Raspberry Pi Print Server

Initialization

1. Use “Raspberry PI Imager” to install Rasbian onto the sd card
2. Create a file called ssh at the root to start ssh for the next boot
3. Create a file called wpa_supplicant.conf at the root to set wifi password with the following contents: (Note: the pi zero w does not support 5ghz)

    ctrl_interface=DIR=/var/run/wpa_supplicant GROUP=netdev
    update_config=1
    country=<Insert country code here, i.e. us>
   
    network={
    ssid="<Name of your WiFi>"
    psk="<Password for your WiFi>"
    }
   

4. After turning on the pi, use the router to assign a permanent ip address
5. When connecting to the pi for the first time, use sudo raspi-config to enable ssh permanently, under the “Interfacing options”.

Note: Placing a new wpa_supplicant.conf will allow resetting the wifi to a new network. Still will need to assign a permanent ip address, and update below.

SSH connection

router reserved ip address: 192.168.1.70 user: pi password: raspberry

Print server setup

Mostly taken from This post

1. sudo apt-get update
2. sudo apt-get upgrade
3. sudo apt-get install vim
4. sudo apt-get install cups
5. sudo reboot
6. sudo vim /etc/cups/cupsd.conf edit to read as follows by adding Allow @Local

    # Restrict access to the server…
    <Location />
      Order allow,deny
      Allow @Local
    </Location>
   
    # Restrict access to the admin pages…
    <Location /admin>
      Order allow,deny
      Allow @Local
    </Location>
   
    # Restrict access to configuration files...
    <Location /admin/conf>
      AuthType Default
      Require user @SYSTEM
      Order allow,deny
      Allow @Local
    </Location>
   

7. sudo usermod -a -G lpadmin pi
8. sudo cupsctl --remote-any
9. sudo /etc/init.d/cups restart
10. To enable printing from windows:
    1. sudo apt-get install samba
    2. sudo vim /etc/samba/smb.conf
       1. edit print section to guest ok = yes
       2. edit printer driver section to read only = no
    3. sudo /etc/init.d/samba restart
11. Add the printer to cups via the admin interface in a web browser http://192.168.0.10:631, see post for details, remember printer name for next step. (Note: If the printer does not show in the list, drivers may be needed.)
    1. sudo apt-get install printer-driver-hpijs
    2. download hl1250 from https://www.openprinting.org/printer/Brother/Brother-HL-2240
    3. use that file as the PPD when adding the printer
12. lpadmin -p <printer name> -o usb-no-reattach-default=true
13. sudo reboot

Print wirelessly

Now, the printer should show up in add printer lists on various platforms! On windows, it had to be added in system preferences. On mac, it just showed up in the printer list.