HP (Hewlett-Packard) Network Printers User Manual

Using Network Printers

This help document describes how to discover, configure, and use TCP/IP network printers with CUPS.

Getting the IP Address

Every network printer or print server has a unique Internet Protocol (IP) address associated with it. This
address is either configured manually or set using an automatic network protocol such as the Boot Protocol
(BOOTP), Dynamic Host Control Protocol (DHCP), Reverse Address Resolution Protocol (RARP), or
ZeroConf.

You can normally find the IP address of a printer on the printer's control panel or by printing the configuration
or status page. The Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) can also be used to get the IP address
remotely, which happens automatically when you visit the CUPS administration web page or choose an
available CUPS device when adding a printer.

Configuring the IP Address

When you first install a network printer or print server on your LAN, you need to set the Internet Protocol
("IP") address. Most higher-end "workgroup" printers allow you to set the address through the printer control
panel. However, if you have many printers you will want to assign the addresses remotely - this makes
administration a bit easier and avoids assigning duplicate addresses accidentally.

To setup your printer or print server for remote address assignment, you'll need the Ethernet Media Access
Control ("MAC") address, also sometimes called a node address, and the IP address you want to use for the
device. The Ethernet MAC address can often be found on the printer test page or bottom of the print server.

Configuring the IP Address Using DHCP

The DHCP protocol is the usual way of setting the IP address of a printer on a managed network. Using the
standard dhcpd(8) program supplied with UNIX you simply need to add a line to the /etc/dhcpd.conf file:

host hostname {
hardware ethernet mac-address;
fixed-address ip-address;
}

Make sure that the hostname you use is also listed in the /etc/hosts file or is registered with your DNS server.

Configuring the IP Address Using BOOTP

The BOOTP protocol is used when you need to provide additional information such as the location of a
configuration file to the network interface. Using the standard bootpd(8) program supplied with UNIX you
simply need to add a line to the /etc/bootptab file; for IRIX:

myprinter 08:00:69:00:12:34 192.0.2.2 myprinter.boot

Newer versions of bootpd use a different format:

myprinter:ha=080069001234:ip=192.0.2.2:t144=myprinter.boot

The myprinter.boot file resides in the /usr/local/boot directory by default. If you do not need to provide a
boot file you may leave the last part of the line blank.

Note: Some versions of UNIX do not enable the BOOTP service by default. The
/etc/inetd.conf or /etc/xinetd.d/bootp file usually contains a line for the BOOTP service
that can be uncommented if needed.

Verifying the Printer Connection

To test that the IP address has been successfully assigned and that the printer is properly connected to your
LAN, type:

ping ip-address

If the connection is working properly you will see something like:

ping myprinter

PING myprinter (192.0.2.2): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 192.0.2.2: icmp_seq=0 ttl=15 time=5 ms
64 bytes from 192.0.2.2: icmp_seq=1 ttl=15 time=3 ms
64 bytes from 192.0.2.2: icmp_seq=2 ttl=15 time=3 ms
64 bytes from 192.0.2.2: icmp_seq=3 ttl=15 time=3 ms

If not, verify that the printer or print server is connected to the LAN, it is powered on, the LAN cabling is
good, and the IP address is set correctly. You can usually see the current IP address and network status by
printing a configuration or test page on the device.

Network Protocols Supported by CUPS

CUPS supports most network printers using one of three TCP/IP-based protocols. Printer discovery is
currently accomplished using the SNMP protocol, however future versions of CUPS will also include support
for multicast DNS service discovery as well.

AppSocket Protocol

The AppSocket protocol (sometimes also called the JetDirect protocol, owing to its origins with the HP
JetDirect network interfaces) is the simplest, fastest, and generally the most reliable network protocol used for
printers. AppSocket printing normally happens over port 9100 and uses the socket URI scheme:

socket://ip-address-or-hostname
socket://ip-address-or-hostname?waiteof=false
socket://ip-address-or-hostname:port-number
socket://ip-address-or-hostname:port-number?waiteof=false

The "waiteof" option controls whether the socket backend waits for the printer to complete the printing of
the job. The default is to wait.

Internet Printing Protocol (IPP)

IPP is the only protocol that CUPS supports natively and is supported by some network printers and print
servers. However, since many printers do not implement IPP properly, only use IPP when the vendor actually
documents official support for it. IPP printing normally happens over port 631 and uses the http and ipp
URI schemes:

http://ip-address-or-hostname:port-number/resource
http://ip-address-or-hostname:port-number/resource?option=value
http://ip-address-or-hostname:port-number/resource?option=value&option=value
ipp://ip-address-or-hostname/resource

ipp://ip-address-or-hostname/resource?option=value
ipp://ip-address-or-hostname/resource?option=value&option=value
ipp://ip-address-or-hostname:port-number/resource
ipp://ip-address-or-hostname:port-number/resource?option=value
ipp://ip-address-or-hostname:port-number/resource?option=value&option=value

The ipp backend supports many options, which are summarized in Table 2.

Table 2: IPP URI Options

Option Description

compression=gzip Specifies that print data should be compressed before sending.

encryption=always

encryption=ifrequested

Specifies that the connection to the IPP server should be encrypted using
SSL.

Specifies that the connection to the IPP server should only be encrypted if
the server requests it.

encryption=never Specifies that the connection to the IPP server should not be encrypted.

encryption=required

version=1.0

Specifies that the connection to the IPP server should be encrypted using
TLS.

Specifies that version 1.0 of the IPP protocol should be used instead of the
default version 1.1.

waitjob=false Specifies that the IPP backend should not wait for the job to complete.

waitprinter=false

Specifies that the IPP backend should not wait for the printer to become
idle before sending the print job.

Line Printer Daemon (LPD) Protocol

LPD is the original network printing protocol and is supported by many network printers. Due to limitations
in the LPD protocol, we do not recommend using it if the printer or server supports one of the other protocols.
LPD printing normally happens over port 515 and uses the lpd URI scheme:

lpd://ip-address-or-hostname/queue
lpd://ip-address-or-hostname/queue?option=value
lpd://ip-address-or-hostname/queue?option=value&option=value

Table 3 summarizes the options supported by the lpd backend.

Table 3: LPD URI Options

Option Description

banner=on Specifies that a banner page should be printed by the server.

contimeout=seconds

format=c Specifies that the print data is a CIF file.
format=d Specifies that the print data is a DVI file.
format=f Specifies that the print data is a plain text file.
format=g Specifies that the print data is a Berkeley plot file.
format=l Specifies that the print data is a raw (preformatted) print file.
format=n Specifies that the print data is a ditroff file.
format=o Specifies that the print data is a PostScript file.

format=p

Specifies the number of seconds to wait for the connection to the server to
complete.

Specifies that the print data is a plain text file that should be "pretty" printed with
a header and footer.