I am looking for a better solution to handle credentials. This is very much a WIP, but gets the job done.
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I got tired of needing to switch to Windows for color or duplex prints, so I needed to find a way to actually get this working natively without a VM.
The built in printing front-end never worked for me, perhaps you have more success with it, however, it always gave B/W prints or none at all. Furthermore I would need to reconfigure printers all the time, this solution is a lot more consistent, albeit, a bit less secure.
However, I have not run into the standard issues that even Windows machines face & that's why I believe this CLI solution is still better.
However, especially with fish, I did not like typing passwords into the commands directly, so I made a little shell script that streamlined setup on the four major printers (in my opinion) on campus.
Without further ado, let's get into the setup.
Most Linux Distros like Linux Mint, Ubuntu, etc. come with these by default. Arch distros typically do not have these installed. Regardless, make sure you have cups and samba installed on your computer using your package manager.
Note: For both methods, your password will be saved in /etc/cups/printers.conf! This file can only be read by root, however, if you are on a shared device or uncomfortable with this, these methods are not for you!
I am NOT responsible for leaked passwords. Use this method at your own risk.. or just use Windows.
For an automated setup that goes through the following steps, download this file: setup.sh
If it doesn't download automatically, you can use CTRL+S to save it.
Make sure to make it executable with chmod +x setup.sh
Run it like any other program with ./setup.sh
This script supports both the Lied Lounge and the 24/7 Lab printers. The other printers do something differently and are a WIP.
For a manual setup because running shell scripts can be scary...
Download the PPD for the printer from the Sharp official website.
Find the name of the printer and write it down.
Make sure CUPS is running.
To register the printer, run (all in one line):
sudo lpadmin -p PRINTER_NAME -b "smb://USERNAME:PASSWORD@crete/ob2/PRINTER_NAME" -E -P /PATH/TO/PPD_FILE
If you password contains special characters, you would need to encode it using URI standards.
And that's it, try a test print with:
lp -d PRINTER_NAME -o sides=two-sided-long-edge /PATH/TO/PDF_FILE
It might take up to one minute to register on the printer.
Feel free to email me at 136@johang.dev