Linux

Printing on Linux has changed a lot from debian Wheezy to debian Jessie. At the moment we support both of the printing systems available at the ETH. The old VPP printing system with mostly Xerox printers as well as the new Nashuatec printers connected via samba. In the future, the VPP system will go end of life and the printers will be replaced with new Nashuatec printers.

As we did a complete rework of the printing accessibility there are some significant changes for the users. The main difference is, that every client runs it's own CUPS (printserver) instead of the former central printserver (ipp2vpp.ee.ethz.ch). As a consequence of that, you can now print out of any application which supports CUPS printing.

Although you can't see any difference in the list of printers between the VPP and the PIA printers, there are some substantial difference in the background which have to be concerned. More about that in the system-specific paragraphs below.

VPP

On one hand, there are is the old VPP printing system which already worked on Wheezy machines. Unlike as on wheezy machines, you won't have to print over LPR/ GTKLP anymore. It's possible to print on VPP printers ( <<List below>> ) using the printing dialogs of any applications which supports the CUPS printing now.

PIA

On the other hand, there is the new PIA printing system. General information about the system are available here: https://www1.ethz.ch/id/services/list/print_service/index . Since the upgrade of our managed clients to debian Jessie, all the PIA printers of the ET and HIA area are installed by default.

As these PIA printers require an authentication everytime a print-job is sent, we have implemented a password saving solution that includes the gnome keyring. This solution premises some initial steps to work properly. Please consult the following instructions to do so.

Initial steps to save the password for PIA printers

In theory, it should be possible to save to password at any time a print-job is sent from any application. A password dialog appears and with the correct credentials, the password should be saved without a problem. Sadly there is a bug in one of the printing dialogs that causes the printing application to crash. Fortunately there is a simple initial task flow to avoid these crashes:

1. Open a console.
2. type "system-config-printer" to open the printing management.
3. Double-click on the printer "card-ethz".

   

4. Press "Print Test Page"

   

5. Enter your NETHZ credentials as described. The domain "d\" before the username and the tick in the checkbox are necessary. This dialog doesn't throw any errors if you enter the wrong credentials. It will solely pop up again.

   

6. Press "Print Test Page" again. If the dialog didn't pop up again, you have successfully saved the password in the keyring. 1.To be sure, you can verify the process with the instructions in the chapter "Verifying the Keyring".

Verifying the Keyring

1. At first, open a terminal and type "seahorse". That's a tool to get an overview of your saved passwords. If there is an entry like on the screenshot, your password has been saved successfully.

   

3. At first, head to the next PIA/Nashuatec printer ( p-et* ) in your area and hold your ETH card/legi on the marked area on the printer.

Troubleshooting

P: I've started "system-config-printer" but no printers are available.

S: This probably means the cups service has crashed and can't recover itself. Restart your computer or contact ISG.EE <support@ee.ethz.ch>

P: The tick in the checkbox of the password saving dialog disappears everytime i press it. ( probably XFCE )

S: This is only a visual error. Press the checkbox once, and it will save the password.

P: Printouts out of the firefox PDF preview look messed up

S: The firefox PDF preview is not compatible with our system. Please download the pdf and print it using a PDF viewer. ( e.g evince )

P: The Application ( e.g Firefox ) crashes when I try to save the password in the keyring.

S: Please follow the "Initial steps to save the password for PIA printers"