OIT provides a UNIX-based printing service to a variety of networked campus printers. This service consists of a UNIX host named printserver on which we maintain a set of BSD-style ('lpd') print queues. Networked computers may send print jobs to printserver, which in turn will queue them and forward them to the actual printers.
This is useful for a number or reasons:
Note that OIT UNIX printserver print queues are not the same as OIT Windows NT printserver print queues. For information about the latter, please visit OIT PC Systems Windows NT page.
If you have a printer and would like to arrange for a OIT UNIX printserver print queue, read on.
There are a number of general technical and logistical prerequsities before we can establish a OIT UNIX printserver print queue. Please review General Prerequisites to Establish a OIT UNIX Printserver Print Queue to make sure you will be able to use the service.
Some printers have additional prerequisites, or require some additional special setup. Some have some special features, so you need some additional information from you.
If your printer is listed below, please review the relevant information and follow any additional instructions provided.
Once you believe your printer will meet the prerequisites, and you've completed any special setup mentioned above, copy and complete the Request To Establish a New OIT UNIX Printserver Print Queue. Email the completed form to printmaster@princeton.edu.
Note that the request must come from a person responsible for the printer. If you are trying to arrange to print on someone else's printer, you will need to ask that person to review the prerequisites and submit the request.
You may view the OIT UNIX Printserver Print Queue List. That document displays the name, aliases, and details for each of the OIT UNIX Printserver Print Queues that have been defined for convenient use on the OIT UNIX Systems.
That document includes only those OIT UNIX Printserver Print Queues that have been defined for convenient use on the OIT UNIX Systems. Sometimes the person responsible for a print queue wishes to make it available on private or departmental systems, but discourage its use from OIT UNIX Systems. In those cases, we do not define the print queue on the OIT UNIX Systems. Depending on the operating system on each particular OIT UNIX System, this makes it less convenient (or in some cases impossible) to print to the particular print queue from that particular OIT UNIX System. (Some systems allow one to print only to the print queues defined on that system; others allow you to print to any print queue, if you know the print queue's name and remote LPD server name.) If the person responsible for a print queue has asked us to not define it on the OIT UNIX Systems, we do not publish the name and description of the print queue in the OIT UNIX Printserver Print Queue List.
A copy of OIT UNIX public printcap is available printcap.
Some answers to Frequently-Asked Questions about using OIT UNIX Printserver print queues are available.