Important
The following section assumes the reader has knowledge of general Unix/Linux system management including using the command-line, creating users, editing configuration files and understanding file permissions.
Before proceeding with the installation the system administrator should take a few moments to verify system requirements. Is the operating system version supported and are patches up-to-date? Take a few minutes to verify the system is current and supported (see the section called “System Requirements”).
Are printer(s) installed and hosted on this system and are they exposed to the network either via CUPS or Samba? Administrators should ensure that the print queues are set up and working as expected before attempting to install PaperCut NG.
In a multi-user environment, printers are often shared with other network users. Other workstations should
connect to these printers as "Network Printers". Ensure workstations are configured to print to the shared
print queues. For example a Windows workstation may connect to a samba exposed printer via
\\[samba_server]\[printer]. Other Linux or Mac workstations will use IPP via CUPS.
If the printers are currently not installed and configured, this task should be performed and verified before proceeding further.
PaperCut NG runs and installs under a non-privileged user account called "papercut". The installation
location for the application is the papercut user's home directory. Create a user account
on this system called papercut. This is usually done by logging in as
root and using a user management GUI tool or at the command prompt entering:
shell> useradd -m -d /home/papercut papercut
The syntax for useradd and groupadd may differ slightly on different
versions of Linux. They may also be called adduser and addgroup.
The user's home directory (the -d option) denotes the install location.
/home/papercut is the recommended location. Administrators may
however also consider alternate install locations depending on personal preference. Alternatives may
include:
/usr/local/papercut/opt/papercut
Important
This quick start guide assumes the install location is /home/papercut.
If an alternate home location is defined, some of the paths listed in subsequent sections
will require modification.
Some Linux distributions impose strict resource usage limits on user accounts (ulimit).
The papercut account is a special account used for hosting an application and
hence should be granted satisfactory resource limits such as the ability to open many files. The
methods of setting user-level ulimit levels vary from distribution to distribution,
however the common solution is to add the following line to /etc/security/limits.conf:
papercut - nofile 65535
Many Linux distributions have strict default firewall policies. PaperCut NG uses TCP ports 9191 (for HTTP) and ports 9192 (for HTTPS/SSL) and these ports must be open. Take some time now to ensure these ports are open. Consult your distribution documentation for details on how to open firewall TCP ports.
Important: Please make sure you download the correct architecture for your distribution.
i686 is for 32-bit operating systems. x64 is for 64-bit systems (also
known as x86_64 or amd64).
PaperCut NG is supplied as a self-extracting and self-installing archive. The installation is
performed as the newly created papercut user and will install to that user's
home directory. Temporary root access will be required for part of the install.
Please have the root password or sudo password handy. For more detail about the
install process including installing to a different location, see Chapter 25, PaperCut NG on Linux.
Log on as the newly created papercut user and download and execute the
installer. The file may be executed from any directory.
shell> su - papercut
shell> wget [download url from PaperCut Software website]
shell> sh ./pcng-setup-*-linux-*.sh
Follow the installation instructions and enter the root password when requested.
Important
Ensure you login as the user papercut
so that the user's environment is sourced so the home directory (install location)
is correctly defined.
The installation process will take between two and five minutes depending on the speed of the system. A system restart is not required but administrators are advised to perform installation on live production systems during periods of low activity - for example, not during backup operations or other administration activities.
After installation, you will be prompted to open a web browser at http://[server-name]:9191/admin
to complete configuration. The configuration stages are explained below:
This is the master password for the main in-built admin account, and is independent of the operating system or domain passwords. The password will need to meet minimum strength requirements, and must be at least six characters. Ensure that knowledge of this password is kept secure. This screen also sets the system's physical location and language; ensure that these are correct before proceeding.
Tip
Treat this password like your router/modem management passwords. It is independent of your domain accounts and needs to be kept secure.
This is the organization type which matches the organizational environment where PaperCut NG will be used. Choosing the appropriate organization type will determine which system defaults are used on setup. For example, in a Professional (Client Billing) organization, where it is useful to charge-back printing to customers, an advanced client popup is provided with additional features useful for dealing with large numbers of client (shared) accounts. These default settings chosen for an organization type can be changed after installation.
This is the default cost-per-page assigned to the printers. This setting can be changed on a per printer basis after installation. Choosing a sensible cost now will help minimize future setup. For example in the USA, a value of $0.05 would be appropriate for many standard black & white printers.
When the organization type has been set to Education, users can be assigned an initial starting credit. This ensures they have funds in their account as soon as the system is enabled. An option also exists to control what happens when users run out of credit/quota. If you are evaluating PaperCut NG it might be appropriate not to disable printing when a users funds run out. This way you can be assured that user printing is not disrupted during the evaluation. These settings may be changed after setup.
PaperCut NG extracts user information out of the System or Domain. The options presented here will vary depending on the Operating System and its environment. During evaluation, most sites will opt to import all users from the system/domain into PaperCut NG. An option also exists to import a subset of users from a given group. This option is pertinent when it is known that only a subset of users will only ever use the printers.
Options on Linux include Unix Standard (PAM, NIS, etc.), LDAP, or Samba.
Select Unix Standard if the user accounts are setup and defined on the local system as standard Unix accounts or mapped into the system from a central directory service such as LDAP via nsswitch.conf and PAM. Most large established networks will use this option.
The LDAP option is appropriate for large networks with existing Open Directory domains. This includes networks running Open LDAP and Windows domains running Active Directory. PaperCut NG will do it's best to auto-discover LDAP settings, but some knowledge of LDAP and/or Open Directory will be required. More information on LDAP is available in the section called “Using LDAP for user synchronization”.
Select Samba if the central user directory is a Windows Domain. The Samba option is only available if Samba is installed on the system. The Samba option is appropriate on medium to small networks currently operating in a Windows Domain environment.
The Samba option requires additional information such as the name of a domain server, and login credentials for an Administrator level account. This information is requested on the subsequent wizard screen. Take care to ensure this information is complete and correct.
More information on user/group synchronization on Linux is available in Chapter 25, PaperCut NG on Linux.
In a Professional (Client Billing) environment, the main focus is on allowing users to allocate print jobs to client (shared) accounts. The process works by:
Pausing all jobs that enter the print queues.
Displaying a popup on the user's workstation asking them to allocate the print job to an account. This is done by selecting the account from a list.
After the user has responded to the popup, the job is released to the printer.
You can read more about the account selection process and shared accounts at Chapter 8, Shared Accounts.
The account selection popup option is enabled at the user level. Once the option is enabled, the user must run the client software. If the client software is not running, the popup cannot display, and the job will remain paused in the print queue. This option is hence considered high impact. You are presented with two strategies that allow you to choose the implementation approach that best suits your needs:
In this strategy the account popup is only initially enabled on a single user for testing. You need to nominate the testing account. You may already have an appropriate test user account on your system/domain or alternatively selecting your own personal account is a good choice. The name should be in the format used to log into the domain/system (usually the short form).
The minimal impact strategy will give you time to test the popup with the nominated test user Then the Advanced account selection popup option can be enabled for other users when appropriate.
This strategy enables the account selection popup on all users. This option is good for smaller networks as it minimizes the amount of post-install configuration - just deploy the client and your up! If this option is selected you should be in a position to install the client software on user desktops as soon as possible.
If in doubt, select the minimal impact strategy. This will ensure the impact is isolated to only the nominated test user.
Prior to enabling the configuration options that you have selected, you will have the chance to verify setup options. At this stage you are still able to return to any of the prior configuration screens to alter options before clicking .
After completing the configuration wizard you will be presented with a user synchronization status screen, showing the progress and results of the system completing its initial setup. Once you have closed that, click to access the interface and begin familiarising yourself with the options and features available. Take some time to explore, and refer back to the relevant sections of this manual as required.
Unlike Windows and Mac with single print system environments, Linux is a more complex environment with a choice of print system implementations. At this stage some manual printer configuration is required. Please see the section called “Linux Print Queue Integration” and follow the steps for integrating with the print queues in your environment before returning to this section and following on with the next step.
Printers hosted a machine other than the PaperCut NG server will require additional installation steps to be configured as 'secondary' servers. Please see Chapter 15, Configuring Secondary Print Servers and Locally Attached Printers for details.
The PaperCut NG client software is located in the directory [app-path]/client.
It may be useful to share this directory over the network so workstations can access/install the client application.
Common sharing methods include:
Samba - used to share files to Windows based workstations. Mac OS X Server tools such as the Workgroup Manager or other 3rd party tools such as SharePoint may help with sharing the client directory via Samba. Similar GUI tools exist on Linux.
Advanced system administrators may be comfortable sharing this directory by hand-editing the
/etc/smb.conffile. The following configuration will share the directory in read-only form:[pcclient] path = /home/papercut/client comment = PaperCut Client public = yes only guest = yes read only = yesNFS - a popular sharing method used for Linux/Unix based workstations.
Following a fresh installation, it is highly recommended to test core features of the system. For further details please see the section called “Testing the Installation”.
NOTE: This step is a requirement for a Professional (Client Billing) installation.
Now that the system is tested and working, it is time to deploy the client software and enable the account popup for their use. It is important to deploy the client software before enabling the popup, otherwise users' printing will be stopped/paused.
As discussed earlier in the chapter the client can be run directly from a network share (which is automatically configured on Windows). There is also the option to install the software locally on each workstation, however this is not usually recommended because it makes the process of updating the client software more complicated.
Client deployment options and instruction are discussed in detail in the section called “User Client Deployment”. Follow those instructions to deploy the client software, and then enable the popup as described below.
Once the client software is deployed on user workstations, the Account Selection can be set. In a Professional (Client Billing) configuration, all users that print jobs for clients are often given the Advanced account selection popup, however, other Account Selection options may be better suited for some users based on their job function. The popup can be enabled on one user at a time or can be updated for all users in bulk. The user details page can be used to enable the popup for a single user. To enable the popup for all users in bulk:
Log into the admin interface.
Under the Users section, select the Bulk user actions... action from the menu at the top left of the Users tab.
Select the target group. To enable for all users select the
[All Users]group.In the Change account selection setting section, enable the Change account selection option.
Select the Show the advanced account selection popup option from the list.
If you do not want to allow users to charge printing to their personal account, then disable the Allow user to charge to their personal account option.
Press the OK button, and confirm the operation. Once completed, the selected users will have the account popup enabled.
Once the popup has been enabled on all users some testing should be performed from users' desktops. To test, login to the user workstation, perform a print, and check that the account popup appears and the job is logged as expected.
This concludes the Install Guide. You may like to take some time to explore the features of PaperCut NG before continuing reading at Chapter 3, Implementation by Example or Chapter 4, Quick Tour. Business users may be particularly interested in trying the popup client software as covered in the section called “Client Software”. If desired, the client software should also be deployed to other workstations. This procedure is detailed in the section called “User Client”.