Printer Configuration

Configuring a printer is not covered by installation or setup agent. Red Hat Enterprise Linux uses the Common UNIX Printing System, also known as CUPS. CUPS uses the Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) to allow local printing and print sharing. The /etc/cups/ directory stores the configuration files for printing. These files can be easily managed with the Printer Configuration Tool in Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

NOTE
To start the Printer Configuration Tool, go to the System menu on the top panel and select Administration, Printing or execute the command system-config-printer. It will prompt for the root password. If no printers are available for the system, only the Server Settings view is available for selection. If local printers are configured, a Local Printers menu is available.

CUPS is the default printing system used by Red Hat Enterprise Linux, and one of its many advantages is that it uses IPP to broadcast shared printers on the network so that other systems can browse for them, select one as the default printer, and print to it without any further configuration. If any printers are broadcast on your network, they will appear in a Remote Printers menu. Figure shows a system with both local and remote printers. If a list isn’t already expanded, click on the triangle icon to the left of it.

The log files for the CUPS printing system are located in the /var/log/cups/ directory. Refer to this directory for access and error logs.