Manpages

NAME

lpadmin − configure the LP print service

SYNOPSIS

lpadmin -p printer options

lpadmin -x dest

lpadmin -d [dest]

lpadmin -S print-wheel -A alert-type [-W minutes] [-Q requests]

lpadmin -M -f form-name [ -a [ -o filebreak] [-t tray-number]]

DESCRIPTION

lpadmin configures the LP print service by defining printers and devices. It is used to add and change printers, to remove printers from service, to set or change the system default destination, to define alerts for printer faults, and to mount print wheels.

OPTIONS

Adding or Changing a Printer
The first form of the lpadmin command (lpadmin -p printer options) configures a new printer or changes the configuration of an existing printer. It also starts the print scheduler.

When creating a new printer, one of three options (-v, -U, or -s) must be supplied. In addition, only one of the following may be supplied: -e, -i, or -m; if none of these three options is supplied, the model standard is used. The -h and -l options are mutually exclusive. Printer and class names may be no longer than 14 characters and must consist entirely of the characters A-Z, a-z, 0-9, dash (-) and underscore (_). If -s is specified, the following options are invalid: -A, -e, -F, -h, -i, -l, -M, -m, -o, -U, -v, and -W.

The following printer options may appear in any order.

-A alert-type [-W minutes]

The -A option is used to define an alert that informs the administrator when a printer fault is detected, and periodically thereafter, until the printer fault is cleared by the administrator. The alert-types are:

showfault

Attempt to execute a fault handler on each system that has a print job in the queue. The fault handler is /etc/lp/alerts/printer. It is invoked with three parameters: printer_name, date, file_name. The file_name is the name of a file containing the fault message.

shell-command

Run the shell-command each time the alert needs to be sent. The shell command should expect the message in standard input. If there are blank spaces embedded in the command, enclose the command in quotes. Notice that the mail and write values for this option are equivalent to the values mail user-name and write user-name respectively, where user-name is the current name for the administrator. This will be the login name of the person submitting this command unless he or she has used the su command to change to another user ID. If the su command has been used to change the user ID, then the user-name for the new ID is used.

The message sent appears as follows:

The printer printer has stopped printing for the reason given below.
Fix the problem and bring the printer back on line.
Printing has stopped, but will be restarted in a few minutes;
issue an enable commant if you want to restart sooner.

Unless someone issues the change request:

lp -i request-id -P ...

to change the page list to print, the current request will be reprinted from the beginning. The reason(s) it stopped (multiple reasons indicate reprinted attempts):reason

The LP print service can detect printer faults only through an adequate fast filter and only when the standard interface program or a suitable customized interface program is used. Furthermore, the level of recovery after a fault depends on the capabilities of the filter.

If the printer is all, the alerting defined in this command applies to all existing printers.

If the -W option is not used to arrange fault alerting for printer, the default procedure is to mail one message to the administrator of printer per fault. This is equivalent to specifying -W once or -W 0. If minutes is a number greater than zero, an alert will be sent at intervals specified by minutes.

-c class

Insert printer into the specified class. class will be created if it does not already exist.

-D comment

Save this comment for display whenever a user asks for a full description of printer (see lpstat(1)). The LP print service does not interpret this comment.

-e printer

Copy the interface program of an existing printer to be the interface program for printer. (Options -i and -m may not be specified with this option.)

-f allow:form-list
-f deny:form-list

Allow or deny the forms in form-list to be printed on printer. By default no forms are allowed on a new printer.

For each printer, the LP print service keeps two lists of forms: an ’’allow-list’’ of forms that may be used with the printer, and a ’’deny-list’’ of forms that may not be used with the printer. With the -f allow option, the forms listed are added to the allow-list and removed from the deny-list. With the -f deny option, the forms listed are added to the deny-list and removed from the allow-list.

If the allow-list is not empty, only the forms in the list may be used on the printer, regardless of the contents of the deny-list. If the allow-list is empty, but the deny-list is not, the forms in the deny-list may not be used with the printer. All forms can be excluded from a printer by specifying -f deny:all. All forms can be used on a printer (provided the printer can handle all the characteristics of each form) by specifying -f allow:all.

The LP print service uses this information as a set of guidelines for determining where a form can be mounted. Administrators, however, are not restricted from mounting a form on any printer. If mounting a form on a particular printer is in disagreement with the information in the allow-list or deny-list, the administrator is warned but the mount is accepted. Nonetheless, if a user attempts to issue a print or change request for a form and printer combination that is in disagreement with the information, the request is accepted only if the form is currently mounted on the printer. If the form is later unmounted before the request can print, the request is canceled and the user is notified by mail.

If the administrator tries to specify a form as acceptable for use on a printer that doesn’t have the capabilities needed by the form, the command is rejected.

Notice the other use of -f, with the -M option, below.

The -T option must be invoked first with lpadmin to identify the printer type before the -f option can be used.

-F fault-recovery

This option specifies the recovery to be used for any print request that is stopped because of a printer fault, according to the value of fault-recovery:
continue

Continue printing on the top of the page where printing stopped. This requires a filter to wait for the fault to clear before automatically continuing.

beginning

Start printing the request again from the beginning.

During the wait, the administrator or the user who submitted the stopped print request can issue a change request that specifies where printing should resume. (See the -i option of the lp command.) If no change request is made before printing is enabled, printing resumes at the top of the page where stopped, if the filter allows; otherwise, the request is printed from the beginning.

-i interface

Establish a new interface program for printer. interface is the pathname of the new program. (The -e and -m options may not be specified with this option.)

-I content-type-list

Allow printer to handle print requests with the content types listed in a content-type-list. If the list includes names of more than one type, the names must be separated by commas or blank spaces. (If they are separated by blank spaces, the entire list must be enclosed in double quotes.)

The type simple is recognized as the default content type for files in the UNIX system. A simple type of file is a data stream containing only printable ASCII characters and the following control characters:

To prevent the print service from considering simple a valid type for the printer, specify either an explicit value (such as the printer type) in the content-type-list, or an empty list. If you do want simple included along with other types, you must include simple in the content-type-list.

In addition to content types defined by the print administrator, the type PostScript is recognized and supported by the Solaris print subsystem. This includes filters to support PostScript as the printer content type.

The type any is recognized as a special content type for files. When declared as the input type for a printer, it signals the print sub-system not to do any filtering on the file before sending it to the printer.

Except for simple and any, each content-type name is freely determined by the administrator. If the printer type is specified by the -T option, then the printer type is implicitly considered to be also a valid content type.

may not be specified with this option.)

-m model

Select model interface program, provided with the LP print service, for the printer. (Options -e and -i may not be specified with this option.)

-M -f form-name [-a [-o filebreak]] [-t tray-number]]

Mount the form form-name on printer. Print requests that need the pre-printed form form-name will be printed on printer. If more than one printer has the form mounted and the user has specified any (with the -d option of the lp command) as the printer destination, then the print request will be printed on the one printer that also meets the other needs of the request.

The page length and width, and character and line pitches needed by the form are compared with those allowed for the printer, by checking the capabilities in the terminfo database for the type of printer. If the form requires attributes that are not available with the printer, the administrator is warned but the mount is accepted. If the form lists a print wheel as mandatory, but the print wheel mounted on the printer is different, the administrator is also warned but the mount is accepted.

If the -a option is given, an alignment pattern is printed, preceded by the same initialization of the physical printer that precedes a normal print request, with one exception: no banner page is printed. Printing is assumed to start at the top of the first page of the form. After the pattern is printed, the administrator can adjust the mounted form in the printer and press return for another alignment pattern (no initialization this time), and can continue printing as many alignment patterns as desired. The administrator can quit the printing of alignment patterns by typing q.

If the -o filebreak option is given, a formfeed is inserted between each copy of the alignment pattern. By default, the alignment pattern is assumed to correctly fill a form, so no formfeed is added.

If the -t tray-number option is specified, printer tray tray-number will used.

A form is ’’unmounted’’ either by mounting a new form in its place or by using the -f none option. By default, a new printer has no form mounted.

Notice the other use of -f without the -M option above.

-M -S print-wheel

Mount the print-wheel on printer. Print requests that need the print-wheel will be printed on printer. If more than one printer has print-wheel mounted and the user has specified any (with the -d option of the lp command) as the printer destination, then the print request will be printed on the one printer that also meets the other needs of the request.

If the print-wheel is not listed as acceptable for the printer, the administrator is warned but the mount is accepted. If the printer does not take print wheels, the command is rejected.

A print wheel is ’’unmounted’’ either by mounting a new print wheel in its place or by using the option -S none. By default, a new printer has no print wheel mounted.

Notice the other uses of the -S option without the -M option described below.

-o option

The -o option defines default printer configuration values given to an interface program. The default may be explicitly overwritten for individual requests by the user (see lp(1)), or taken from a preprinted form description (see lpforms(1M) and lp(1)).

There are several options which are pre-defined by the system. In addition, any number of key-value pairs may be defined. Each of the predefined and undefined options are described.

The Predefined Options

The following options are predefined: adjusting printer capabilities, adjusting printer port characteristics, configuring network printers, and controlling the use of banner.

Adjusting Printer Capabilities

length=scaled-decimal-number
width=scaled-decimal-number
cpi=scaled-decimal-number
lpi=scaled-decimal-number

The term scaled-decimal-number refers to a non-negative number used to indicate a unit of size. The type of unit is shown by a ’’trailing’’ letter attached to the number. Three types of scaled-decimal-numbers can be used with the LP print service: numbers that show sizes in centimeters (marked with a trailing c); numbers that show sizes in inches (marked with a trailing i); and numbers that show sizes in units appropriate to use (without a trailing letter), that is, lines, characters, lines per inch, or characters per inch.

The option values must agree with the capabilities of the type of physical printer, as defined in the terminfo database for the printer type. If they do not, the command is rejected.

The defaults are defined in the terminfo entry for the specified printer type. The defaults may be reset by:

lpadmin -p printername -o length=
lpadmin -p printername -o width=
lpadmin -p printername -o cpi=
lpadmin -p printername -o lpi=

Adjusting Printer Port Characteristics

stty="’stty-option-list’"

The stty-option-list is not checked for allowed values, but is passed directly to the stty program by the standard interface program. Any error messages produced by stty when a request is processed (by the standard interface program) are mailed to the user submitting the request.

The default for stty is:

stty="’9600 cs8 -cstopb -parenb ixon
     -ixany opost -olcuc onlcr
     -ocrnl -onocr
     -onlret -ofill nl0 cr0 tab0 bs0 vt0 ff0’"

The default may be reset by:

lpadmin -p printername -o stty=

Configuring Network Printers

dest=string protocol=string bsdctrl=string \
timeout=non-negative-integer-seconds

These four options are provided to support network printing. Each option is passed directly to the interface program; any checking for allowed values is done there.

The value of dest is the name of the destination for the network printer; the semantics for value dest are dependent on the printer and the configuration. There is no default.

The value of option protocol sets the over-the-wire protocol to the printer. The default for option protocol is bsd. The value of option bsdctrl sets the print order of control and data files (BSD protocol only); the default for this option is control file first. The value of option timeout sets the seed value for backoff time when the printer is busy. The default value for the timeout option is 10 seconds. The defaults may be reset by:

lpadmin -p printername -o protocol=
lpadmin -p printername -o bsdctrl=
lpadmin -p printername -o timeout=

Controlling the Use of the Banner Page
nobanner

Allow a user to submit a print request specifying that no banner page be printed.

banner

Force a banner page to be printed with every print request, even when a user asks for no banner page. This is the default. Specify -o nobanner to allow users to specify -o nobanner with the lp command.

Undefined Options

key=value

Each key=value is passed directly to the interface program. Any checking for allowed values is done in the interface program.

Any default values for a given key=value option are defined in the interface program. If a default is provided, it may be reset by typing the key without any value:

lpadmin -p printername -o key=

-P paper-name

Specify a paper type list that the printer supports.

-r class

Remove printer from the specified class. If printer is the last member of class, then class will be removed.

-S list

Allow either the print wheels or aliases for character sets named in list to be used on the printer.

If the printer is a type that takes print wheels, then list is a comma or space separated list of print wheel names. (Enclose the list with quotes if it contains blank spaces.) These will be the only print wheels considered mountable on the printer. (You can always force a different print wheel to be mounted.) Until the option is used to specify a list, no print wheels will be considered mountable on the printer, and print requests that ask for a particular print wheel with this printer will be rejected.

If the printer is a type that has selectable character sets, then list is a comma or blank separated list of character set name ’’mappings’’ or aliases. (Enclose the list with quotes if it contains blank spaces.) Each ’’mapping’’ is of the form known-name=alias The known-name is a character set number preceded by cs (such as cs3 for character set three) or a character set name from the terminfo database entry csnm. See terminfo(4). If this option is not used to specify a list, only the names already known from the terminfo database or numbers with a prefix of cs will be acceptable for the printer. If list is the word none, any existing print wheel lists or character set aliases will be removed.

Notice the other uses of the -S with the -M option described above.

The -T option must be invoked first with lpadmin to identify the printer type before the -S option can be used.

-s system-name[!printer-name]

Make a remote printer (one that must be accessed through another system) accessible to users on your system. system-name is the name of the remote system on which the remote printer is located it. printer-name is the name used on the remote system for that printer. For example, if you want to access printer1 on system1 and you want it called
printer2 on your system:

-p printer2 -s system1!printer1

-T printer-type-list

Identify the printer as being of one or more printer-types. Each printer-type is used to extract data from the terminfo database; this information is used to initialize the printer before printing each user’s request. Some filters may also use a printer-type to convert content for the printer. If this option is not used, the default printer-type will be unknown; no information will be extracted from terminfo so each user request will be printed without first initializing the printer. Also, this option must be used if the following are to work: -o cpi, -o lpi, -o width, and -o length options of the lpadmin and lp commands, and the -S and -f options of the lpadmin command.

If the printer-type-list contains more than one type, then the content-type-list of the -I option must either be specified as simple, as empty (-I ""), or not specified at all.

-t number-of-trays

Specify the number of trays when creating the printer.

-u allow:login-ID-list
-u deny:login-ID-list

Allow or deny the users in login-ID-list access to the printer. By default all users are allowed on a new printer. The login-ID-list argument may include any or all of the following constructs:
login-ID

a user on any system

system-name!login-ID

a user on system system-name

system-name!all

all users on system system-name

all!login-ID

a user on all systems

For each printer, the LP print service keeps two lists of users: an ’’allow-list’’ of people allowed to use the printer, and a ’’deny-list’’ of people denied access to the printer. With the -u allow option, the users listed are added to the allow-list and removed from the deny-list. With the -u deny option, the users listed are added to the deny-list and removed from the allow-list.

If the allow-list is not empty, only the users in the list may use the printer, regardless of the contents of the deny-list. If the allow-list is empty, but the deny-list is not, the users in the deny-list may not use the printer. All users can be denied access to the printer by specifying -u deny:all. All users may use the printer by specifying -u allow:all.

-U dial-info

The -U option allows your print service to access a remote printer. (It does not enable your print service to access a remote printer service.) Specifically, -U assigns the ’’dialing’’ information dial-info to the printer. dial-info is used with the dial routine to call the printer. Any network connection supported by the Basic Networking Utilities will work. dial-info can be either a phone number for a modem connection, or a system name for other kinds of connections. Or, if -U direct is given, no dialing will take place, because the name direct is reserved for a printer that is directly connected. If a system name is given, it is used to search for connection details from the file /etc/uucp/Systems or related files. The Basic Networking Utilities are required to support this option. By default, -U direct is assumed.

-v device

Associate a device with printer. device is the path name of a file that is writable by lp. Notice that the same device can be associated with more than one printer.

Removing a Printer Destination
The -x dest option removes the destination dest (a printer or a class), from the LP print service. If dest is a printer and is the only member of a class, then the class will be deleted, too. If dest is all, all printers and classes are removed. If there are no remaining local printers and the scheduler is still running, the scheduler is shut down.

No other options are allowed with -x.

Setting/Changing the System Default Destination
The -d [dest] option makes dest (an existing printer or class) the new system default destination. If dest is not supplied, then there is no system default destination. No other options are allowed with -d.

Setting an Alert for a Print Wheel
-S print-wheel -A  alert-type [-W minutes] [-Q requests]

The -S print-wheel option is used with the -A alert-type option to define an alert to mount the print wheel when there are jobs queued for it. If this command is not used to arrange alerting for a print wheel, no alert will be sent for the print wheel. Notice the other use of -A, with the -p option, above.

The alert-types are:

shell-command

Run the shell-command each time the alert needs to be sent. The shell command should expect the message in standard input. If there are blanks embedded in the command, enclose the command in quotes. Notice that the mail and write values for this option are equivalent to the values mail user-name and write user-name respectively, where user-name is the current name for the administrator. This will be the login name of the person submitting this command unless he or she has used the su command to change to another user ID. If the su command has been used to change the user ID, then the user-name for the new ID is used.

The message sent appears as follows:

The print wheel print-wheel needs to be mounted
on the printer(s):
printer(integer1requests) integer2 print requests
await this print wheel.

The printers listed are those that the administrator had earlier specified were candidates for this print wheel. The number integer1 listed next to each printer is the number of requests eligible for the printer. The number integer2 shown after the printer list is the total number of requests awaiting the print wheel. It will be less than the sum of the other numbers if some requests can be handled by more than one printer.

If the print-wheel is all, the alerting defined in this command applies to all print wheels already defined to have an alert.

If the -W option is not given, the default procedure is that only one message will be sent per need to mount the print wheel. Not specifying the -W option is equivalent to specifying -W once or -W 0. If minutes is a number greater than zero, an alert will be sent at intervals specified by minutes.

If the -Q option is also given, the alert will be sent when a certain number (specified by the argument requests) of print requests that need the print wheel are waiting. If the -Q option is not given, or requests is 1 or any (which are both the default), a message is sent as soon as anyone submits a print request for the print wheel when it is not mounted.

EXAMPLES

In the following examples, prtr can be any name up to 14 characters and can be the same name as the ping(1M) name.

Example 1: Configuring an HP Postscript Printer with a Jet Direct Network Interface

The following example configures an HP postscript printer with a jet direct network interface:

example# lpadmin -p prtr -v /dev/null -m netstandard \
-o dest=ping_name_of_prtr:9100 -o protocol=tcp -T PS -I postscript
example# enable prtr
example# accept prtr

Example 2: Configuring a Standard Postscript Network Printer

The following example configures a standard postscript network printer:

example# lpadmin -p prtr -v /dev/null -m netstandard \
-o dest=ping_name_of_prtr -T PS -I postscript
example# enable prtr
example# accept prtr

EXIT STATUS

The following exit values are returned:

non-zero

An error occurred.

FILES

/var/spool/lp/*
/etc/lp
/etc/lp/alerts/printer

fault handler for lpadmin.

ATTRIBUTES

See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:

SEE ALSO

enable(1), lp(1), lpstat(1), mail(1), stty(1), accept(1M), lpforms(1M), lpsched(1M), lpsystem(1M), ping(1M), dial(3NSL), terminfo(4), attributes(5)

System Administration Guide: Basic Administration