This article introduces the Print Server (CUPS) app—a central solution for managing printing in Univention Corporate Server. With features like printer and queue management, support for most printer models, and flexible connection options, CUPS is a must-have tool for any office network.
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In most company networks, a print server plays a central role to make sure print jobs reach the correct printer every time. That’s where CUPS—the Common Unix Printing System—comes in. This tool is essential, especially in mixed environments with Linux, Windows, and macOS systems all sharing network resources. But what exactly does CUPS do, and why should you consider it for your IT infrastructure?
With CUPS, you get a range of features that make managing printing simple:
- Central management of printers, printer groups, and queues through the UCS management system
- Built-in support for most printer models thanks to the included PPD (PostScript Printer Description) drivers
- Flexible printer connections, whether locally or via remote protocols like IPP (Internet Printing Protocol) or LPD (Line Printer Daemon)
- Smart distribution of print jobs with printer groups
In this article, we’ll guide you through setting up, configuring, and integrating a CUPS print server on Univention Corporate Server (UCS) within your network. You’ll learn how to centrally manage printers and printer groups, keep print jobs and queues under control, and easily connect Windows clients.
CUPS: The All-in-One Tool for Print Management
CUPS is like the Swiss Army knife for managing printers on Linux. It handles it all: printers, printer groups, queues, and access controls. And the best part? You don’t have to mess with complicated command lines or config files. Just set everything up through the user-friendly Univention Management Console (UMC).
Once you’ve got CUPS set up, it’s not just UCS domain machines that can tap into your printers—Linux, Windows, and macOS devices across your network can join in, too. With built-in PPD files (PostScript Printer Description), CUPS knows exactly what your printers can handle—whether it’s color, black-and-white, single- or double-sided. These handy files let CUPS talk to your printers for optimal results every time.
And here’s the kicker: CUPS doesn’t work solo. Any machine running CUPS becomes a key player for managing all print jobs across your network.
Get Your CUPS Print Server Up and Running in No Time
Here’s how to get started: Search for the Print Server (CUPS) app and install it with a simple click. In the next dialog, pick a UCS system from your network using the drop-down menu. Click Continue, and CUPS will be installed on your chosen UCS server.
CUPS configuration is managed through the LDAP directory service and UCR variables (System / Univention Configuration Registry). All variables starting with cups control the service. The default settings are usually spot-on, so you rarely need to adjust anything here. These variables let you set where the CUPS server sends error and status messages, whether it starts automatically with the system, how to access the web interface (Port 631, LAN access by default), and what CUPS does if a printer goes offline.
Setting Up Printer Shares in UCS Made Easy
To add a new printer to your UCS domain, you’ll need to set up a printer share in CUPS. This share determines how the printer shows up on the network, who can access it, and what permissions users have. You can even set up different shares for different user groups (more on that in the section “Manage Who Can Access Your Printers”) or block certain devices from accessing the printer. Simply put: the printer is the hardware, and the share is what your users see on the network.
To get started, go to Devices / Printers and click Add. In the Type drop-down menu, choose whether you’re setting up a single device or a printer group. Click Continue to open the setup dialog.
Enter the printer share name and select the appropriate print server from the drop-down menu. You’ll see all UCS Directory Nodes and Managed Nodes where the CUPS app is installed. If you have multiple print servers, print jobs will always go to the first available server.
In the Protocol and Destination fields, set up the connection between the printer and the print server. For locally connected printers, options include parallel://, socket://, or usb://. Network printers use protocols like http://, ipp://, or lpd://. If you want to send print jobs to a file, use the file:// protocol. To connect a Windows printer share, use smb://, such as smb://win01/laser01 for the share laser01 on win01. CUPS takes care of the conversion—no Windows drivers needed here.
Once you’ve selected the manufacturer (Printer producer), the Printer model drop-down menu will suggest compatible PPD files. If you don’t see your exact model, pick a similar one and test it. For more on adding additional PPD files, check out the section “How to Add New Printers and PPDs”. You can also fill in Location and Description with any text; some apps display this info when selecting a printer.
If the printer should appear under a different name in Windows, you can specify a custom name in the Windows name field, including spaces and special characters. This is especially useful if the printer was previously known by an old Windows name—no need to reconfigure Windows devices.
Finally, click Save, and CUPS takes care of the rest. While CUPS doesn’t have a direct LDAP interface, the listener module ensures that the configuration is saved to the printers.conf file. If you’re using Samba, the printer share is also automatically set up for Windows clients—no extra steps needed!
Manage Who Can Access Your Printers
In the Access control tab, you decide who can access each printer. Want to make the printer available to specific groups or users only? No problem! Here, you set exactly who gets to print and who doesn’t. By default, everyone has access, but with a few clicks, you can add or exclude users and groups to fit your needs.
This is especially useful if you have printers at multiple locations. It ensures that staff in Location A can’t use the printers in Location B. Best of all, these settings apply not only to CUPS but also to Samba printer shares—keeping everything consistent!
Balanced Workloads: Using Printer Groups
With CUPS, you can easily combine multiple printers into a printer group, making it look to users as if they’re printing to a single printer. The clever part? A printer group ensures there’s always a printer ready to go. Print jobs automatically go to the first available printer in the group—following a round-robin approach to keep the workload balanced and prevent any one printer from getting overloaded. To make this work, the group needs at least one printer, and all printers should be on the same print server.
Quick tip: Avoid adding a printer group as a member of itself. It might sound like a neat trick, but it only leads to chaos and endless loops. Keep things clean and separate, and everything will run smoothly!
To set up a printer group, go to Devices / Printers and click Add. In the Type drop-down, select Printer share: Printer group. Then enter the group’s name—this will appear on both Linux and Windows systems. Use only letters, numbers, hyphens, and underscores; no spaces or special characters allowed.
In the Print server drop-down menu, select the appropriate server, and you’ll be able to add any printers assigned to this server as members of the group. You can also specify a Windows name to display for users on Windows systems—spaces and special characters are allowed here. This is especially useful if the printer group was previously known by an old Windows name, as it keeps the familiar name intact without requiring reconfiguration on Windows devices.
Print Jobs: Keep Your Queues Under Control
Through the Devices / Print jobs module in the UMC, you’ve got everything under control: check the status of your printers and print jobs, enable or disable devices, and cancel or delete active print jobs. Note that this module is only available on the UCS server where the print server is installed.
On the main page, you’ll find a search bar to quickly look up any existing printers. The results list gives you an at-a-glance view of each printer’s server, name, status, location, and description. Need to enable or disable multiple printers at once? Just select the printers you want, click the appropriate button, and you’re all set!
Click on any printer name to see device details and view current print jobs still in the queue. Want to delete one or more jobs? No problem! Simply select them and choose Delete. A quick click on Refresh job list updates the view so you can see what’s still pending.
Connecting Windows Clients to UCS Printers
If you want to add a printer share set up in the UMC module to a Windows client, it’s simple: Open the Control Panel, go to Printers / Add Network Printer, and search for the available printers on the network. If the appropriate driver is already on the server, it will automatically be assigned. If not, you’ll need to install the driver manually on first access.
For the best print quality, make sure to use the correct driver—especially for color printers. If a specific driver isn’t available, you can use a standard PostScript driver, such as the one for the HP Color LaserJet 8550, which supports PostScript and generally works well.
One more important note: To allow regular users to add printers, they’ll need either local admin rights for driver installation or the driver must be provided on the server. Otherwise, a permissions error may pop up, preventing the printer connection. For detailed instructions on driver installation for Windows clients, check out the Mounting of print shares in Windows clients section in our manual.
How to Add New Printers and PPDs
PPD files are the heart of printer configuration—they tell CUPS exactly what your printer can do. While CUPS includes many PPDs out of the box, sometimes you’ll need a specific one directly from the printer manufacturer. No problem! Just copy the file to the /usr/share/ppd/ directory on your print server.
Next, open the Univention Management Console. Go to Domain / LDAP Directory, and navigate through univention / cups on the left. On the right, you’ll see all printer drivers listed by manufacturer. Click on the appropriate manufacturer, scroll down, and enter the PPD file name in the Driver field. Right next to it, you can add a description to ensure the driver appears under a clear name in the printer settings later. Don’t forget to click Save—and you’re all set!
CUPS: The Ultimate Solution for Print Management
With the CUPS app from the Univention App Center, you’ve got full control over print management in your network. Whether it’s centrally managing printers, setting up printer groups, or efficiently distributing print jobs—CUPS has all the tools you need. Thanks to its integration with UCS, you can easily add printers, use flexible protocols, and even connect Windows clients seamlessly.
Got questions or feedback? Leave us a comment and share your experiences and ideas—right here on the blog or over in the Univention Help forum!
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