Computer Science User Support

Computer Science

User Support

Printing from Linux

GUI printing

Printing in the Linux labs is easy. If you want to print from a GUI program like gedit, OpenOffice.org, or Firefox, just hit the print button.

Command-line printing

You also have the option to print documents from the command-line using LPR. Here is a sample command:

lpr -Ppearson141color@granite filename

This will print the file filename to the printer in 0141 Pearson. Other printers include pearson108bw, pearson105bw, and pearson105color. Do not forget to add @granite to the printer name.

Printing with NetPrint

If you have already used up your full quota for the month in both black & white and color prints, you also have the option to print to the ISU printers in Durham Center. All ISU students have a $5 per semester print subsidy with the option to charge further prints to your UBill, making this a good choice for emergencies.

Printing to Durham is a bit more complicated. To start, you need to obtain a Kerberos ticket from ASW. This can be done by entering the following commands:

kinit netid@IASTATE.EDU
krb524init

Be sure to put your ISU NetID, not your CS username, in place of netid. From there, you can actually print your document. Here is an example command:

/usr/athena/bin/lpr -Gubill_netid -Pdu139_lj4@netprint.iastate.edu -B300 filename

This will print a document in black & white to the printer in 139 Durham Center for delivery to bin number 300. The print will be charged to your subsidy if there is any available, otherwise straight to your UBill.

Color prints can be made by using the du139_color printer. Don't forget to append @netprint.iastate.edu to the printer name. The bin number can range from 201 to 475.

For more information on printing to Durham from Linux, including additional options for lpr, costs, and additional printers, visit http://www.iastate.edu/pub/lag320/lag320.html. Most of the information in this guide comes from that link.