Linux

Printing on the Linux-based Workstations 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 PIA/Nashuatec printers connected via samba. In the future, the VPP system will go end of life and the old 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 connecting to 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 (except of the name: PIA printers start with "p-"), there are some substantial differences 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 Debian Wheezy machines. With the new system, it is possible to print on VPP printers using the printing dialogs of any applications which supports the CUPS printing now. For the reason of clarity we installed only the printers in the ET and the HIA area. If there is a need for more printers, please contact ISG.EE <support@ee.ethz.ch> with an explanation why it's needed. The website http://www.vppspy.ethz.ch/tools/vpplist.php provides a list of all currently available printers including printing logs for the last days.

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. With the upgrade of our managed clients to Debian Jessie, all the PIA printers of the ET and HIA area are installed by default. They are listed at the end of the printer list with a "p-" prefix. Additionally the PIA system offers a PULL-queue named "card-ethz". Print-jobs that were sent to this queue can be printed at any PIA printer that provides a card reader. You will need your legi to release the print jobs. As these PIA printers require an authentication every time a print-job is sent, we have implemented a password caching solution that uses the gnome keyring. The keyring (as long as your keyring has the same password as your NETHZ account) will be unlocked at login and allows you to print without any further authentication in your everyday life. This solution requires some initial steps to work properly. Please consult the following instructions to do so.

At the moment, students have only limited access to these printers. Currently the only way a student gets credit for the new printers is that an employee transfers it to the student. (https://www1.ethz.ch/id/services/list/print_service/geld)

Initial steps to save the password for PIA printers

In theory, it's possible to save the 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. If you do so, there is one problem: By saving the password with an application, the password will only be saved for the specific printer you sent the job to. If you want to save the password for all printers, there is a simple initial task flow to do so:

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 check box are necessary. This dialog doesn't throw any errors if you enter the wrong credentials. It will simply 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.

7. 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 screen shot, your password has been saved successfully.

   

2. Next, open firefox and try to print on either the card-ethz PULL-queue or any of the pia printers ( p-et* ). The print-job should be sent without any further dialog popping up.

3. To finish the verification, head to a PIA/Nashuatec printer in your area and hold your ETH card/legi on the marked area on the printer. The previously send test pages should now appear on the display. Pressing the Print All button will release the jobs.

If all these steps went well, your password has been saved successfully and your printing system is installed correctly. If any of these steps fails, try the Initial steps to save the password for PIA printers or contact ISG.EE Support at <support@ee.ethz.ch>.

How to set a default printer

1. Open a console.

2. type system-config-printer to open the printing management.

3. Double-click on the printer you want to set as the default printer.

   

4. Next, you have to close the window that opened again. These two steps ( 3 + 4 ) are necessary, to unlock the "Set As Default" button used in the next steps.

   

5. Right-click on the printer you want to set as the default printer and press the button "Set As Default".

   

6. Check "Set as my personal printer" and confirm your selection by pressing "Ok".

   

7. 

Troubleshooting

Problem: I've printed something, but it didn't come out of the printer.

Solution I: First, you can check your local printer queue. Start system-config-printer in your console and right-click -> View Print Queue on the printer/queue you've selected previously. If your job's hanging here, try right-click -> Release. If the desired jobs isn't listed in the queue, check https://www.vppspy.ethz.ch (VPP) or https://www.print.ethz.ch (PIA) for errors regarding your print-job. If you can't find any problem, please contact ISG.EE Support <support@ee.ethz.ch>.

Solution II: There is another option, why the printing system isn't working properly. If the first printer in your print dialog isn't "card-ethz", you might have set an environment variable called "CUPS_SERVER" on the value "ipp2vpp.ee.ethz.ch". Please check your .bashrc / .profile and delete the corresponding line.

Problem: I've changed my NETHZ password. How can I change the password in the keyring?

Solution: After a change of your NETHZ password, you have to re-enter your password on your next print-out. The safest way to do so, is following the "Initial steps to save the password for PIA printers" again.

Problem: I've started `system-config-printer` but no printers are available.

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

Problem: The tick in the check box of the password saving dialog disappears every time i press it. (probably XFCE)

Solution: This is only a visual error. Press the check box once, and it will save the password.

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

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

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

Solution: Please follow the Initial steps to save the password for PIA printers.