kprinter and cups problem

[Kurt Pfeifle]

Mark Bucciarelli wrote:

> Since I upgraded to RedHat8/KDE3.1 to Sarge/3.2, I cannot get kprinter to 
> see my cups server.  I suspect that I am missing some package on the 
> client.
> 

Probably you don't have a "cupsd" running on the client.
It will not be ablet to automatically pick up printers
attached to a CUPP server then.

You'll still be able to print, though. It is called a
"daemonless" setup of CUPS for the client. (I don't
recommend it for workstations).

For a daemonless setup, edit/create an /etc/cups/client.conf
with this line in it:

ServerName your.server.name-or-IP

If you don't want to give all users the same server,
use a "~/.cupsrc" instead.

For kprinter to list all printers on the client, click
"System Options..." --> "CUPS server" (left icon column) -->
--> fill in "Server Information" (and "Account Information"
if needed).

Or, to get the daemon auto-display you all printers
make sure "cupsys" is installed and cupsd up and running.
(Check if Debian security has enabled "Browsing On" and
"BrowseAllow From All" in cupsd.conf)

> I have two boxes on a LAN, server and client.  My recent upgrade was on the 
> client, not the server.
> 
> From the client, I can lpstat and print a file from the client if I specify 
> the server on the command line.  If I don't, it gives errors:
> 
> $lp testfile
> lp: error - scheduler not responding!

Your client doesn't know which CUPS daemon/server to
contact. So it tries "localhost" as a default. But
localhost has no daemon running....

> $lpstat -v
> lpstat: Unable to connect to server: Connection refused

Same here.

> $lpstat -h server -v
> device for samsung: parallel:/dev/lp0

But here it is told to contact "server". And it finds
a responding daemon there.....

> $lp -h server -d samsung testfile
> request id is samsung-464 (1 file(s))
> $
> 
> When I open the Printing Manager, it says:
> 
> 	Unable to retrieve the printer list.  Error message received
> 	from manager:
> 
> 	Connection to CUPS server failed. 

kprinter and Printing Manager default to contact localhost
for a CUPS daemon. Override it with a setting in client.conf
or ~/.cupsrc....

> Check that the CUPS server
> 	is correctly installed and running. 

Yes, do that.

> Error: connection refused.
> 
> Another strange thing (related?) is that the printe manager says "Connected 
> to localhost:631" (just underneath the "Print system currently used" 
> combobox). 

Hmmm.... no, it is *not* connected. It tries to connect there.

> There is no service listening on port 631 on the client.
> 

Yes because you don't have cupsd running on your client. I
recommend to do it.

> When I use ethereal to watch the traffic on eth0 (filtering out the port 22 
> traffic), the lpstat dialog starts off like this:
> 
> 	client to server: 34677 > ipp [SYN]
> 	server to client: ipp > 34677 [SYN, ACK]
> 

But only if you specify the "-h server" in the lpstat
command, no?

> With the kprinter dialog, I get this:
> 
> 	vmware to client: SMB Echo Request
> 	client to vmware: SMB Echo Response
> 	vmware to client: 1027 > netbios-ssn [ACK]
> 
> Just Samba stuff (I have vmware running on the client sharing a directory).
> 
> So kprinter never sends any kind of request looking for the CUPS server.  

It does. It tries localhost. To direct it to the real
server (if you decide against my recommendation), click
"System Options...." --> "CUPS server" --> ...."

> If the firewall or hosts.allow was blocking the request, something would 
> show up in the ethereal log.
> 

No, that's not the case.

> Do I need a cups server installed in the client for kprinter to work?

Yes and no.
Yes, if you want automatic browsing.
No if you want daemonless printing with client.conf/.cupsrc

> 
> Stumped,
> 
> Mark
> 
> P.S. I am not subscribed, so please CC me on replies.  Thank you.
>

Cheers,
Kurt