John HTerpstra Samba Team

jht@samba.org

KurtPfeifle

kpfeifle@danka.de

(25 March 2003) The Common Unix Print System (CUPS) has become very popular, but to many it is a very mystical tool. There is a great deal of uncertainty regarding CUPS and how it works. The result is seen in a large number of posting on the samba mailing lists expressing frustration when MS Windows printers appear not to work with a CUPS backr-end. /para> This is a good time to point out how CUPS can be used and what it does. CUPS is more than just a print spooling system - it is a complete printer management system that complies with HTTP and IPP protocols. It can be managed remotely via a web browser and it can print using http and ipp protocols. CUPS allows to creation of RAW printers (ie: NO file format translation) as well as SMART printers (ie: CUPS does file format conversion as required for the printer). In many ways this gives CUPS similar capabilities to the MS Windows print monitoring system. Of course, if you are a CUPS advocate, you would agrue that CUPS is better! In any case, let us now move on to explore how one may configure CUPS for interfacing with MS Windows print clients via Samba. When CUPS printers are configured for RAW print-through mode operation it is the responsibility of the Samba client to fully render the print job (file) in a format that is suitable for direct delivery to the printer. In this case CUPS will NOT do any print file format conversion work. The CUPS files that need to be correctly set for RAW mode printers to work are: /etc/cups/mime.types /etc/cups/mime.convs Both contain entries that must be uncommented to allow RAW mode operation. Firstly, to enable CUPS based printing from Samba the following options must be enabled in your smb.conf file [globals] section: printing = CUPS printcap = CUPS When these parameters are specified the print directives in smb.conf (as well as in samba itself) will be ignored because samba will directly interface with CUPS through it's application program interface (API) - so long as Samba has been compiled with CUPS library (libcups) support. If samba has NOT been compiled with CUPS support then printing will use the System V AT&T command set with the -oraw option automatically passing through. Cupsomatic (an enhanced printing utility that is part of some CUPS implementations) on the Samba/CUPS server does *not* add any features if a file is really printed "raw". However, if you have loaded the driver for the Windows client from the CUPS server, using the "cupsaddsmb" utility, and if this driver is one using a "Foomatic" PPD, the PJL header in question is already added on the Windows client, at the time when the driver initially generated the PostScript data and CUPS in true "-oraw" manner doesn't remove this PJL header and passes the file "as is" to its printer communication backend. NOTE: editing in the "mime.convs" and the "mime.types" file does not *enforce* "raw" printing, it only *allows* it. Print files that arrive from MS Windows printing are "auto-typed" by CUPS. This aids the process of determining proper treatment while in the print queue system. Files generated by PCL drivers and directed at PCK printers get auto-typed as application/octet-stream. Unknown file format types also get auto-typed with this tag. Files generated by a Postscript driver and directed at a Postscript printer are auto-typed depending on the auto-detected most suitable MIME type as: * application/postscript * application/vnd.cups-postscript "application/postscript" first goes thru the "pstops" filter (where the page counting and accounting takes place). The outcome will be of MIME type "application/vnd.cups-postscript". The pstopsfilter reads and uses information from the PPD and inserts user-provided options into the PostScript file. As a consequence, the filtered file could possibly have an unwanted PJL header. "application/postscript" will be all files with a ".ps", ".ai", ".eps" suffix or which have as their first character string one of "%!" or "<04>%". "application/vnd.cups-postscript" will files which contain the string "LANGUAGE=POSTSCRIPT" (or similar variations with different capitalization) in the first 512 bytes, and also contain the "PJL super escape code" in the first 128 bytes ("<1B>%-12345X"). Very likely, most PostScript files generated on Windows using a CUPS or other PPD, will have to be auto-typed as "vnd.cups-postscript". A file produced with a "Generic PostScript driver" will just be tagged "application/postscript". Once the file is in "application/vnd.cups-postscript" format, either "pstoraster" or "cupsomatic" will take over (depending on the printer configuration, as determined by the PPD in use). A printer queue with *no* PPD associated to it is a "raw" printer and all files will go directly there as received by the spooler. The exeptions are file types "application/octet-stream" which need "passthrough feature" enabled. "Raw" queues don't do any filtering at all, they hand the file directly to the CUPS backend. This backend is responsible for the sending of the data to the device (as in the "device URI" notation as lpd://, socket://, smb://, ipp://, http://, parallel:/, serial:/, usb:/ etc.) "cupsomatic"/Foomatic are *not* native CUPS drivers and they don't ship with CUPS. They are a Third Party add-on, developed at Linuxprinting.org. As such, they are a brilliant hack to make all models (driven by Ghostscript drivers/filters in traditional spoolers) also work via CUPS, with the same (good or bad!) quality as in these other spoolers. "cupsomatic" is only a vehicle to execute a ghostscript commandline at that stage in the CUPS filtering chain, where "normally" the native CUPS "pstoraster" filter would kick in. cupsomatic by-passes pstoraster, "kidnaps" the printfile from CUPS away and re-directs it to go through Ghostscipt. CUPS accepts this, because the associated CUPS-O-Matic-/Foomatic-PPD specifies: *cupsFilter: "application/vnd.cups-postscript 0 cupsomatic" This line persuades CUPS to hand the file to cupsomatic, once it has successfully converted it to the MIME type "application/vnd.cups-postscript". This conversion will not happen for Jobs arriving from Windows which are auto-typed "application/octet-stream", with the according changes in "/etc/cups/mime.types" in place. CUPS is widely configurable and flexible, even regarding its filtering mechanism. Another workaround in some situations would be to have in "/etc/cups/mime.types" entries as follows: application/postscript application/vnd.cups-raw 0 - application/vnd.cups-postscript application/vnd.cups-raw 0 - This would prevent all Postscript files from being filtered (rather, they will go thru the virtual "nullfilter" denoted with "-"). This could only be useful for PS printers. If you want to print PS code on non-PS printers an entry as follows could be useful: */* application/vnd.cups-raw 0 - and would effectively send *all* files to the backend without further processing. Lastly, you could have the following entry: application/vnd.cups-postscript application/vnd.cups-raw 0 my_PJL_stripping_filter You will need to write a "my_PJL_stripping_filter" (could be a shellscript) that parses the PostScript and removes the unwanted PJL. This would need to conform to CUPS filter design (mainly, receive and pass the parameters printername, job-id, username, jobtitle, copies, print options and possibly the filename). It would be installed as world executable into "/usr/lib/cups/filters/" and will be called by CUPS if it encounters a MIME type "application/vnd.cups-postscript". CUPS can handle "-o job-hold-until=indefinite". This keeps the job in the queue "on hold". It will only be printed upon manual release by the printer operator. This is a requirement in many "central reproduction departments", where a few operators manage the jobs of hundreds of users on some big machine, where no user is allowed to have direct access. (The operators often need to load the proper paper type before running the 10.000 page job requested by marketing for the mailing, etc.). The following diagrams reveal how CUPS handles print jobs. ######################################################################### # # CUPS in and of itself has this (general) filter chain (CAPITAL # letters are FILE-FORMATS or MIME types, other are filters (this is # true for pre-1.1.15 of pre-4.3 versions of CUPS and ESP PrintPro): # # SOMETHNG-FILEFORMAT # | # | # V # somethingtops # | # | # V # APPLICATION/POSTSCRIPT # | # | # V # pstops # | # | # V # APPLICATION/VND.CUPS-POSTSCRIPT # | # | # V # pstoraster # as shipped with CUPS, independent from any Ghostscipt # | # installation on the system # | (= "postscipt interpreter") # | # V # APPLICATION/VND.CUPS-RASTER # | # | # V # rastertosomething (f.e. Gimp-Print filters may be plugged in here) # | (= "raster driver") # | # V # SOMETHING-DEVICE-SPECIFIC # | # | # V # backend # # # ESP PrintPro has some enhanced "rastertosomething" filters as compared to # CUPS, and also a somewhat improved "pstoraster" filter. # # NOTE: Gimp-Print and some other 3rd-Party-Filters (like TurboPrint) to # CUPS and ESP PrintPro plug-in where rastertosomething is noted. # ######################################################################### ######################################################################### # # This is how "cupsomatic" comes into play: # ========================================= # # SOMETHNG-FILEFORMAT # | # | # V # somethingtops # | # | # V # APPLICATION/POSTSCRIPT # | # | # V # pstops # | # | # V # APPLICATION/VND.CUPS-POSTSCRIPT ----------------+ # | | # | V # V cupsomatic # pstoraster (constructs complicated # | (= "postscipt interpreter") Ghostscript commandline # | to let the file be # V processed by a # APPLICATION/VND.CUPS-RASTER "-sDEVICE=s.th." # | call...) # | | # V | # rastertosomething V # | (= "raster driver") +-------------------------+ # | | Ghostscript at work.... | # V | | # SOMETHING-DEVICE-SPECIFIC *-------------------------+ # | | # | | # V | # backend >------------------------------------+ # | # | # V # THE PRINTER # # # Note, that cupsomatic "kidnaps" the printfile after the # "APPLICATION/VND.CUPS-POSTSCRPT" stage and deviates it through # the CUPS-external, systemwide Ghostscript installation, bypassing the # "pstoraster" filter (therefor also bypassing the CUPS-raster-drivers # "rastertosomething", and hands the rasterized file directly to the CUPS # backend... # # cupsomatic is not made by the CUPS developers. It is an independent # contribution to printing development, made by people from # Linuxprinting.org. (see also http://www.cups.org/cups-help.html) # # NOTE: Gimp-Print and some other 3rd-Party-Filters (like TurboPrint) to # CUPS and ESP PrintPro plug-in where rastertosomething is noted. # ######################################################################### ######################################################################### # # And this is how it works for ESP PrintPro from 4.3: # =================================================== # # SOMETHNG-FILEFORMAT # | # | # V # somethingtops # | # | # V # APPLICATION/POSTSCRIPT # | # | # V # pstops # | # | # V # APPLICATION/VND.CUPS-POSTSCRIPT # | # | # V # gsrip # | (= "postscipt interpreter") # | # V # APPLICATION/VND.CUPS-RASTER # | # | # V # rastertosomething (f.e. Gimp-Print filters may be plugged in here) # | (= "raster driver") # | # V # SOMETHING-DEVICE-SPECIFIC # | # | # V # backend # # NOTE: Gimp-Print and some other 3rd-Party-Filters (like TurboPrint) to # CUPS and ESP PrintPro plug-in where rastertosomething is noted. # ######################################################################### ######################################################################### # # This is how "cupsomatic" would come into play with ESP PrintPro: # ================================================================ # # # SOMETHNG-FILEFORMAT # | # | # V # somethingtops # | # | # V # APPLICATION/POSTSCRIPT # | # | # V # pstops # | # | # V # APPLICATION/VND.CUPS-POSTSCRIPT ----------------+ # | | # | V # V cupsomatic # gsrip (constructs complicated # | (= "postscipt interpreter") Ghostscript commandline # | to let the file be # V processed by a # APPLICATION/VND.CUPS-RASTER "-sDEVICE=s.th." # | call...) # | | # V | # rastertosomething V # | (= "raster driver") +-------------------------+ # | | Ghostscript at work.... | # V | | # SOMETHING-DEVICE-SPECIFIC *-------------------------+ # | | # | | # V | # backend >------------------------------------+ # | # | # V # THE PRINTER # # NOTE: Gimp-Print and some other 3rd-Party-Filters (like TurboPrint) to # CUPS and ESP PrintPro plug-in where rastertosomething is noted. # ######################################################################### ######################################################################### # # And this is how it works for CUPS from 1.1.15: # ============================================== # # SOMETHNG-FILEFORMAT # | # | # V # somethingtops # | # | # V # APPLICATION/POSTSCRIPT # | # | # V # pstops # | # | # V # APPLICATION/VND.CUPS-POSTSCRIPT-----+ # | # +------------------v------------------------------+ # | Ghostscript | # | at work... | # | (with | # | "-sDEVICE=cups") | # | | # | (= "postscipt interpreter") | # | | # +------------------v------------------------------+ # | # | # APPLICATION/VND.CUPS-RASTER >-------+ # | # | # V # rastertosomething # | (= "raster driver") # | # V # SOMETHING-DEVICE-SPECIFIC # | # | # V # backend # # # NOTE: since version 1.1.15 CUPS "outsourced" the pstoraster process to # Ghostscript. GNU Ghostscript needs to be patched to handle the # CUPS requirement; ESP Ghostscript has this builtin. In any case, # "gs -h" needs to show up a "cups" device. pstoraster is now a # calling an appropriate "gs -sDEVICE=cups..." commandline to do # the job. It will output "application/vnd.cup-raster", which will # be finally processed by a CUPS raster driver "rastertosomething" # Note the difference to "cupsomatic", which will *not* output # CUPS-raster, but a final version of the printfile, ready to be # sent to the printer. cupsomatic also doesn't use the "cups" # devicemode in Ghostscript, but one of the classical devicemodes.... # # NOTE: Gimp-Print and some other 3rd-Party-Filters (like TurboPrint) to # CUPS and ESP PrintPro plug-in where rastertosomething is noted. # ######################################################################### ######################################################################### # # And this is how it works for CUPS from 1.1.15, with cupsomatic included: # ======================================================================== # # SOMETHNG-FILEFORMAT # | # | # V # somethingtops # | # | # V # APPLICATION/POSTSCRIPT # | # | # V # pstops # | # | # V # APPLICATION/VND.CUPS-POSTSCRIPT-----+ # | # +------------------v------------------------------+ # | Ghostscript . Ghostscript at work.... | # | at work... . (with "-sDEVICE= | # | (with . s.th." | # | "-sDEVICE=cups") . | # | . | # | (CUPS standard) . (cupsomatic) | # | . | # | (= "postscript interpreter") | # | . | # +------------------v--------------v---------------+ # | | # | | # APPLICATION/VND.CUPS-RASTER >-------+ | # | | # | | # V | # rastertosomething | # | (= "raster driver") | # | | # V | # SOMETHING-DEVICE-SPECIFIC >------------------------+ # | # | # V # backend # # # NOTE: Gimp-Print and some other 3rd-Party-Filters (like TurboPrint) to # CUPS and ESP PrintPro plug-in where rastertosomething is noted. # ########################################################################## CUPS ships with good support for HP LaserJet type printers. You can install the driver as follows: lpadmin -p laserjet4plus -v parallel:/dev/lp0 -E -m laserjet.ppd (The "-m" switch will retrieve the "laserjet.ppd" from the standard repository for not-yet-installed-PPDs, which CUPS typically stores in /usr/share/cups/model. Alternatively, you may use "-P /absolute/filesystem/path/to/where/there/is/PPD/your.ppd"). Always also consult the database on linuxprinting.org for all recommendations about which driver is best used for each printer: http://www.linuxprinting.org/printer_list.cgi There select your model and click on "Show". You'll arrive at a page listing all drivers working with your model. There will always be *one* recommended one. Try this one first. In your case ("HP LaserJet 4 Plus"), you'll arrive here: http://www.linuxprinting.org/show_printer.cgi?recnum=75104 The recommended driver is "ljet4". It has a link to the page for the ljet4 driver too: http://www.linuxprinting.org/show_driver.cgi?driver=ljet4 On the driver's page, you'll find important and detailed info about how to use that driver within the various available spoolers. You can generate a PPD for CUPS. The PPD contains all the info about how to use your model and the driver; this is, once installed, working transparently for the user -- you'll only need to choose resolution, paper size etc. from the web-based menu or from the print dialog GUI or from the commandline... On the driver's page, choose to use the "PPD-O-Matic" online PPD generator program. Select your model and click "Generate PPD file". When you safe the appearing ASCII text file, don't use "cut'n'past" (as it could possiblly corrupt line endings and tabs), but use "Save as..." in your browser's menu. Save it at "/some/path/on/your/filesystem/somewhere/my-name-for-my-printer.ppd" Then install the printer: "lpadmin -p laserjet4plus -v parallel:/dev/lp0 -E -P /some/path/on/your/filesystem/somewhere/my-name-for-my-printer.ppd" Note, that for all the "Foomatic-PPDs" from Linuxprinting.org, you also need a special "CUPS filter" named "cupsomatic". Get the latest version of "cupsomatic" from: http://www.linuxprinting.org/cupsomatic This needs to be copied to /usr/lib/cups/filter/cupsomatic and be made world executable. This filter is needed to read and act upon the specially encoded Foomatic comments, embedded in the printfile, which in turn are used to construct (transparently for you, the user) the complicated ghostscript command line needed for your printer/driver combo. You can have a look at all the options for the Ghostscript commandline supported by your printer and the ljet4 driver by going to the section "Execution details", selecting your model (Laserjet 4 Plus) and clicking on "Show execution details". This will bring up this web page: http://www.linuxprinting.org/execution.cgi?driver=ljet4&printer=75104&.submit=Show+execution+details The ingenious thing is that the database is kept current. If there is a bug fix and an improvement somewhere in the database, you will always get the most current and stable and feature-rich driver by following the steps described above. Till Kamppeter from MandrakeSoft is doing an excellent job here that too few people are aware of. (So if you use it often, please send him a note showing your appreciation). The latest and greatest improvement now is support for "custom page sizes" for all those printers which support it. "cupsomatic" is documented here: http://www.linuxprinting.org/cups-doc.html More printing tutorial info may be found here: http://www.linuxprinting.org/kpfeifle/LinuxKongress2002/Tutorial/ Note, that *all* the Foomatic drivers listed on Linuxprinting.org (now approaching the "all-time high" number of 1.000 for the supported models) are using a special filtering chain involving Ghostscript, as described in this document. Summary - You need: A "foomatic+something" PPD is not enough to print with CUPS (but it is *one* important component) The "cupsomatic" filter script (Perl) in /usr/lib/cups/filters/ Perl to make cupsomatic run Ghostscript (because it is called and controlled by the PPD/cupsomatic combo in a way to fit your printermodel/driver combo. Ghostscript *must*, depending on the driver/model, contain support for a certain "device" (as shown by "gs -h") In the case of the "hpijs" driver, you need a Ghostscript version, which has "ijs" amongst its supported devices in "gs -h". In the case of "hpijs+foomatic", a valid ghostscript commandline would be reading like this: gs -q -dBATCH -dPARANOIDSAFER -dQUIET -dNOPAUSE -sDEVICE=ijs \ -sIjsServer=hpijsPageSize -dDuplex=Duplex Model \ -rResolution,PS:MediaPosition=InputSlot -dIjsUseOutputFD \ -sOutputFile=- - Note, that with CUPS and the "hpijs+foomatic" PPD (plus Perl and cupsomatic) you don't need to remember this. You can choose the available print options thru a GUI print command (like "glp" from ESP's commercially supported PrintPro software, or KDE's "kprinter", or GNOME's "gtklp" or the independent "xpp") or the CUPS web interface via human-readable drop-down selection menus. If you use "ESP Ghostscript" (also under the GPL, provided by Easy Software Products, the makers of CUPS, downloadable from http://www.cups.org/software.html, co-maintained by the developers of linuxprinting.org), you are guaranteed to have in use the most uptodate, bug-fixed, enhanced and stable version of a Free Ghostscript. It contains support for ~300 devices, whereas plain vanilla GNU Ghostscript 7.05 only has ~200. If you print only one CUPS test page, from the web interface and when you try to print a windows test page, it acts like the job was never sent: Can you print "standard" jobs from the CUPS machine? Are the jobs from Windows visible in the Web interface on CUPS (http://localhost:631/)? Most important: What kind of printer driver are you using on the Windows clients? You can try to get a more detailed debugging info by setting "LogLevel debug" in /etc/cups/cupsd.conf, re-start cupsd and investigate /var/log/cups/error_log for the whereabouts of your Windows-originating printjobs: what does the "auto-typing" line say? which is the "MIME type" CUPS thinks is arriving from the Windows clients? are there "filter" available for this MIME type? are there "filter rules" defined in "/etc/cups/mime.convs" for this MIME type? The feature you want is dependent on the real print subsystem you're using. Samba's part is always to receive the job files from the clients (filtered *or* unfiltered) and hand it over to this printing subsystem. Of course one could "hack" things with one's own scripts. But there is CUPS (Common Unix Printing System). CUPS supports "quotas". Quotas can be based on sizes of jobs or on the number of pages or both, and are spanning any time period you want. This is an example command how root would set a print quota in CUPS, assuming an existing printer named "quotaprinter": lpadmin -p quotaprinter -o job-quota-period=604800 -o job-k-limit=1024 -o job-page-limit=100 This would limit every single user to print 100 pages or 1024 KB of data (whichever comes first) within the last 604.800 seconds ( = 1 week). For CUPS to count correctly, the printfile needs to pass the CUPS "pstops" filter, otherwise it uses a "dummy" count of "1". Some printfiles don't pass it (eg: image files) but then those are mostly 1 page jobs anyway. This also means, proprietary drivers for the target printer running on the client computers and CUPS/Samba then spooling these files as "raw" (i.e. leaving them untouched, not filtering them), will be counted as "1-pagers" too! You need to send PostScript from the clients (i.e. run a PostScript driver there) for having the chance to get accounting done. If the printer is a non-PostScript model, you need to let CUPS do the job to convert the file to a print-ready format for the target printer. This will be working for currently ~1.000 different printer models, see http://www.linuxprinting.org/printer_list.cgi Before CUPS-1.1.16 your only option was to use the Adobe PostScript Driver on the Windows clients. The output of this driver was not always passed thru the "pstops" filter on the CUPS/Samba side, and therefor was not counted correctly (the reason is that it often --- depending on the "PPD" being used --- did write a "PJL"-header in front of the real PostScript which made CUPS to skip the pstops and go directy to the "pstoraster" stage). From CUPS-1.1.16 onward you can use the "CUPS PostScript Driver for Windows NT/2K/XP clients" (it is tagged in the download area of http://www.cups.org/ as the "cups-samba-1.1.16.tar.gz" package). It is *not* working for Win9x/ME clients. But it: >it guarantees to not write an PJL-header it guarantees to still read and support all PJL-options named in the driver PPD with its own means it guarantees the file going thru the "pstops" filter on the CUPS/Samba server it guarantees to page-count correctly the printfile You can read more about the setup of this combination in the manpage for "cupsaddsmb" (only present with CUPS installed, only current with CUPS 1.1.16). These are the items CUPS logs in the "page_log" for every single *page* of a job: * Printer name * User name * Job ID * Time of printing * the page number * the number of copies * a billing info string (optional) Here is an extract of my CUPS server's page_log file to illustrate the format and included items: infotec_IS2027 kurt 40 [22/Nov/2002:13:18:03 +0100] 1 2 #marketing infotec_IS2027 kurt 40 [22/Nov/2002:13:18:03 +0100] 2 2 #marketing infotec_IS2027 kurt 40 [22/Nov/2002:13:18:03 +0100] 3 2 #marketing infotec_IS2027 kurt 40 [22/Nov/2002:13:18:03 +0100] 4 2 #marketing infotec_IS2027 kurt 40 [22/Nov/2002:13:18:03 +0100] 5 2 #marketing infotec_IS2027 kurt 40 [22/Nov/2002:13:18:03 +0100] 6 2 #marketing This was Job ID "40", printed on "infotec_IS2027" by user "kurt", a 6-page job printed in 2 copies and billed to "#marketing"... What flaws or shortcomings are there? the ones named above CUPS really counts the job pages being *processsed in software* (going thru the "RIP") rather than the physical sheets successfully leaving the printing device -- if there is a jam while printing the 5th sheet out of 1000 and the job is aborted by the printer, the "page count" will still show the figure of 1000 for that job all quotas are the same for all users (no flexibility to give the boss a higher quota than the clerk) no support for groups no means to read out the current balance or "used-up" number of current quota a user having used up 99 sheets of 100 quota will still be able to send and print a 1.000 sheet job a user being denied a job because of a filled-up quota doesn't get a meaningful error message from CUPS other than "client-error-not-possible". But this is the best system out there currently. And there are huge improvements under development: page counting will go into the "backends" (these talk directly to the printer and will increase the count in sync with the actual printing process -- a jam at the 5th sheet will lead to a stop in the counting) quotas will be handled more flexibly probably there will be support for users to inquire their "accounts" in advance probably there will be support for some other tools around this topic Other than the current stage of the CUPS development, I don't know any other ready-to-use tool which you could consider. You can download the driver files from http://www.cups.org/software.html. It is a separate package from the CUPS base software files, tagged as "CUPS 1.1.16 Windows NT/2k/XP Printer Driver for SAMBA (tar.gz, 192k)". The filename to download is "cups-samba-1.1.16.tar.gz". Upon untar-/unzip-ping it will reveal the files: cups-samba.install cups-samba.license cups-samba.readme cups-samba.remove cups-samba.ss These have been packaged with the ESP meta packager software "EPM". The *.install and *.remove files are simple shell script, which untars the *.ss (which is nothing else than a tar-archive) and puts its contents into /usr/share/cups/drivers/. Its contents are 3 files: cupsdrvr.dll cupsui.dll cups.hlp ATTENTION: due to a bug one CUPS release puts the cups.hlp into /usr/share/drivers/ instead of /usr/share/cups/drivers/. To work around this, copy/move the file after running the "./cups-samba.install" script manually to the right place: cp /usr/share/drivers/cups.hlp /usr/share/cups/drivers/ This new CUPS PostScript driver is currently binary-only, but free no source code is provided (yet). The reason is this: it has been developed with the help of the Microsoft Driver Developer Kit (DDK) and compiled with Microsoft Visual Studio 6. It is not clear to the driver developers if they are allowed to distribute the whole of the source code as Free Software. However, they will likely release the "diff" in source code under the GPL, so anybody with a license of Visual Studio and a DDK will be able to compile for him/herself. Once you have run the install script (and possibly manually moved the "cups.hlp" file to "/usr/share/cups/drivers/"), the driver is ready to be put into Samba's [print$] share (which often maps to "/etc/samba/drivers/" and contains a subdir tree with WIN40 and W32X86 branches), by running "cupsaddsmb" (see also "man cupsaddsmb" for CUPS 1.1.16). [Don't forget to put root into the smbpasswd file by running "smbpasswd" should you run this whole procedure for the first time.] Once the driver files are in the [print$] share, they are ready to be downloaded and installed by the Win NT/2k/XP clients. NOTE 1: Win 9x/ME clients won't work with this driver. For these you'd still need to use the ADOBE*.* drivers as previously. NOTE 2: It is not harming if you've still the ADOBE*.* driver files from previous installations in the "/usr/share/cups/drivers/" directory. The new cupsaddsmb (from 1.1.16) will automatically use the "newest" installed driver (which here then is the CUPS drivers). NOTE 3: Should your Win clients have had the old ADOBE*.* files and the Adobe PostScript drivers installed, the download and installation of the new CUPS PostScript driver for Windows NT/2k/XP will fail at first. It is not enough to "delete" the printer (as the driver files will still be kept by the clients and re-used if you try to re-install the printer). To really get rid of the Adobe driver files on the clients, open the "Printers" folder (possibly via "Start --> Settings --> Control Panel --> Printers"), right-click onto the folder background and select "Server Properties". A new dialog opens; select the "Drivers" tab; on the list select the driver you want to delete and click on the "Delete" button. (This will only work if there is no single printer left which uses that particular driver -- you need to "delete" all printers using this driver in the "Printers" folder first.) Once you have successfully downloaded the CUPS PostScript driver to a client, you can easily switch all printers to this one by proceeding as described elsewhere in the "Samba HOWTO Collection" to change a driver for an existing printer. What are the benefits with the "CUPS PostScript driver for Windows NT/2k/XP" as compared to the Adobe drivers? no hassle with the Adobe EULA no hassle with the question "where do I get the ADOBE*.* driver files from?" the Adobe drivers (depending on the printer PPD associated with them) often put a PJL header in front of the core PostScript part of the print file (thus the file starts with "1B%-12345X" or "escape%-12345X" instead of "%!PS"). This leads to the CUPS daemon autotyping the arriving file as a print-ready file, not requiring a pass thru the "pstops" filter (to speak more technical, it is not regarded as the generic MIME type "application/postscript", but as the more special MIME type "application/cups.vnd-postscript"), which therefore also leads to the page accounting in "/var/log/cups/page_log" not receiving the exact mumber of pages; instead the dummy page number of "1" is logged in a standard setup) the Adobe driver has more options to "mis-configure" the PostScript generated by it (like setting it inadvertedly to "Optimize for Speed", instead of "Optimize for Portability", which could lead to CUPS being unable to process it) the CUPS PostScript driver output sent by Windows clients to the CUPS server will be guaranteed to be auto-typed as generic MIME type "application/postscript", thusly passing thru the CUPS "pstops" filter and logging the correct number of pages in the page_log for accounting and quota purposes the CUPS PostScript driver supports the sending of additional print options by the Win NT/2k/XP clients, such as naming the CUPS standard banner pages (or the custom ones, should they be installed at the time of driver download), using the CUPS "page-label" option, setting a job-priority and setting the scheduled time of printing (with the option to support additional useful IPP job attributes in the future). the CUPS PostScript driver supports the inclusion of the new "*cupsJobTicket" comments at the beginnig of the PostScript file (which could be used in the future for all sort of beneficial extensions on the CUPS side, but which will not disturb any other application as those will regard it as a comment and simply ignore it). the CUPS PostScript driver will be the heart of the fully fledged CUPS IPP client for Windows NT/2k/XP to be released soon (probably alongside the first Beta release for CUPS 1.2). Let the Windows Clients use a PostScript driver to deliver poistscript to the samba print server (just like any Linux or Unix Client would also use PostScript to send to the server) Make the Unix printing subsystem to which Samba sends the job convert the incoming PostScript files to the native print format of the target printers (would be PCL if you have an HP printer) Now if you are afraid that this would just mean using a *Generic* PostScript driver for the clients that has no Simplex/Duplex selection, and no paper tray choice, but you need them to be able to set up print jobs, with all the bells and whistles of your printers:- Not possible with traditional spooling systems But perfectly supported by CUPS (which uses "PPD" files to describe how to control the print options for PostScript and non-PostScript devices alike... CUPS PPDs are working perfectly on Windows clients who use Adobe PostScript drivers (or the new CUPS PostScript driver for Windows NT/2K/XP). Clients can use them to setup the job to their liking and CUPS will use the received job options to make the (PCL-, ESC/P- or PostScript-) printer behave as required. If you want to have the additional benefit of page count logging and accounting then the CUPS PostScript driver is the best choice (better than the Adobe one). If you want to make the drivers downloadable for the clients then "cupsaddsmb" is your friend. It will setup the [print$] share on the Samba host to be ready to serve the clients for a "point and print" driver installation. What strings are attached? There are some. But, given the sheer CPU power you can buy nowadays, these can be overcome easily. The strings: Well, if the CUPS/Samba side will have to print to many printers serving many users, you probably will need to set up a second server (which can do automatic load balancing with the first one, plus a degree of fail-over mechanism). Converting the incoming PostScript jobs, "interpreting" them for non-PostScript printers, amounts to the work of a "RIP" (Raster Image Processor) done in software. This requires more CPU and RAM than for the mere "raw spooling" task your current setup is solving. It all depends on the avarage and peak printing load the server should be able to handle. Samba print files pass thru two "spool" directories. One the incoming directory managed by Samba, (set eg: in the "path = /var/spool/samba" directive in the [printers] section of "smb.conf"). Second is the spool directory of your UNIX print subsystem. For CUPS it is normally "/var/spool/cups/", as set by the cupsd.conf directive "RequestRoot /var/spool/cups". I am not sure, which one of your directories keeps the files. From what you say, it is most likely the Samba part. For the CUPS part, you may want to consult: http://localhost:631/sam.html#PreserveJobFiles and http://localhost:631/sam.html#PreserveJobHistory and http://localhost:631/sam.html#MaxJobs There are the settings described for your CUPS daemon, which could lead to completed job files not being deleted. "PreserveJobHistory Yes" -- keeps some details of jobs in cupsd's mind (well it keeps the "c12345", "c12346" etc. files in the CUPS spool directory, which do a similar job as the old-fashioned BSD-LPD control files). This is set to "Yes" as a default. "PreserveJobFiles Yes" -- keeps the job files themselves in cupsd's mind (well it keeps the "d12345", "d12346" etc. files in the CUPS spool directory...). This is set to "No" as the CUPS default. "MaxJobs 500" -- this directive controls the maximum number of jobs that are kept in memory. Once the number of jobs reaches the limit, the oldest completed job is automatically purged from the system to make room for the new one. If all of the known jobs are still pending or active then the new job will be rejected. Setting the maximum to 0 disables this functionality. The default setting is 0. (There are also additional settings for "MaxJobsPerUser" and "MaxJobsPerPrinter"...) For everything to work as announced, you need to have three things: a Samba-smbd which is compiled against "libcups" (Check on Linux by running "ldd `which smbd`") a Samba-smb.conf setting of "printing = cups" another Samba-smb.conf setting of "printcap = cups" Note, that in this case all other manually set printing-related commands (like "print command", "lpq command", "lprm command", "lppause command" or "lpresume command") are ignored and they should normally have no influence what-so-ever on your printing. If you want to do things manually, replace the "printing = cups" by "printing = bsd". Then your manually set commands may work (haven't tested this), and a "print command = lp -d %P %s; rm %s" may do what you need. You forgot to mention the CUPS version you're using. If you did set things up as described in the man pages, then the Samba spool files should be deleted. Otherwise it may be a bug. On the CUPS side, you can control the behaviour as described above. If you have more problems, post the output of these commands: grep -v ^# /etc/cups/cupsd.conf | grep -v ^$ grep -v ^# /etc/samba/smb.conf | grep -v ^$ | grep -v "^;" (adapt paths as needed). These commands sanitize the files and cut out the empty lines and lines with comments, providing the "naked settings" in a compact way.