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cups(1)                          OpenPrinting                          cups(1)

NAME
       cups - a standards-based, open source printing system

DESCRIPTION
       CUPS  is the software you use to print from applications like word pro-
       cessors, email readers, photo editors, and web  browsers.  It  converts
       the  page  descriptions  produced  by your application (put a paragraph
       here, draw a line there, and so forth) into something your printer  can
       understand and then sends the information to the printer for printing.

       Now, since every printer manufacturer does things differently, printing
       can be very complicated.  CUPS does its best to hide this from you  and
       your  application  so  that you can concentrate on printing and less on
       how to print. Generally, the only time you need to know anything  about
       your  printer is when you use it for the first time, and even then CUPS
       can often figure things out on its own.

   HOW DOES IT WORK?
       The first time you print to a printer, CUPS creates  a  queue  to  keep
       track  of  the  current  status  of  the printer (everything OK, out of
       paper, etc.) and any pages you have printed. Most of the time the queue
       points to a printer connected directly to your computer via a USB port,
       however it can also point to a printer on your network,  a  printer  on
       the  Internet,  or  multiple  printers  depending on the configuration.
       Regardless of where the queue points,  it  will  look  like  any  other
       printer to you and your applications.

       Every  time  you print something, CUPS creates a job which contains the
       queue you are sending the print to, the name of the  document  you  are
       printing,  and  the  page  descriptions.  Job  are  numbered  (queue-1,
       queue-2, and so forth) so you can monitor the job as it is  printed  or
       cancel  it  if you see a mistake. When CUPS gets a job for printing, it
       determines the best programs (filters, printer drivers, port  monitors,
       and  backends)  to  convert  the pages into a printable format and then
       runs them to actually print the job.

       When the print job is completely printed, CUPS removes the job from the
       queue  and  moves on to any other jobs you have submitted. You can also
       be notified when the job is finished, or if there are any errors during
       printing, in several different ways.

   WHERE DO I BEGIN?
       The  easiest  way  to  start is by using the web interface to configure
       your printer. Go to "http://localhost:631" and choose  the  Administra-
       tion  tab at the top of the page. Click/press on the Add Printer button
       and follow the prompts.

       When you are asked for a username and password, enter your login  user-
       name and password or the "root" username and password.

       After the printer is added you will be asked to set the default printer
       options (paper size, output mode,  etc.)  for  the  printer.  Make  any
       changes  as needed and then click/press on the Set Default Options but-
       ton to save them.  Some  printers  also  support  auto-configuration  -
       click/press  on  the Query Printer for Default Options button to update
       the options automatically.

       Once you have added the printer, you can print to it from any  applica-
       tion.  You can also choose Print Test Page from the maintenance menu to
       print a simple test page and verify that everything  is  working  prop-
       erly.

       You  can also use the lpadmin(8) and lpinfo(8) commands to add printers
       to CUPS.  Additionally, your operating  system  may  include  graphical
       user interfaces or automatically create printer queues when you connect
       a printer to your computer.

   HOW DO I GET HELP?
       The OpenPrinting CUPS  web  site  (https://openprinting.github.io/cups)
       provides  access  to  the cups and cups-devel mailing lists, additional
       documentation and resources, and a bug report  database.  Most  vendors
       also  provide  online  discussion  forums to ask printing questions for
       your operating system of choice.

ENVIRONMENT
       CUPS commands use the following environment variables to  override  the
       default  locations  of  files and so forth. For security reasons, these
       environment variables are ignored for setuid programs:

       CUPS_ANYROOT
            Whether to allow any X.509 certificate root (Y or N).

       CUPS_CACHEDIR
            The directory where semi-persistent cache files can be found.

       CUPS_DATADIR
            The directory where data files can be found.

       CUPS_ENCRYPTION
            The default  level  of  encryption  (Always,  IfRequested,  Never,
            Required).

       CUPS_EXPIREDCERTS
            Whether to allow expired X.509 certificates (Y or N).

       CUPS_GSSSERVICENAME
            The Kerberos service name used for authentication.

       CUPS_SERVER
            The  hostname/IP  address  and  port  number of the CUPS scheduler
            (hostname:port or ipaddress:port).

       CUPS_SERVERBIN
            The directory where server helper programs, filters, backend, etc.
            can be found.

       CUPS_SERVERROOT
            The root directory of the server.

       CUPS_STATEDIR
            The directory where state files can be found.

       CUPS_USER
            Specifies the name of the user for print requests.

       HOME Specifies the home directory of the current user.

       IPP_PORT
            Specifies the default port number for IPP requests.

       LOCALEDIR
            Specifies the location of localization files.

       LPDEST
            Specifies the default print queue (System V standard).

       PRINTER
            Specifies the default print queue (Berkeley standard).

       TMPDIR
            Specifies the location of temporary files.

FILES
       ~/.cups/client.conf
       ~/.cups/lpoptions

CONFORMING TO
       CUPS  conforms to the Internet Printing Protocol version 2.1 and imple-
       ments the Berkeley and System V UNIX print commands.

NOTES
       CUPS printer drivers, backends, and PPD files are deprecated  and  will
       no  longer  be supported in a future feature release of CUPS.  Printers
       that do not support IPP can be supported  using  applications  such  as
       ippeveprinter(1).

SEE ALSO
       cancel(1),  client.conf(5),  cupsctl(8),  cupsd(8),  lp(1), lpadmin(8),
       lpinfo(8),  lpoptions(1),  lpr(1),  lprm(1),  lpq(1),  lpstat(1),  CUPS
       Online  Help  (http://localhost:631/help),  OpenPrinting  CUPS Web Site
       (https://openprinting.github.io/cups), PWG Internet  Printing  Protocol
       Workgroup (http://www.pwg.org/ipp)

COPYRIGHT
       Copyright (C) 2021-2022 by OpenPrinting.

2021-02-28                           CUPS                              cups(1)

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