remote CUPS server

[Kurt Pfeifle]

On Thursday 30 March 2006 15:37, Wolfgang Jeltsch wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> how do I access a remote CUPS server directly from KDEPrint? 

1. Start the KDE printing dialog (either type "kprinter" as a command,
   or click on the printer icon in one of the KDE applications).

2. Click the "System Options"-button (at bottom of dialog, second
   one from the left); a new dialog opens.

3. In the new dialog, go to the left column, find the "CUPS server" 
   entry and click on it.

4. Change the "Host" field from localhost to what you want; fill in 
   the username/password data (if required); confirm with OK.

5. To verify, make sure your kprinter dialog is in "expanded" mode
   (click on the bottom left-most "Options >>" button to expand it).

kprinter should now show the remote CUPS host and port number as its
"Print system currently used"; the printer drop down list should now
enumerate the printers attached to the remote host; the "properties"
dialog should now show the possible driver settings from the remote
printer drivers (or rather, PPDs).

You could also use your favorite editor to change the respective 
files ("kdeprintrc") in your $HOME/.kde*/share/config/ directory. ;-)
Have also a look at the "kprinterrc" file.

> If I choose CUPS  
> as my printing system in KDEPrint's Control Center module, the host/port 
> combination is set to localhost:631 and there seems to be no way to change 
> this. 

It's also in the Control Center module, of course. Look for the 
button labelled or tooltipped with the "Print Manager".

Hmm... that button may be invisible (I think some distros set it up
like this as a default). In this case, right-click on the white
window background (is it white at all, in all circumstances?) and
select "Show menu tool bar" -- or start the "Print Manager" directly
from the context menu.

> I don't want to install a CUPS server on my local host just to access  
> the remote CUPS server of our department.
> 
> I use KDE 3.3.2.

This works (by and large) like that since KDE 2.2.2. More recently, 
the main dialog of kprinter received some extensive "WhatsThis" help
documentation. (Click on the questionmark in your windows title [if
you have not disabled it], and then on any interface element you 
want an explanation about.)

Not sure if it was implemented in 3.3.2 or shortly after....

> Best regards,
> Wolfgang

Cheers,
Kurt   [ who now pats his brand-new KDE 3.5.2 ]