A number of CUPS features have been adapted for openSUSE. Some of
the most important changes are covered here.
9.7.1 CUPS and Firewall
After having performed a default installation of openSUSE,
SuSEfirewall2 is active and the network interfaces are configured to be
in the External Zone which blocks incoming traffic.
These default settings have to be adjusted when using CUPS. More
information about the SUSEfirewall2 configuration is available in
Section 33.4, SuSEfirewall2.
CUPS Client
Normally, a CUPS client runs on a regular workstation located in a
trusted network environment behind a firewall. In this case it is
recommended to configure the network interface to be in the
Internal Zone, so the workstation is reachable from
within the network.
CUPS Server
If the CUPS server is part of a trusted network environment protected
by a firewall, the network interface should be configured to be in the
Internal Zone of the firewall. It is not recommended
to set up a CUPS server in an untrusted network environment unless you
take care that it is protected by special firewall rules and secure
settings in the CUPS configuration.
9.7.2 PPD Files in Various Packages
The YaST printer configuration sets up the queues for CUPS using only
the PPD files installed in /usr/share/cups/model.
To find the suitable PPD files for the printer model, YaST compares
the vendor and model determined during hardware detection with the
vendors and models in all PPD files available in
/usr/share/cups/model on the system. For this
purpose, the YaST printer configuration generates a database from the
vendor and model information extracted from the PPD files. When you
select a printer, receive the PPD files matching the vendor and model
from the list of models.
The configuration using only PPD files and no other information sources
has the advantage that the PPD files in
/usr/share/cups/model can be modified freely. The
YaST printer configuration recognizes changes and regenerates the
vendor and model database. For example, if you only have PostScript
printers, normally you do not need the Foomatic PPD files in the
cups-drivers package or the Gutenprint PPD
files in the gutenprint package. Instead, the
PPD files for your PostScript printers can be copied directly to
/usr/share/cups/model (if they do not already exist
in the manufacturer-PPDs package) to achieve an
optimum configuration for your printers.
CUPS PPD Files in the cups Package
The generic PPD files in the cups package have
been complemented with adapted Foomatic PPD files for PostScript level
1 and level 2 printers:
PPD Files in the cups-drivers Package
Normally, the Foomatic printer filter
foomatic-rip is used together with Ghostscript
for non-PostScript printers. Suitable Foomatic PPD files have the
entries *NickName: ... Foomatic/Ghostscript
driver and *cupsFilter: ...
foomatic-rip. These PPD files are located in the
cups-drivers package.
YaST generally prefers a manufacturer-PPD
file. However, when no suitable
manufacturer-PPD file exists, a a Foomatic PPD
file with the entry *NickName: ... Foomatic ...
(recommended) is selected.
Gutenprint PPD Files in the gutenprint Package
Instead of foomatic-rip, the CUPS filter
rastertogutenprint from Gutenprint (formerly
known as GIMP-Print) can be used for many non-PostScript printers. This
filter and suitable Gutenprint PPD files are available in the
gutenprint package. The Gutenprint PPD files
are located in /usr/share/cups/model/gutenprint/
and have the entries *NickName: ...
CUPS+Gutenprint and *cupsFilter: ...
rastertogutenprint.
PPD Files from Printer Manufacturers in the manufacturer-PPDs Package
The manufacturer-PPDs package contains PPD
files from printer manufacturers that are released under a sufficiently
liberal license. PostScript printers should be configured with the
suitable PPD file of the printer manufacturer, because this file
enables the use of all functions of the PostScript printer. YaST
prefers a PPD file from the manufacturer-PPDs.
YaST cannot use any PPD file from the
manufacturer-PPDs package if the model name
does not match. This may happen if the
manufacturer-PPDs package contains only one
PPD file for similar models, like Funprinter 12xx series. In this case,
select the respective PPD file manually in YaST.