Enabling the CUPS interface on OSX 10.8 (Mountain Lion)
If you have found this post, then you probably know what the CUPS interface is. However, if you don't, it is the printing system (Common Unix Printing System) that drives the OSX printing features behind the scenes. There is a local web based administration page that you can use to see more features and fine tune your printer setup; beyond that of the OSX front-end found in System Preferences --> Print & Scan.
In past versions of the OS, the web administration page was turned on by default. As with all things it seems, that has changed. The web interface is disabled by default on Mountain Lion (10.8). To enable it, simply follow these steps:
1.) Launch Terminal.app (/Applications/Utilities/Terminal)
2.) enter the following command:
sudo cupsctl WebInterface=yes
***This is assuming that the current locally logged on user has been given administrative privileges on the machine in question.
3.) Now simply log onto the local web admin interface by pointing your browser to:
http://localhost:631
As I stated above, this allows you to perform administrative tasks such as changing the type of port the printer uses (HP Jetdirect, LPD, IPP, etc). It also allows you to see lots of configuration options that are hidden from the user in the GUI configuration mode. Two examples are the department code options for Toshiba copiers and enabling the staple function on Xerox copiers. Happy tweaking!
In past versions of the OS, the web administration page was turned on by default. As with all things it seems, that has changed. The web interface is disabled by default on Mountain Lion (10.8). To enable it, simply follow these steps:
1.) Launch Terminal.app (/Applications/Utilities/Terminal)
2.) enter the following command:
sudo cupsctl WebInterface=yes
***This is assuming that the current locally logged on user has been given administrative privileges on the machine in question.
3.) Now simply log onto the local web admin interface by pointing your browser to:
http://localhost:631
As I stated above, this allows you to perform administrative tasks such as changing the type of port the printer uses (HP Jetdirect, LPD, IPP, etc). It also allows you to see lots of configuration options that are hidden from the user in the GUI configuration mode. Two examples are the department code options for Toshiba copiers and enabling the staple function on Xerox copiers. Happy tweaking!
Comments