Set up a shared network printer on Ubuntu

This is just a note of how I configure my ubuntu to be connected to the remote printer. Different versions of the OS system or different user privileges might lead to different solutions.

First, install the packages that are needed for setting up the printer.

sudo apt-get install cups # if the printer server is linux based
sudo apt-get install sumba smbclient # if it is win based

CUPS: Common Unix Printing System, is a modular printing system for Unix-like computer operating systems which allows a computer to act as a print server. A computer running CUPS is a host that can accept print jobs from client computers, process them, and send them to the appropriate printer.[source: wiki]

Samba:(Server Message Block) protocol. More about samba see here.

Here, I use cups. therefore after the installation of cups, this service can be started with

sudo systemctl start cups

Now, you can find the “Printers” in the main menu of your Ubuntu OS. Select “Add->Network Printer->Find Network Printer”, then enter the IP address of your print in the field of “Host:”. Click “Find”. Then you will see your print with a Port number shown. Click “Forward” till you finish the configuration. In between, you may need to set a name for the printer.

You also just add the printer with “Add->Enter URI” and type in the URI like : socket://IP.OF.THE.PRINTER:PortNumbrt.

Troubleshooting:

If you are not root user or meet the popup window that asks you to enter the credentials to authenticate the printer and when you enter your username and password, it tells you the authentication is not correct. You may need to be added to the lpadmin group which is a privileged group that can configure printer and class queues provided by CUPS.