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On this page:
Overview
Installing
Configuring
Getting Started

Overview

LPRng is a printing tool that will allow you to print to MIT/Athena printers from your personal Red Hat Enterprise Linux workstation. It relies on Kerberos authentication.

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Installing

To install LPRng on your workstation:

1. If you have not already done so,
2. Download the LPRng RPMs from MIT Software Distribution.
3. Become root.
4. Install all the RPMs you downloaded in step 2 with the following command. Be sure to replace packagename with the RPM name:
   
   rpm -vi packagename
   
   Result: You have successfully installed the RPMs necessary for printing to MIT/Athena printers from your workstation.

Configuring

After you have installed the RPMs, you need to configure your workstation for printing to an MIT Printer:

1. Become root
2. Although it is not required, we recommend you set a default printer for your workstation. This will be the printer that your documents will go to if you do not specify a printer. Please note that this setting will apply to ALL users of the workstation. To set a default printer, enter the following command replacing printername with the printer you want as your default:
   
   Prompt> /usr/bin/mit-lprng-config -p printername
3. Off campus users, or other users who do not have an MIT IP address, will need to configure their machine to always use Kerberos authentication. This is necessary even on printers for which authentication is optional. To configure LPRng to always use authentication:
   
   Prompt> /usr/bin/mit-lprng-config -a
   
   Result: You can now print to printers as you can from Athena.
   
   Note: Some printers require Kerberos authentication. If you do not have tickets, you will receive a message similar to this one:

Printer 'ajax@PAPER-PUSHER.MIT.EDU' - on client krb5_cc_get_principal failed - No credentials cache found

You will need to get tickets before using such printers.

Getting Started

You can now print to Athena/MIT printers using the mit-lpr command as follows:

Prompt> mit-lpr filename

To find out where your print job is in the printer'squeue, use the mit-lpq command:

Prompt> mit-lpq

For more information on LPRng and LPRng commands, see the

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