interface by pointing my web browser at http://localhost:631/admin. However, it insisted on asking me for a username and password, and neither my root password nor my personal one were accepted. Looking in the CUPS error log (/var/log/cups/error_log) I saw that it was complaining that there was no such file "/etc/cups/passwd.md5".

To fix this, I first added a "sys" group and "root" user to the system as follows:

(as root): % lppasswd -a -g sys root

And then added a user account:

(as root): % lppasswd -a smith

And this seemed to work.

NB: on 10.3 the web interface seems to work with linux login/passwd

Second solution

With my openSUSE 10.3 and network printers (9100 port type), I had the following problem:

• I print and notice the printer is off. I push the button and it awakes, but nothing prints.

What I did: go to yast, add me to the group "lp"

lauch firefox and go to

http://localhost:631

then, in "printers" page, my printer is noted "stopped", but here is a button "start the printer".

I clic on the button and I'm asked for a login and a passwd. I give my login and my passwd (linux one, not cups one) and voilà, the printer is started and prints.

Third solution

There is an option in cups, allowing the job to be resent in case of printer error (bottom of the page of each printer in cups)

Fourth solution

simply from the command line as root:

cupsenable <name of printer queue that is stopped>