Where is Command line utility for Cups and command tutorial

mossy · 01-15-2004, 06:58 PM

Hello all -

just a quick question - Ive got an old Debian [woody] install with NO gui. I am trying to use it as a printe server for a HP Laserjet III.
I downloaded HP-LaserJet_3-ljet3.ppd.
I installed cupsys with apt-get and it also installed dependancies.

Questions:

1)Where are the command-line utility and tutorial located?
2)Do I have all the necessary packages/utilities?
3)What do I do with the HP-LaserJet_3-ljet3.ppd file?

Any help is greatly appreciated, even if you cannot answer *all* the questions.

Thanks,

Mossy

Bruce Hill · 01-15-2004, 07:08 PM

I'm not sure if you can install CUPS without a GUI, but the best CUPS and HP printer information I've found are here ->

http://www.linuxprinting.org/cups-doc.html

Also just go to the home page for LinuxPrinting and start there with looking up your particular HP printer. This information is what I used to print when I ran Debian - same now with Slack.

Okay, curiosity got me - why no GUI in Deb?

Velvet Elvis · 01-15-2004, 07:21 PM

It can be done without a gui. I'm not sure where the docs are on your machine. Try /usr/doc. The documentation is very deatailed and well written. There are several hundred pages of it.

mossy · 01-15-2004, 09:10 PM

Well that site is where I started off actually. It references a commandline utility but I cannot see any documentation for it at all on their site.
I got the HP-LaserJet_3-ljet3.ppd file/driver from their site.

"why no GUI in Deb?" - well - it is an old sparc 5 box - I use it as the web server and it will also be the print server soon. I don't think it would handle much of a gui and then again that would less secure.

mossy · 01-15-2004, 09:10 PM

Velvet Elvis

I will try that - THanks

Velvet Elvis · 01-15-2004, 11:26 PM

If you can't find it, just download the source for the version you are using and get the docs from there. If the machine is to be a dedicated print server, you might as well compile your own CUPS so you can optimize the tar (no pun intended) out of it.

mossy · 01-15-2004, 11:47 PM

heh heh - well I found some documentation but it does not seem to give any config info - Im going thru it all tho, maybe it's in here somewhere

The problem with compiling is that everything is bare minimum install - I used Apt-get to install only what is needed so there are no compilers etc. apt-get installs the packages - compilers can be turned against you by hackers - so the aim is to avoid them.
I am hoping I will be able to config this thing if I can just find the config utility.

Velvet Elvis · 01-16-2004, 12:07 AM

There isn't really a non-gui config utility.
It's all done through individual command line statements.

This is what you need to be looking at:

http://www.cups.org/sam.html

mossy · 01-16-2004, 01:24 AM

yeah, THAT's prolly gonna do it!
Thanks alot man!

It's abit dissappointing to not have a command utility [as referenced in their quickstart] but I think you might be right at this point. Ah well. Thank you very much for your help. I will let you know if I get it setup with this document...

Mossy