/
How to print in Ubuntu

How to print in Ubuntu

 Adding a Printer directly via IP address or Hostname

  1. Open Settings > Printers, then click on “Add Printer…”. If the button is disabled, see https://uwaterloo.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/CSCF/pages/44691424457/How+to+print+in+Ubuntu#%5CuD83D%5CuDCD8-%E2%80%9CAdd-Printer%E2%80%9D-Button-Disabled---removing-print.cs.uwaterloo.ca

    image-20250807-184202.png

  2. Enter the IP address or Hostname of the printer you want to install. A list of printers is on https://uwaterloo.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/CSCF/pages/44583485478 .

    image-20250807-185157.png

  3. Install the appropriate printer driver

    image-20250807-185301.png

  4. The new printer should now be on your printer list, you can click the 3 dots next to the printer status to view additional information about the printer or to test the connection.

    image-20250807-185347.png

 Adding a Printer via printers.cs.uwaterloo.ca

  1. Open the terminal and install “smbclient” package

    1. sudo apt update -y; sudo apt install smbclient -y

  2. Open Settings > Printers, then click on “Add Printer…”. If the button is disabled, see https://uwaterloo.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/CSCF/pages/44691424457/How+to+print+in+Ubuntu#%5CuD83D%5CuDCD8-%E2%80%9CAdd-Printer%E2%80%9D-Button-Disabled---removing-print.cs.uwaterloo.ca

    image-20250807-184202.png

  3. Type “printers.cs.uwaterloo.ca” into the search and wait a few seconds for it to appear in the list. Select it and click the “Unlock” button on top.

    image-20250807-184259.png

     

  4. Enter your GENERAL credentials and click “Unlock”. The password is same as Vault and linux.cs.uwaterloo.ca, and can be reset if needed: https://cs.uwaterloo.ca/password/

    image-20250807-184317.png

  5. Select the printer you would like to install and click “Add”. A list of printers is on https://uwaterloo.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/CSCF/pages/44583485478 .

    image-20250807-184358.png

  1. Install the appropriate printer driver

    image-20250807-184428.png

  2. The new printer should now be on your printer list, you can click the 3 dots next to the printer status to view additional information about the printer or to test the connection.

    image-20250807-184616.png

  3. Under “Page Setup” click the “Test Page” button to send a test print job to the printer

    image-20250807-184844.png

  4. You will see a popup stating that authentication is required, click “Authenticate” and enter your credentials: “general\userid” and password.

    image-20250807-185007.png

 “Add Printer” Button Disabled - removing print.cs.uwaterloo.ca

On Ubuntu laptops from CSCF, the “Add Printer” button in the printer settings may be disabled. To fix this, remove the CUPS_SERVER=print.cs.uwaterloo.ca:631line from /etc/environment file. The steps below do this with nano, but you can use other text editors (ex. Text Edit app, vim, VS Code, etc).

  1. Open a Terminal window.

  2. Run this command: sudo nano /etc/environment

  3. Enter the password for the account on your laptop. Nothing will be displayed as you type for security.

  4. Using the arrow keys on your keyboard, go to this line:
    CUPS_SERVER=print.cs.uwaterloo.ca:631
    And delete it with the Backspace or Delete key.

  5. Press Ctrl+X to save the file.
    When it asks “Save modified Buffer?” press y.
    When it asks “File Name to Write” press Enter.

  6. Restart the computer. Now you should be able to add printers in the Settings window.

 Related articles