[cups] Linux->(Linux, Windows) printer sharing with drivers on the server

[Pförtsch, Franz]

Hello,

Also take a look at:

https://wiki.samba.org/index.php/Setup_a_Samba_print_server

the cupsaddsmb magic is missing, but maybe I am writing some lines in a special section

regards
Franz

-----Original Message-----
From: cups-bounces at cups.org [mailto:cups-bounces at cups.org] On Behalf Of Ivan Shapovalov
Sent: Thursday, May 19, 2016 4:52 AM
To: cups at cups.org
Subject: [cups] Linux->(Linux, Windows) printer sharing with drivers on the server

Hello,

I'm trying to configure a LAN-wide shared printer for Linux (and optionally Windows) clients using a dedicated Linux box as a print server.

The printer itself (HP LJ P1505) is connected to the server by USB and needs special drivers (either HPLIP or patched foomatic+foo2xqx, with the latter option being faster). So, I want to configure the server such that the clients won't need any special drivers to print.
On the other hand, the server is slow, and I want to minimize any post- processing done on the server.

Hence I guess that the clients should use a "generic postscript" driver (not a raw queue) and send postscript to the server, where it will be post-processed to the printer-specific stream.

Another requirement is that the client configuring should be as automated as possible (most of the clients are people with laptops which come and go).

For Linux, I've tried to follow the official guide[1], using CUPS web interface and avahi/dns-sd on clients for printer discovery, and this turned into two problems:

1. the client tries to install an HP-specific PPD for the discovered
   printer (while we want a generic postscript driver); 2. the client defaults to "US Letter" paper size, while we use A4, and
   I want this setting to propagate from server to clients.

So: am I missing some obvious configuration steps? Either way, I'd like it to advertise the correct parameters to clients. Is it possible?

Tips for configuring Linux->Windows sharing are also welcome, with same requirements (no special client drivers + automated configuration).

[1]: https://cups.org/documentation.php/doc-2.1/sharing.html

Thanks,
--
Ivan Shapovalov / intelfx /