PRINTERS.CONF(5) Standards, Environments, and Macros PRINTERS.CONF(5)
NAME
printers.conf - system printing configuration database
SYNOPSIS
/etc/printers.conf LDAP
ou=printers NIS
printers.conf.bynameDESCRIPTION
The
printers.conf file is the system printing configuration database.
System administrators use
printers.conf to describe destinations for the
print client commands and the print protocol adaptor. A destination names
a printer or class of printers. See
lpadmin(8). The
LP print spooler uses
private
LP configuration data for represented in the
printers.conf database.
Entries
Each entry in
printers.conf describes one destination. Entries are one
line consisting of any number of fields separated by colons (`
:') and
terminated by a NEWLINE. The first field of each entry specifies the name
of the destination and aliases to which the entry describes. Specify one
or more names or aliases of the destination in this first field. Specify
the destination using atomic names. URI-style and POSIX-style names are
not acceptable. See
standards(7). Separate destination names by pipe
signs (`
|').
Two destination names are reserved for special use in the first entry.
Use
_all to specify the interest list for
lpget,
lpstat, and
cancel. Use
_default to specify the default destination.
The remaining fields in an entry are
key=value pairs. See
Specifying Configuration Options for details regarding
key=value pairs.
Empty lines can be included for readability. Entries can continue on to
multiple lines by adding a backslash (`
\') as the last character in the
line.
printers.conf can include comments. Comments have a pound sign
(`
#') as the first character in the line, and are terminated by a
NEWLINE. Use the
lpset command to create or modify
printers.conf. See
lpset(8). Do
not make changes in
printers.conf by using an editor.
Specifying Configuration Options
key=value pairs are configuration options defined by the system
administrator.
key and
value can be of arbitrary length. Separate
key and
value by the equal (`
=') character.
Client/Server Configuration Options The following client/server configuration options (represented as
key=value pairs) are supported:
printer-uri-supported=scheme://endpoint Provides the information necessary to contact the print service for
the entry. The scheme generally identifies the print service or
protocol to use. Currently this is limited to
lpsched,
ipp, and
lpd but might be expanded in the future. Each of these schemes imposes a
set of restrictions for specifying the endpoint and the functionality
provided.
lpsched://localhost/printers/queue This is URI form is used for print queues that are configured
under the local LP service.
ipp://server[:
port]/printers/queue http://server:631/printers/queue ipp://server[:port]/... This URI form is used for print queues that are remotely
accessible by way of the Internet Print Protocol. This protocol
is the preferred method of accessing remote print queues because
it provides the greatest functionality over the wire. The
ipp uri
scheme is specified in the internet print protocol specifications
and is much more free form than listed above. The actual content
and format of the endpoint is determined by the remote print
service.
lpd://server/printers/queue[#Solaris] This URI form is used for print queues that are remotely
accessible by way of the BSD Print Protocol. Though limited in
capability, this protocol is widely used between client and
server. It provides maximum interoperability with remote print
services. When used to communicate with print services on a
Solaris print server, the optional
#Solaris component of the URI
indicates that Solaris protocol extensions can be used during
print job submission.
If an entry does not contain a printer-uri-supported key/value pair,
the bsdaddr value is converted to its equivalent uri form and a
printer-uri-supported key/value pair is added to the resulting data
returned to applications requesting printer configuration data.
bsdaddr=server,destination[
,Solaris]
Sets the server and destination name. Sets if the client generates
protocol extensions for use with the
lp command (see
lp(1)).
Solaris specifies a Solaris print server extension. If
Solaris is not
specified, no protocol extensions are generated.
server is the name
of the host containing the queue for
destination.
destination is the
atomic name by which the server knows the destination. If the
configuration file contents are to be shared with legacy systems
(Solaris 2.6 - Solaris 10), this key/value pair should be provided
for backward compatibility.
use=destination Sets the destination to continue searching for configuration
information.
destination is an atomic, URI-style
(
scheme://
endpoint), or Posix-style name (
server:
printer).
all=destination_list Sets the interest list for the
lpget,
lpstat, and
cancel commands.
destination_list is a comma-separated list of destinations. Specify
destination using atomic, URI-style (
scheme://
endpoint), or Posix-
style names (
server:printer). See
lpget(8),
lpstat(1), and
cancel(1).
LP Server Options
The following
LP configuration options (represented as
key=value pairs)
are supported:
user-equivalence=true|
false Sets whether or not usernames are considered equivalent when
cancelling a print request submitted from a different host in a
networked environment.
true means that usernames are considered
equivalent, and permits users to cancel a print requests submitted
from a different host.
user-equivalence is set to
false by default.
false means that usernames are not considered equivalent, and does
not permit users cancel a print request submitted from a different
host. If
user-equivalence is set to
false, print requests can only be
cancelled by the users on the host on which the print request was
generated or by the superuser on the print server.
Print Queue Name Resolution
Applications needing to resolve print queue names (destinations) to the
associated print service and communications endpoint make use of a
specific name resolution ordering. Destination names in URI and POSIX
form are complete unto themselves and require no further resolution.
Names in atomic form are resolved based on the
printers database entry in
the /etc/nsswitch.conf file. See
nsswitch.conf(5) Locating the Personal Default Destination
The default destination is located differently depending on the command.
The
lp command locates the default destination in the following order:
1.
lp command's
-d destination option.
2.
LPDEST environment variable.
3.
PRINTER environment variable.
4.
_default destination in
$HOME/.printers.
5.
_default destination in
/etc/printers.conf.
The
lpr,
lpq, and
lprm commands locate the default destination in the
following order:
1.
lpr command's
-P destination option.
2.
PRINTER environment variable.
3.
LPDEST environment variable.
4.
_default destination in
$HOME/.printers.
5.
_default destination in
/etc/printers.conf.
Locating the Interest List for lpstat, lpget, and cancel The
lpget,
lpstat, and
cancel commands locate the interest list in the
following order:
1.
_all list in
$HOME/.printers.
2.
_all list in
/etc/printers.conf.
EXAMPLES
Example 1: Setting the Interest List
The following entry sets the interest list for the
lpget,
lpstat and
cancel commands to
printer1,
printer2 and
printer3:
_all:all=printer1,printer2,printer3 Example 2: Setting the Server Name
The following entry sets the server name to
server and printer name to
ps_printer for destinations
printer1 and
ps. It does not generate BSD
protocol extensions.
printer1|ps:bsdaddr=server,ps_printer Example 3: Setting Server Name and Destination Name
The following entry sets the server name to
server and destination name
to
pcl_printer, for destination
printer2. It also generates
Solaris protocol extensions.
printer2:printer-uri-supported=lpd//server/printers/pcl_printer#Solaris Example 4: Setting Server Name and Destination Name with Continuous Search
The following entry sets the server name to
server and destination name
to
new_printer, for destination
printer3. It also sets the
printer3 to
continue searching for configuration information to printer
another_printer.
printer3:bsdaddr=server,new_printer:use=another_printer Example 5: Setting Default Destination
The following entry sets the default destination to continue searching
for configuration information to destination
printer1.
_default:use=printer1 Example 6: Using IPP as the URI
The following example uses IPP as the URI:
printer4:printer-uri-supported=ipp\://server/printers/queueFILES
/etc/printers.conf System configuration database
$HOME/.printers User-configurable printer database
ou=printers LDAP version of
/etc/printers.conf printers.conf.byname (
NIS)
NIS version of
/etc/printers.confATTRIBUTES
See
attributes(7) for descriptions of the following attributes:
+----------------+-----------------+
|ATTRIBUTE TYPE | ATTRIBUTE VALUE |
+----------------+-----------------+
|Stability Level | Stable |
+----------------+-----------------+
SEE ALSO
cancel(1),
enable(1),
enable(1),
lp(1),
lpstat(1),
lpq(1B),
lpr(1B),
lprm(1B),
nsswitch.conf(5),
printers(5),
attributes(7),
standards(7),
accept(8),
accept(8),
in.lpd(8),
lpadmin(8),
lpget(8),
lpmove(8),
lpset(8) System Administration Guide: Basic Administration February 25, 2017
PRINTERS.CONF(5)