Linux Server Hacks, Volume Two

Hack #27. Centralize Macintosh Printing with CUPS

Mac OS X makes CUPS printers readily available from Macintosh systems.

Now that the Mac OS is actually a Unix system with graphical gravy, it's much easier to get to the underpinnings of the operating system when necessary. Also, because much of the software that actually powers Mac OS X is now familiar open source software, it's easier than ever to reapply your existing Linux/Unix knowledge to working with Mac OS X. Integrating Mac OS X printing with a CUPS server running on a remote Linux system is one of the best examples of this, because Mac OS X actually uses CUPS as the core of its printing subsystem. This hack explains how to use the familiar CUPS web interface to quickly and easily set up your Mac OS X systems to print to centralized CUPS print servers running on Linux systems. If you're still running a version of the Mac OS earlier than Mac OS X, this hack isn't for you unless you upgrade.

Configuring Access to a Remote CUPS Server

As well as supporting CUPS, Mac OS X also includes its own printer configuration tool, the Printer Setup Utility. The versions of the Printer Setup Utility provided with Mac OS X 10.4 and above can locate remote CUPS printers automatically, because CUPS supports the standard Internet Printing Protocol (IPP). However, just in case you can't find your printer using IPP, this hack explains the details of configuring a printer using our old friend, the web-based CUPS administrative interface. The procedure ...