How to Share Printer Over Ubuntu Network

In the past I used to use Samba to share a printer over the Ubuntu network – yes, I am a fan of the Ubuntu operating system – no more Microsoft Windows 🙂 Samba tends to give me problems using a shared printer. Now I have found a better way sharing a printer…

First some background about Common UNIX Printing System (CUPS). CUPS is the de facto standard for Linux and Unix machines as well as the built-in printing system in the Macintosh as of Mac OS X Version 10.2. So we can say that any printer that is connected to your Ubuntu Linux desktop is a CUPS computer.

The following 20-second trick was posted by Arjen Karel on his blog – I just re-phrase it here to make it easier to follow:

1. On the computer to which your printer is connected, type “http://localhost:631? in your browser address bar – without the quotes of course. Now you enter the main page of the CUPS software.
2. Click on the “Administration” tab on the top menu and then check both of these two settings: “Share printers connected to this system” and “Allow remote administration” – make sure you DO NOT check “Allow printing from the Internet” as you only want computers on your local network to access the admin area, not any one else – certainly not anyone out there over the internet.
3. Click on the “Change Settings” button to confirm the changes – you may need to enter your own login username and password.
4. Open the Ubuntu text command Terminal and type “ifconfig” to find out the IP of this host computer that has the printer connected to – write down this IP address as you need it to install this network printer on other computers on the network.
5. Suppose the host computer’s IP is 192.168.1.101, now go to any other computers on the network that need to share this network printer, open your browser and type “http://192.168.1.101:631? – now you are accessing the CUPS on the host computer from a guest computer.
6. Browse to the printer you want to share by clicking on the “Printers” tab on the top menu and that printer’s IP-based address will show up in your browser’s address bar. In my case, the address is “http://192.168.0.101:631/printers/Samsung-SCX4521F-Compaq”
7. Copy this IP-based printer address, then go to “System > Administration > Printing” to add this printer. In the “Enter device URI” field under “Device > Other” enter the IP-based address of the network printer.
8. Go through the rest of the process to finish the configuration of this network printer – you may want to give a proper name to better identify this printer as you can have as many printers configured this way on the network.

Thats It! Enjoy

About VinRade

Cloud Tech Enthusiast, Microsoft 365 AD Administrator, Virtual Machine Lover, System Administrator, Network and Security Integration, Web Designing and Developing, ICT and Robotics Teacher, DJ, Photographer, and Drag Racer.
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