CUPS and LPRng

Currently, there are two printer servers available for use on Red Hat Linux, the Line Printer, Next Generation (LPRng) and the Common Unix Printing System (CUPS). LPRng was the traditional print server for Linux and Unix systems but has since been dropped from the Red Hat distribution. It is described briefly here. Since Red Hat 9, CUPS is now the primary print server for Red Hat Linux and is supported by redhat-config-printer. However, in Red Hat 8.0 and earlier, LPRng is still used as the default and LPRng is the server supported by redhat-config-printer.

Once you have installed your printers and configured your print server, you can print and manage your print queue using print clients. There are a variety of printer clients available for the CUPS server, redhat-config-printer, GNOME print manager, the CUPS configuration tool, and various line printing tools like lpq and lpc. These are described in further detail later in this chapter. The CUPS configuration tool is a Web-based configuration tool that can also manage printers and print jobs (open your browser and enter the URL http://localhost:631). A Web page is displayed with entries for managing jobs, managing printers, and administrative tasks. Select the Manage Jobs entry to remove or reorder jobs you have submitted. There are also a variety of printer clients available for the LPRng server, including Klpq and various line printing tools such as lpq and lpc that work much like their CUPS counterparts.