[Samba] CUPS vs lprng

[John H Terpstra]

On Thu, 6 Nov 2003, Douglas Phillipson wrote:

> Could I get some opinions on which type of Samba based printing is
> easier, CUPS or LPRNG, or just bybass Samba altogether.  I'm looking at
> the Printing HOWTO by Kurt Pfeifle (Printing Support in Samba 3.0) and
> both look really complex.  Anyone out there have any experience with
> printing services in Samba?  Should I just stay away from samba printing
> and go direct to Network printers?

Best is to use network printers, but have your samba server do all the
spooling. If you have each client print directly to a network attached
printer you will get lots of network traffic at times ot printer
congestion.

> What are the advantages of a samba print server as opposed to installing
> printer drivers on the client and printing to a network printer?
>
> Any opinions are appreciated

To a bushman from the heart of the jungle, driving and automatic car is
VERY complex. Do you find it complex? Maybe you have learned enough that
it no longer seems anywhere near as daunting.

I prefer CUPS! It is really easy to configure. Takes very little
imagination. Can be made as complex as you want.

The easiest configuration is to use raw print-through.

1. Edit /etc/cups/mime.convs and uncomment the line at the end of the file
that has:

#application/octet-....

2. Do the same for /etc/cups/mime.types.

3. Add a raw more printer using the Web interface. Point your browser at
http://localhost:631, enter Adminstration, add the printer. Do NOT install
any drivers for it. Choose RAW. Choose queue name "Raw Queue".

4. In the samba [printers] section add:
	use client drivers = Yes

In your [globals] section add:
	printing = CUPS
	printcap = CUPS

Now just install printers on your windows machine as if they are a local
printer. Then edit the configuration, in the"Detail" tab, set a local port
pointing at your samba server:

	\\server\raw_q_name

Where raw_q_name is the name you gave this raw queue in CUPS.

This should work every times.

PS: It is documented in the HOWTO (if you can find it!). :)

- John T.
-- 
John H Terpstra
Email: jht at samba.org