Printing

On OS X, the printing subsystem is CUPS.

Ways to modify CUPS configuration

• System Preferences > Printers & Scanners
• http://localhost:631/
• sudo lpadmin

Options

Set default printer

sudo lpadmin -d [printer]

Enable Kerberos Authentication

sudo lpadmin -p [printer] -o auth-info-required=negotiate

You can eventually follow this article from Apple.

Change default options

To change defaults, use this command: sudo lpadmin -p [printer] -o [option]=[value]. For example: sudo lpadmin -p Follow-Me -o XRBannerSheet=None

List available options

Use lpoptions -p [printer] -l.

Notable options

Option	Values	Description
printer_is_shared	true/false	share printer
auth-info-required	“none”, “username,password”, “domain,username,password”, or “negotiate” (Kerberos)	Set to negotiate to allow Kerberos
media	Letter A4…	See here for more info
XRBannerSheet	*None AtStart	On Xerox, displays the coverpage with Job ID

More info here

Discovering options

This will allow you to make changes using a GUI, and find the right option.

Using GUI

1. Open print dialog
2. Create a preset
3. execute defaults read ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.print.custompresets.forprinter.[printer].plist [preset] > before.txt
4. Make changes
5. Create a new preset
6. execute defaults read ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.print.custompresets.forprinter.[printer].plist [new_preset] > after.txt
7. See differences with diff before.txt after.txt

Using CUPS Web

I found it quite interesting to follow this:

1. lpoptions -p [printer] -l > before.txt
2. Make the changes on http://localhost:631/printers/ > Printer > Set default Options
3. Run lpoptions -p [printer] -l > after.txt
4. See differences with diff before.txt after.txt

Adding a printer

Network Printer

The command to install a printer is lpadmin. You will need to specify:

• -E to Enable the destination and accept jobs
• -p [name]: name of the printer
• -v [uri]: path to the queue (smb://server/queue)
• -P [PPD]: path to PPD (usually in /Library/Printers/PPDs/Contents/Resources/)
• -o [option]=[value]: specify options

Example

#!/bin/bash
#
# Installs printer, using Xerox Drivers (Xerox_Print_Driver_3.52.0.pkg)
#

readonly LPSTAT='/usr/bin/lpstat'
readonly LPADMIN='/usr/sbin/lpadmin'
readonly CUPSENABLE='/usr/sbin/cupsenable'
readonly CUPSACCEPT='/usr/sbin/cupsaccept'


#######################################
# Add printers using cups
# Globals:
#   LPSTAT
#   LPADMIN
#   CUPSENABLE
#   CUPSACCEPT
# Arguments:
#   name
#   uri
#   ppd
# Returns:
#   None
#######################################

add_printer() {

  local name="$1"
  local uri="$2"
  local ppd="$3"

  if ! ${LPADMIN} -E -p "${name}" \
    -v "${uri}" \
    -P "${ppd}" \
    -o printer_is_shared=false \
    -o auth-info-required=negotiate \
    -o XRBannerSheet=None \
    -o media=iso_a4_210x297mm; then
      echo "ERROR: ${name}: Unable to lpadmin (add printer)" >&2
      exit -1
  fi

  # cupsaccept and cupsenable are not needed before of '-E'. I don't remember why I included them.
  if ! ${CUPSACCEPT} "${name}"; then
    echo "ERROR: ${name}: Unable to cupsaccept." >&2
    exit -1
  fi

  if ! ${CUPSENABLE} "${name}"; then
    echo "ERROR: ${name}: Unable to cupsenable." >&2
    exit -1
  fi
}

if (! ${LPSTAT} -v "Follow-Me"); then
  add_printer "Follow-Me" \
              "smb://printserver.fti.io/Follow-Me%20Xerox%20(PCL6)" \
              "/Library/Printers/PPDs/Contents/Resources/Xerox WC 7545.gz"
fi


exit 0