FreeBSD 11, Xfce, and printing

[Polytropon]

On Sun, 22 Jan 2017 23:29:25 -0800, David Christensen wrote:
> On 01/22/17 22:53, Polytropon wrote:
> > On Sun, 22 Jan 2017 19:50:37 -0800, David Christensen wrote:
> >> I wanted to print a document today.  I went looking for:
> >>
> >> Application Menu -> Settings -> Printing
> >>
> >>
> >> It does not exist.  All I see is:
> >>
> >> Application Menu -> Settings -> Xfce 4 Printing System Settings
> >>
> >>
> >> CUPS is missing from the left-hand pane.
> >
> > Is CUPS installed
> 
> Thanks for the reply.
> 
> 
> Apparently, yes:
> 
> toor at freebsd:/root # pkg info cups | head -n 4
> cups-2.2.1
> Name           : cups
> Version        : 2.2.1
> Installed on   : Mon Jan 16 15:57:43 2017 PST

Good. It's simply worth checking out the fundamental steps
for printing, so _that_ cannot be the problem. :-)




> > and enabled?
> 
> 
> How is CUPS enabled?  No, wait, let me guess -- /etc/rc.conf?

Correct: cupsd_enable="YES" will do the trick. In order to
get the permission stuff right, devfs_system_ruleset="system"
will also be needed.



> But, is it running?
> 
> toor at freebsd:/root # ps -A | grep -i cups
> 13962  0  R+      0:00.00 grep -i cups
> 
> 
> Apparently, yes.

Apparently, no. Read with attention: You are seeing the grep (!)
process (searching for the word "cups"), not CUPS itself. As root:

# ps ax | grep "cupsd"
 1725  ??  Is     0:00.77 /usr/local/sbin/cupsd -C /usr/local/etc/cups/cupsd.conf
 2543   2  S+     0:00.00 grep cupsd

The first line indicates the actual CUPS daemon running.



> STFW yields some hits:
> 
> 1.  This one mentions /etc/rc.conf (lucky guess).  And other stuff.  I 
> wonder if it is applicable to FreeBSD 11.0, or will I screw up my system?
> 
> https://www.freebsd.org/doc/en/articles/cups/article.html
> 
> Last modified on 2015-04-04 23:31:59Z by eadler.
> 
> Next, add two lines to /etc/rc.conf as follows:
> 
> cupsd_enable="YES"
> devfs_system_ruleset="system"

That is correct.



> > Open a web broser and go to http://localhost:631, this is the
> > web configuration interface for CUPS, the preferred method to
> > interact with the beast. :-)
> 
> Unable to connect
> 
> Firefox can’t establish a connection to the server at localhost:631.

You usually get this message if CUPS is _not_ running, or if
networking is a little bit messed up.

Check a few things:

Does /etc/hosts have a line for localhost?

Can you connect to 127.0.0.1:631?




> I guess that confirms CUPS is not configured correctly.

I think so, too.



> > It seems that Xfce doesn't have a proper integration for CUPS,
> > at least the FreeBSD version hasn't.
> 
> Works OOTB on Debian 7.

That's why I said _FreeBSD_ version. Note that Xfce is ported
to FreeBSD from Linux, and those are different operating systems.




> >> So, I installed:
> >>
> >> xfce4-print
> >>
> >>
> >> Which said:
> >>
> >> ===>   NOTICE:
> >>
> >> This port is deprecated; you may wish to reconsider installing it:
> >>
> >> Depends on unmaintained x11-toolkits/libxfce4gui.
> >
> > Then don't use it. It isn't required anyway. Use the web
> > interface instead as suggested in the CUPS documentation.
> 
> I prefer Xfce Application Menu -> Settings -> Printing.

No matter what _you_ prefer, CUPS prefers the web interface,
so you should better do what the software wants you to do. ;-)

You can easily add a menu item that opens the default web
browser with the CUPS web interface.

Note that you can also use CLI tools like lpadmin for the
printer configuration, but personally I find them rather
inconvenient for a "do once, then forget" kind of task.



> >> Application Menu -> Settings -> Printing still does not exist, and the
> >> LibreOffice Writer Print dialog still does not look encouraging.
> >
> > OpenOffice has a stand-alone printer management tool symlink
> > called /usr/local/bin/openoffice.org-3.3.0-spadmin, and
> > LibreOffice has something similar; search for "spadmin",
> > that will be the right one.
> >
> > First configure CUPS using the web interface, then run that
> > program to make LO aware of the printer. It should work then.
> 
> I prefer Xfce Application Menu -> Settings -> Printing.

CUPS doesn't. :-)



> > The last time I configured CUPS + LO printing was more than
> > 3 years ago, and I forgot everything... ;-)
> 
> That's why I take a lot of notes and put them into CVS.

I also usually do this, but due to "human pressure" I didn't
do it at _that_ time when I got the impossible working (two
crappy USB printers with CUPS). I know there are some hand-
written notes somewhere, but I can't find them at the moment.
It's the kind of stuff you need every 5-10 years just to
discover that your notes are outdated and don't work anymore
with current systems. :-)



> >> Any suggestions for getting CUPS working?
> >
> > Allow me to point you to the relevant sources:
> >
> > https://www.freebsd.org/doc/handbook/printing.html
> >
> > https://www.freebsd.org/doc/en/articles/cups/
> >
> > http://www.wonkity.com/~wblock/docs/html/lpdprinting.html
> 
> The first and third appear to cover old-school printing.

Well, I find system lpd + printer filter very appealing when
it comes to real printers (that understand PS). It's so much
easier, no web interface needed, works without trouble all
the time - but heavily depends on the printer.



> The second is one I also found STFW.  It looks like the best of them 
> all.  I guess I'll give it a try.

It more or less tells you to go to localhost:631 and follow
the instructions there. :-)



> > (Hopefully) helpful sidenote:
> >
> > Make yourself familiar with the CUPS commands lpq, lpr, lprm,
> > cupsaccept, and cupsenable. Check the location of the CUPS
> > log files in /var/log, especially the error log file. It will
> > significantly help you at troubleshooting.
> >
> > What you should get when you've configured everything correctly,
> > for example:
> >
> > 	% lpq
> > 	Laserjet is ready
> > 	no entries
> >
> > 	% lpr import.pdf
> > 	% lpq
> > 	Laserjet is ready and printing
> > 	Rank    Owner   Job     File(s)             Total Size
> > 	active  poly    4929    import.pdf          73728 bytes
> >
> > The web interface also has the ability to check those (as well
> > as partial error messages in case the printer doesn't print), but
> > using the CLI tools is much more convenient.
> 
> I'll keep that handy.

A few other commands that you might note: lpadmin, lpstat, lpinfo.
When you've done your configuration right, i. e. printer is
installed, enabled, accepts jobs, the CLI tools should tell you
that quickly (other than "^P + trial & error + web browser"). :-)




PS. Remember the LibreOffice printer setup. If I remember
    correctly, this step is also required.


-- 
Polytropon
Magdeburg, Germany
Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0
Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ...