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I have the following configuration:

P == U ---------------- W

P is a HP Laserjet, connected to U, which is an Ubuntu 10.04 desktop machine with a standard gnome setup from the live cd. I just selected the HP Laserjet in the gnome printer admin and it works, I can print locally.

W is a remote windows machine, server 2003, and --- is an untrusted connection.

I wonder if I can create an ssh tunnel between U and W, so W can print using U's printer service. Which ports will I need to forward and what kind of printer must I add then on the windows machine?

EDIT: I found out I can go to http://localhost:631/ on the U machine and there is the CUPS browser gui. I will try and forward port 631 to W, and add a printer on W like http://localhost:631/printers/hp

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4 Answers 4

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Well... I'd say you can ssh your U machine and then issue the necessary lp or lpr commands. It's a bit of DIYish, but if ssh is already configured there's no need to open any ports.

Maybe this would work, from command line:

cat yourfile.pdf | ssh user@yourubuntumachine lpr

But maybe there's a quicker way... Let's see what others say.

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  • 3
    Or, without cat: ssh user@yourubuntumachine lpr < yourfile.pdf
    – Stephan Wehner
    Mar 4, 2017 at 20:35
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I found this "how to." i think it can be your solution

HOWTO Print remotely through ssh access

From that article:

  1. Forward a local printer port to the remote printer:

    ssh -R127.0.0.1:9100:remote_printer_ip_address:9100

  2. Connect your remote box local port which has been forwarded; in other words, pretend that 127.0.0.1 is your printer.

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  • In my case, the remote machine (W) is also an Ubuntu machine. For whatever reason, CUPS cannot detect the correct printer driver over the tunnel. I suspect it's using a different port to autodetect this. However, the generic/PostScript driver works well in many cases.
    – jpaugh
    Nov 6, 2017 at 19:20
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If you have FreeNX server installed you can actually access the box in video mode with collaboration of ssh server.

This will help you in a way that you can actually view the file :) and do the stuff.

BUT THIS WILL MAKE THINGS a bit lengthier.

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In the end I forwarded port 631 to the windows machine. I can access the cups interface in the browser of the windows machine when I go to localhost:631. I was able to add a printer like http://localhost:631/printers/hp using the add printer dialog of the windows system.

I am using autossh to forward the port, so the ssh connection is more stable.

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