ITSD Computing and Communications Services News
May, 2003

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  UNIX Distributed Printing Update – Migration to New System Due to Be Completed in June

In the August 2002 edition of Computing News, ITSD announced plans to develop an alternative to the old method of providing a centralized service for UNIX printing. Called Common UNIX Printing System (CUPS), this Linux-based approach will allow users to more easily print different types of files and use some of the untapped functions available in newer printers. The team expects to finish the migration by the end of June.

The CUPS Migration Team has built a production environment based on Linux (Redhat) and the Common Unix Printing System (CUPS) and is now managing more than 88 percent of the 275 UNIX print queues in UNIX Distributed Printing (DP). The team accomplished this by:

  • building a test environment which allowed the team to certify printers on CUPS before moving the queues to the new system
  • building a production environment that provides redundancy in case of system failure
  • developing a test suite of print jobs that is used to certify the operation of the printer in the various configurations needed
  • gradually pointing jobs which go to dp.lbl.gov over to the primary CUPS server after the team certified each printer.
  • buying a supported version of CUPS (PrintPro, version 4.3) that provides the Lab with drivers for most onsite printers, including the Kyocera multifunction devices that replaced the older copiers last year.

During the course of the migration to the new system, the team did find some older printers that cannot support TCP/IP, and therefore couldn’t be used with CUPS. (The older DP environment didn’t rely on TCP/IP to connect to printers). Most of these printers have been retired or are no longer needed for UNIX printing.

After the migration to CUPS is completed next month and all five of the older DP systems are retired, the team will address some of the new features UNIX users will be able to use. Fore example, the new CUPS system makes it easier to add specialized queues, and allows users to utililize more of the printer's capability, such as printing PDF files, or GIF or JPEG files in many cases. Further, tests have shown that CUPS-driven printers can process more complex PostScript jobs than the older system.

If you have a network-connected printer that your work group would like added to this centrally supported solution, contact the ITSD Help Desk at x4257. For $20 per month, you can leverage off the investment that has already been made.

The CUPS Migration Team that developed the strategy and assisted in different aspects of implementation includes Martin Gelbaum, Greg Kurtzer and Sandra Wittenbrock. ITSD interns Wale Soyinka of the UNIX Services Group and Bobby Zavieh of Mac/PC Support Group also contributed to the project.