Setting Up My Laserjet with Cups on Linux

Setting up my HP Laserjet 1012 on my home server and configuring printing on client machines. I’ve had this printer forever, and it just keeps going. I want any device on the home network to have access to the printer.

The home server is running Arch Linux.

Install:

sudo pacman -S avahi cups hplip avahi nss-mdns

Enable Services. As root or sudo:

systemctl enable cups

systemctl start cups

systemctl enable avahi-daemon

systemctl start avahi-daemon

Configure CUPS

First, name the printer:

lpadmin -p hp_laserjet1012

Find the printer’s URI:

lpinfo -v

copy the URI, then enter it:

lpadmin -p -v [URI]

Discover the printers PPD:

lpinfo -m | less

Find the corresponding PPD file and copy it.

Set the printer’s driver, the PPD:

lpadmin -p -m [PPD]

Enable the printer:

lpadmin -p -E hp_laserjet1012

Enable sharing and remote configuration:

cupsctl –remote-admin –remote-any –share-printers

Configure Avahi

Edit the file /etc/nsswitch.conf and change the hosts line to include mdns_minimal [NOTFOUND=return] before resolve and dns

vim /etc/nsswitch.conf

hosts: mymachines mdns_minimal [NOTFOUND=return] resolve [!UNAVAIL=return] files myhostname dns mdns Restart Services

systemctl restart cups

systemctl restart avahi-daemon

At this point, the printer ought to be working and shared on the network. You can set it as the default printer with:

lpadmin -d

You can print a test page from a text file like this:

lp /home/jason/textfile.txt

Set Up Clients

Depending on your setup, install requisite printing software. In my case on KDE Plasma machines running Arch Linux:

sudo pacman -S cups hplip system-config-printer print-manager

Install Avahi and set it up exactly like specified above. Enable and start/restart all the services. The printer ought to be available in the system settings and everything ought to just work.