LPI Linux Certification in a Nutshell, 2nd Edition

Printing (Topic 1.107)

Objective 2: Manage Printers and Print Queues

• Printers are assigned to queues, which are managed by lpd, the print daemon. lpd listens for inbound print requests, forking a copy of itself for each active print queue.

• lpr submits jobs to print queues.

• lpq queries and displays queue status.

• lprm allows jobs to be removed from print queues.

• lpc allows root to administer queues; it has both interactive and command-line forms.

• Filters translate data formats into a printer definition language.

• Spool directories hold spooled job data.

Objective 3: Print Files

• Files are printed with the lpr command:

  # lpr /etc/lilo.conf
  # man -t 5 myfile.txt | lpr -Pqueue2

Objective 4: Install and Configure Local and Remote Printers

/etc/printcap

• New printer definitions are added to /etc/printcap:

  lp|ljet:\
          :sd=/var/spool/lpd/lp:\
          :mx#0:\
          :sh:\
          :lp=/dev/lp0:\
          :if=/var/spool/lpd/lp/filter:
          :lf=/var/spool/lpd/lp/log:

  The lines in this example are defined as follows:

  lp|ljet:\

  This parameter defines two alternate names for the printer, lp or ljet.

  sd= spool_directory

  This parameter specifies the spool directory, under /var/spool/lpd.

  mx= max_size

  The maximum size of a print job in blocks. Setting this to #0 indicates no limit.

  sh

  Suppress header pages. Placing this attribute in printcap sets it, eliminating the headers.

  lp= printer_device

  The local printer device, such as a parallel port.

  if= input_filter

  The input filter to be used. See "Filters" in Chapter 15 for additional information. ...