The example provided depicts the GUI interface provided by the Ubuntu Linux 20.04 LTS distribution. Note: Printing only works when you connected to a University of Nebraska network.
Prior to setting up printing, you need to install some prerequisite programs. This can be done with the shell-prompt command "sudo apt install psutils python3-smbc smbclient" there will likely be a number of dependencies that also need to be installed when you issue this command.
- Open System Settings by clicking on the icons in the upper right corner and select "Settings".
- Select Printers on the left and then click "Additional Printer Settings..."
- Click on Add:
- Select "Windows Printer via SAMBA" Enter csnt/ and the name of the printer that you want to add such as "Avery-ps15" and select "Set authentication details now" if the option is presented. For your login credentials, you should use your CSE login username inserting cs.unl.edu\ before your CSE username, e.g. cs.unl.edu\username. Complete the administration of the printer by entering your password and click Forward:
- Select Generic and click Forward on the next window:
- Select PostScript in the Drivers column of the next window and select Generic PostScript Printer Foomatic/Postscript [en] (Recommended) column and then click Forward:
- Enter a short name for the printer, such as "ps15", and a "Human-readable" name for the printer such as "Avery-ps15" and then click Apply. The short name can be used later for command-line printing and the "Human-readable" name will show up in print applications that use the system's GUI.
- You can click Cancel on the popup window or click Print Test Page. The test page will be deducted from your print quota if you choose to print it.
- If everything worked as expected you should see the printer.
If you encounter the error: CUPS server error "client-error-not-possible" or a similar error from the CUPS subsystem, you will need to install the smbclient package, and perhaps additionally the samba or smb-common package, using the package manager provided with your Linux distribution.
Linux Mint uses very much the same procedure except instead of being called "System Settings" the system configuration application is called "Control Center". Other Linux distributions are similar.
If you want to take advantage of more advanced printer features, such as duplexing or stapling, you can use a printer-specific driver for the printer models as seen at the bottom of Printing from Mac via SMB 10.8+ section of this FAQ. Alternatively, you can use the CUPS web interface to select the printer-specific driver.
CUPS Interface
Your Ubuntu/Linux system is running the CUPS which offers a web-interface that you can also use instead of the Ubuntu forms. Open your browser and enter the URL: http://127.0.0.1:631 to access this CUPS interface. The advantage to using the CUPS web-interface is greater flexibility in specifying the printer settings and enhanced control over the printers known to your Ubuntu/Linux system.
To add printers via the CUPS interface, choose the "Windows Printer via SAMBA" on the Add Printer form.
On the next form (after pressing continue) is where you will specify the printer. For SAMBA printers, you specify the smb protocol (the smb:// part), followed by the credential information (login and password) that will be used to access the server, and finally the server name or IP address with the printer name appended after a slash (/) character. e.g.
smb://unl.edu\jdoe2:jdoe2spassword@its-acadprt-unl.unl.edu/SoC_Avery15
This example starts with the protocol (smb://) followed by the network domain (for UNL this is unl.edu), followed by a backslash (\) and your MyRed login (jdoe2) followed by a colon (:) and then your MyRed password (not shown). Follow this with an at-sign (@) and the name (its-acadprt-unl.unl.edu) or IP address (10.1.8.201) of the server and a slash (/) and then the printer name (SoC_Avery15). You can also use the IP address for the server (as shown) instead of the server name.
IMPORTANT: If your password contains any characters other than the a through z, A through Z, and 0 through 9 characters, you will need to convert that character to the HTML URL Encoded %-value equivalent, e.g. a dash (-) character would need to be translated to a %2d (the hex value of the '-' character) . Reference an ASCII table chart to find the hex value for any special characters that you may have in your password and enter the %-value (hex-value of the key-code) into that place in your password string.
On the next CUPS form you specify the name you want for the printer on your system, along with a description and location if desired.
The remainder of the CUPS printer add steps select a print driver for the printer. You may need to look at the printer you want to add so you know what make and model to use. For the Avery12 printer in the example, we specify a make of HP:
And on the next CUPS page, select the print driver corresponding to the printer model (LaserJet p4015dn):
The printer should now appear in your Ubuntu system printer administration page, and will be shown on the home page of the CUPS web interface.
Once you have added a SAMBA printer to your Ubuntu/Linux system, It is critically important to have password protection on your login used on your Ubuntu system, since you are storing an unencrypted password (your MyRed password) onto your disk which could be accessed when the machine is unattended.
Ubuntu 24.04 Printing
The printer administration form and capabilities in Ubuntu 24.04 are significantly different than earlier versions. In Ubuntu 24.04 the printer Add form provided has a single field where you identify the remote printer. To add a printer using this field, enter this value into the field:
smb://its-acadprt-unl.unl.edu/
This cause the form to add a line near the top of the form indicating the server requires credentials. Clicking on/selecting this server-credentials line will open up a form where you will enter your MyRed credentials (e.g. jdoe2 and password). Once you have provided credentials recognized by the its-acadprt-unl.unl.edu server, it will offer the list of printers available on the server, from which you will choose the printer you want to add.
If you do not receive the server requires credentials line when entering the SMB server string, check your network IP address and ensure you are issued an IP address of 10.68.XXX.XXX or higher (10.68.XXX.XXX through 10.71.XXX.XXX is the range of addresses you need to be in for printer access.) If your IP address is below this range, you will need to fix your network configuration/administration so that your MyRed credentials are used to connect to the network.