You must enter a shared name and password to configure the printer when running Linux. You also need to know the printer's workgroup name, IP address, and printer name, and have the username and password on hand. To find this information, select Start, Settings, Printers; then right-click the shared printer's listing in the Printers window and select Properties from the pop-up window.
On your Fedora system, use system-config-printer to create a new local printer queue and assign it a name; then select the Networked Windows (SMB) type in the list on the right side. Enter the connection details in the field at the top (preceded by smb://) and type your authentication details at the bottom (mini in the example shown in Figure 19.11). SMB printers offered by the server appear in the list and can be selected for use.
FIGURE 19.11 Create a shared remote printer, using required information for Windows.
Click Forward, and then create a printer with characteristics that match the remote printer. (For example, if the remote printer is an HP 2100 LaserJet, select the driver listed for that device in your configuration.)
Network-Attached Printer Configuration and Printing
Fedora supports other methods of remote printing, such as using a Novell Netware-based print queue or using a printer attached directly to your network with an HP JetDirect adapter. Some manufacturers even offer Linux-specific drivers and help. For example, HP provides graphical printer configuration tools and software drivers for other Linux distributions at http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Home.jsp.
You can set up network-attached printing quickly and easily, using a variety of devices. For example, NETGEAR's PS101 print server adapter works well with Linux. This tiny device (a self-hosted print server) is an adapter that directly attaches to a printer's Centronics port, eliminates the use of a parallel-port cable, and enables the use of the printer over a network. The PS101 offers a single 10Mbps ethernet jack and, after initial configuration and assignment of a static IP address, can be used to print to any attached printer supported by Fedora.
A JetDirect- or UNIX-based configuration using system-config-printer can be used to allow you to print to the device from Fedora or other remote Linux hosts. To see any open ports or services on the device, use the nmap command with the print server adapter's IP address like this:
$ nmap 192.168.0.9
Starting Nmap 4.20 ( http://insecure.org ) at 2007-10-23 21:11 BST
Interesting ports on 192.168.0.9:
Not shown: 1691 closed ports
PORT STATE SERVICE
80/tcp open http
443/tcp open https
515/tcp open printer
9100/tcp open jetdirect
9101/tcp open jetdirect
9102/tcp open jetdirect
Nmap finished: 1 IP address (1 host up) scanned in 1.532 seconds
To configure printing, select system-config-printer's JetDirect option; then specify the device's IP address (192.168.0.9 in the example) and port 9100 (as shown previously — you are clued that this is the correct port by the Service entry, which states jetdirect in the example). Alternatively, you can configure the device and attached printer as a UNIX-based print server, but you need to use PS1 as the name of the remote printer queue. Note that the device hosts a built-in web server (HTTP on port 80); you can administer the device by browsing to its IP address (such as http://192.168.2.52 in the example). Other services, such as FTP and Telnet, are supported but undocumented:
$ telnet 192.168.2.52
Trying 192.168.2.52...
Connected to 192.168.2.52 (192.168.2.52).
Escape character is '^]'.
Welcome to Print Server
PS>monitor
(P1)STATE: Idle
TYPE: Parallel
PRINTER STATUS: On-Line
PS>exit
Connection closed by foreign host.
Curiously, NETGEAR does not promote the PS101 as Linux-supported hardware even though it works. Other types of network-attached print devices include Bluetooth- enabled printers and 802.11b wireless ethernet print servers such as TRENDnet's TEW-PS3, HP/Compaq's parallel-port-based WP 110, and the JetDirect 380x with USB. As always, research how well a product, such as a printer or print server, works with Linux before purchasing!
Using the Common UNIX Printing System GUI
You can use CUPS to create printer queues, get print server information, and manage queues by launching a browser (such as Firefox) and browsing to http://localhost:631. CUPS provides a web-based administration interface, as shown in Figure 19.12.
FIGURE 19.12 Use the web-based CUPS administrative interface to configure and manage printing.
This section provides a short example of creating a Linux printer entry, using CUPS's web-based interface. Use the CUPS interface to create a printer and device queue type (such as local, remote, serial port, or Internet); then you enter a device lpd://192.168.2.35/lp, which represents the IP address of a remote UNIX print server, and the name of the remote print queue on the server. You also need to specify the model or make of printer and its driver. A Printers page link allows you to print a test page, stop the printing service, manage the local print queue, modify the printer entry, or add another printer.
In the Administration page, click the Add Printer button and then enter a printer name in the Name field (such as lp), a physical location of the printer in the Location field, and a short note about the printer (such as its type) in the Description field. Figure 19.13 shows a sample entry for a Brother Multi Function Printer.
FIGURE 19.13 Use CUPS to create a new printer queue.
Click the Continue button. You can then select the type of printer access (local, remote, serial port, or Internet) in the Device page, as shown in Figure 19.14. For example, to configure printing to a local printer, select Parallel Port #1 or, for a remote printer, select the LPD/LPR Host or Printer entry. When you've made your selection, click Continue to proceed to the connection options screen, as shown in Figure 19.15.
