GNU/Linux Desktop Survival Guide by Graham Williams
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CUPS Command Basics

20190812 CUPS provides a convenient command line to administer printers. We can identify available printers with:

$ lpinfo -v
...
network dnssd://Brother%20HL-3040CN%20series._pdl-datastream._tcp.local/
network socket://192.168.178.26:9100
network lpd://BRN001BA9236DC1/BINARY_P1
...

Here's an example using the socket protocal:

$ lpadmin -p lp1 -v socket://192.168.178.26:9100/ -E

Another example for a LPD (Line Printer Daemon) print server:

$ lpadmin -p lp2 -v lpd://printhost/lp1nd -E

To add information about the Location and a Description of the printer:

$ lpadmin -p lp3 -L "Level 2 South" -D "HP LaserJet 4"

To specify a PPD for the printer:

$ lpadmin -p lp4 -P usr/share/ppd/Brother/brother_hl3040cn_printer_en.ppd
$ lpadmin -p lp5 -P LEXC750.PPD

The PPD file is copied into /etc/cups/ppd/lp5.ppd, for example.

Printer options (assuming it has a PPD) can be viewed with:

$ lpoptions -p lp1 -l

Options can be set with:

$ lpoptions -p lp7 -o PageSize=A4
$ lpoptions -p lp1 -o PageSize=A4

And so on. These options are placed in /etc/cups/lpoptions. The same options can be set using the web interface. The web interface is indeed somewhat easier to use, and it modifies the PPD file directly (e.g., /etc/cups/ppd/lp1.ppd) rather than using the /etc/cups/lpoptions file!

Printer options can be accessed directly from the command line when printing, if the printer's PPD supports the option. For example, the HP LaserJet 4050 driver (from hp-ppd) supports n-up printing and watermarks:

  $ lp -o HPNup=TwoUpL sample.pdf
  $ lp -o HPwmText=Draft odbcmine.pdf