Getting started with CUPS on FreeBSD 11

CUPS is the standards-based, open source printing system for UNIX Based operating systems. CUPS stands for Common Unix Print System. It serves as the default print server for almost all the linux and BSD distributions. It consists of the following components

• Print spooler
• Scheduler
• A filter that converts print data to printer’s format
• A system that sends the data to the printer

CUPS uses IPP (Internet Printing Protocol) for managing the print queues and jobs.

CUPS can serve the following purposes

1. Provide local print system
2. Act as print server
3. Act as network printer

Installation on Server

CUPS can be installed on FreeBSD using the following command

pkg install cups

If you want to install it from source packages, you can download it from the link http://www.cups.org/software.php

Once CUPS is installed, add the following line to the file /etc/rc.conf

cupsd_enable="YES"

Start the CUPS service using the following command

service cupsd start

To enable the remote administration of cups using web interface, you need to use the following command:

cupsctl --remote-admin

You can now use the browser from a remote machine to configure cups through web interface. The link can be accessed using the following url.

http://:631

If the driver for the printer connected to the server is already installed, you can proceed to the next step. If the driver is not present in cups, you need to install the printer’s driver manually by following the documentation provided by the manufacturer.