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I have Ubuntu 11.10 on one computer and Windows 7 on another. The Ubuntu computer has a printer attached, and I want to add this printer to the Windows 7 computer. Printing locally works. The problem is that Windows is not able to see the shared printer, so I cannot add it.

I am guessing that some Ubuntu setting / software is still missing, but what exactly?
How can I make Windows add this printer?

  • In the CUPS web front-end, the checkbox Share printers connected to this system is checked. I'm not sure whether the checkbox Allow printing from the Internet needs to be checked also; I've tried both settings, and neither worked.

  • On Windows, I can connect to the CUPS web front-end and see the printer listed (see screenshot below). And yet, when I add that printer URL, Windows complains that it cannot connect to the printer.

  • The Ubuntu computer is a fresh install. I already have full write access on Windows shares, so something of this kind must be preconfigured out-of-the-box. I have not installed or changed any applications or settings regarding Samba or smb.conf. Do I need to do anything in this regard (on Ubuntu 11.10!) or is that obsolete or already included and fully configured?

  • Googling for this problem gives me plenty of material dated 2005-2009 but nothing newer. I don't think that's still valid in 2012 and I don't want to mess up my new installation with outdated instructions. Via one of the comments I came to this page about network printing from Windows but it does not specify whether Samba is already installed -- or which Samba to install, because searching in the Ubuntu Software Center yields several results.

enter image description here

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  • I think you have to configure a samba printer share, but I have never done that myself before.
    – Baarn
    Feb 4, 2012 at 19:46
  • a quick google search dug up this: help.ubuntu.com/community/Samba/PrinterSharing
    – Baarn
    Feb 4, 2012 at 20:51
  • CPUS can work as I've used it from Windows before, but you may need to make sure your configuration is absolutely correct. There are many security permission stuff that you must get right.
    – billc.cn
    Feb 5, 2012 at 5:07
  • You have complete tutorial for Linux-Windows printing here: Printers and Linux - How to find drivers, install, setup | Linux migration tutorials
    – omanosoft
    May 24, 2012 at 9:32
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    The trick I had to do using CUPS without samba was to connect to the printer at http://[serverip]:631/printers/[printer-name-here] as opposed to trying to add a local port at the IP address of the server.
    – ernie
    Sep 28, 2012 at 7:21

2 Answers 2

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Well, I finally got it working. It turns out there are several parts that need to work together (of course). But here's a way that requires zero work in terminal:

1) Setup Samba:

  • Install "system-config-samba".
  • Launch "Samba" from the launcher.
  • Open "Preferences" > "Server Settings" and enter the workgroup name used in Windows.

2) Share printer:

3) Connect the printer:

Do either of these steps:

  • On the Windows computer, open Windows Explorer and go to the "Network" item. There's an icon for the Ubuntu computer; open it. There's an icon for the printer shared from Ubuntu. Right-click that one and select "Connect...".
  • On the Windows computer, select "Add new printer" then "Connect to a printer on the Internet or network" and specify the full path of "http://{computername}:631/printers/{printername}"

Then go to the printer properties and set it up with the desired defaults.

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    @PaulTomblin Perhaps you could provide an alternate answer which doesn't involve samba?
    – Josiah
    Jun 2, 2013 at 19:51
  • THANK YOU!!! Which Driver did you select however??
    – Jonathan S. Fisher
    Dec 11, 2013 at 17:50
  • I had to add a cups user with lppasswd -a username look here
    – Aquarius Power
    Jun 24, 2014 at 3:08
  • @Josiah if it is ever possible you mean? :)
    – Aquarius Power
    Jun 24, 2014 at 3:08
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    This solution doesn't have to involve SAMBA at all. The IPP functionality is provided only by CUPS!
    – Itay Grudev
    Apr 9, 2015 at 20:42
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Windows drivers must be uploaded through Windows Explorer unlike Linux drivers which are installed on Linux filesystems.

You may either

  • use a PS driver on Windows and a specific driver in CUPS or
  • use a specific driver in Windows and the Raw (which actually means transparent) driver in CUPS
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