Printing on the department-run Unix and Linux systems is covered elsewhere. These instructions refer to self-managed systems.

The simplest way to use the Physics print queues is to use CUPS print software on your Unix/Linux system. This is the default print system for most current Linux distributions.

Find your cupsd.conf configuration file (usually it's /etc/cups/cupsd.conf) and add a line:

BrowsePoll cups.physics.umn.edu

This line should replace any other BrowsePoll line inserted from earlier versions of these instructions.

After restarting the cups service on your computer (eg /etc/init.d/cups restart), all the network print queues should be available to you automatica

Before you can print from the wireless network, you first have to authenticate to the physics website. This opens up the necessary network ports for your IP address (within a few minutes).

After doing this you can do either of:

1. use the method above for wired printing
2. set up a local print queue on CUPS using port 9100 (jetdirect) directly to your chosen printer hostname.

The second method is probably preferable for a laptop, as it will eliminate your cups system from trying to poll ours even when you are not elsewhere, but the first gives easier access to all the available print queues.

Remember you will need to re-authenticate every time you want to print - probably not multiple times per day, but your web authentication will expire roughly daily.