Chapter 7 Printer Configuration - Red Hat LINUX 7.2 Manual

Printer Configuration
7 Printer Configuration
This chapter provides information on configuring, testing, and modifying a local printer with print-
conf. For information on configuring other types of printers, creating printer aliases, and more, see
Official Red Hat Linux Customization Guide or click on the
application.
Red Hat Linux no longer includes printtool. The printconf utility has replaced printtool. The print-
conf utility maintains the /etc/printcap configuration file, print spool directories, and print fil-
ters.
To use printconf, you must be running the X Window System and have root privileges. To start print-
conf, use one of the following methods:
• On the GNOME desktop, go to
or, in the Nautilus
• On the KDE desktop, go to
• Type the command printconf-gui at a shell prompt (for example, in an XTerm or a GNOME
1
terminal).
You can also run printconf as a text-based application if you do not have the X Window System in-
stalled, or you just prefer the text-based interface. To run it, log in as root (or use the command su to
temporarily change to the root user), and type the command /usr/sbin/printconf-tui from
a shell prompt.
Do not edit the /etc/printcap file. Each time the printer daemon (lpd)
is started or restarted, a new /etc/printcap file is dynamically created.
If you want to add a printer without using printconf, edit the /etc/printcap.local file. The en-
tries in /etc/printcap.local are not displayed in printconf but are read by the printer daemon.
If you upgrade your system from a previous version of Red Hat Linux, your existing configuration file
is converted to the new format used by printconf. Each time a new configuration file is generated by
printconf, the old file is saved as /etc/printcap.old.
1 If you type printtool at a shell prompt, printconf will start.
Main Menu
screen, click on
Start Here
Main Menu System
Do Not Edit /etc/printcap
button once you open the printconf
Help
=> Programs => System
and then on
System
=>
Printer Configuration
=> Printer Configuration
Printer Configuration
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