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Chapter 14Common UNIX Printing System (CUPS)CUPS provides you with a friendly interface for printing. Unlike legacy LPD, CUPSautomatically takes care of your printer configuration, and deals with the printcapfile in the background. In addition to LPD protocol, CUPS supports Internet PrintingProtocol (IPP) as the default protocol, as well as SMB and HP JetDirect protocols.IPP is an advanced remote printing protocol that covers many shortcomings of olderprotocols by adding many advanced features such as Access Control, Encryption,and Authentication.CUPS can be found in ports collection under the print/cups directory.If you have already configured your /etc/printcap file, make sure youtake a backup prior to installing CUPS as it will overwrite the existingprintcap file.Just like any other daemon in FreeBSD, CUPS should be enabled by adding this lineto your /etc/rc.conf file:cupsd_enable="YES"While running, CUPS listens on TCP 631 (bound to 127.0.0.1) and UDP 631, on allinterfaces. You can manage CUPS configuration using the Web GUI by pointingyour browser to http://127.0.0.1:631/ on the same host you are running CUPS.If you want to manage CUPS configuration remotely, you should change the defaultconfiguration file that is located at /usr/local/etc/cups/cupsd.conf.Using the Web GUI, you can manage printers, classes (group of printers), andprint jobs. CUPS updates the /etc/printcap file, when you add or modify printersettings. So when you configure a printer using CUPS, any other print spooler (forexample LPD or LPRng) can use the printcap file to communicate with the printers.[ 253 ]