rlpq(1)

📦 version 2.06, in debian bookworm, debian trixie, ubuntu jammy, ubuntu noble, ubuntu questing, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

✨ rlpq(1) — your fave little queue-peeker from the UNIX Reference Manual ✨

hiii bestie 🫶 welcome to the rlpq(1) page. it's giving "i can see every printer on the network and i'm not even sorry." let's get into it 💅

🌸 NAME 🌸

rlpq — remote line printer queue examination program

🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

rlpq [-lmqNV] [-Hprinthost] [-Pprinter] [-Xproxyhost] [--debug]
[--timeout=seconds] [--port=port] [ job # ... ] [ username ... ]

💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

okay so rlpq uses TCP/IP to snoop on print queues for printers anywhere on a network. and the way that it's different from lpq?? it does not require the remote printers to be explicitly known to your local system (which, historically, meant going through /etc/printcap). so basically it's way more flexible and needs way less admin work. slay ✨

you can use rlpq anywhere you'd use a traditional lpq, and it's backwards compatible with traditional BSD lpq. and get this — if rlpq is invoked as lpq, it preserves all known lpq semantics. iconic behavior honestly 👑

rlpq can be set up, installed, and used in the same two ways as rlpr(1) — that is, either with or without the rlprd(8) proxy daemon. please go read rlpr(1) for the deets, and to figure out whether you're gonna need to use the rlprd(8) proxy daemon or not. no cap, it matters 🙈

💅 OPTIONS 💅

🎀 Environment/Setup 🎀

  • --debug — print gobs of debugging information. like, so many gobs. it's giving verbose fr fr 😭
  • -N, --no-bind — don't try to bind to a privileged port before connecting to lpd. please check out the CONFIGURING A PROXY section in rlpr(1) for the info on using this option. iykyk 🧚
  • --port=number — pick an alternate port (instead of 7290) to connect to, if you're using rlprd. usually you don't need this. lowkey it's a niche one 💀
  • -H, --printhost=host — select the host to print to (used with -P).

and instead of using -H, you can just specify the hostname directly by including it with the printer name using the printer@hostname syntax. two ways, both valid, pick your vibe 🌈

  • -P, --printer=printername, --queue=printername — select the printer to print to (used with -H). 💖
  • -X, --proxy=proxyhost, --proxyhost=proxyhost — select the proxy host to use, if necessary.
  • --timeout=seconds — set the inactivity timer. if the connection hangs for more than seconds seconds, then rlpq gives up. use the special value -1 to wait forever. default timeout is 3 seconds. ⏳
  • -V, --version — print version and exit. that's it, that's the whole thing 💅

🍓 Behavior 🍓

  • -l, --long — produce a more detailed report. the full tea, no skimping ☕
  • -m, --mine — list only the jobs belonging to you. main character energy only, as it should be ✨
  • -q, --quiet, --silent — quiet mode: stay quiet (except for fatal errors). and when this flag is set, rlpq's return value tells you whether there are any items in the specified queue that meet the specified criteria — a return value of zero indicates success. so like, it's a yes/no vibe check in exit-code form 🫶

🌈 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES 🌈

the following environment variables are used by rlpq:

  • RLPR_PRINTHOST — specifies the default host's queue to examine.
  • PRINTER or LPDEST — specifies the default printer to check on the host. first PRINTER is consulted, then LPDEST. 💖

note that you can also specify the host to examine by setting printer to be printer@hostname. this may be more convenient than setting RLPR_PRINTHOST, but heads up — it will confuse the traditional BSD print commands. so, y'know, choose wisely bestie 🙈

  • RLPR_PROXYHOST — specifies a proxy host to use, if necessary.

🎀 FILES 🎀

~/.rlprrc         Personal printer/host database
/etc/hosts.lpd    Host-based security on printhost
/etc/hosts.equiv  Host-based security on printhost
/etc/passwd       Personal identification
/etc/rlprrc       System-wide printer/host database

⭐ SEE ALSO ⭐

rlpr(1), rlprm(1), rlprd(8), rlprrc(5)

👑 AUTHOR 👑

meem <meem@gnu.org> — periodt 💜

💀 BUGS / LIMITATIONS 💀

due to the dynamic nature of print queues, it is possible that the actual state of the queue may have changed between the time the snapshot was generated and the output was produced. so like... the queue is a moving target, bestie. it's not a bug so much as it is the universe being chaotic 😭

and that's the whole page, no notes 💅 go peek at some queues.

this was rlpr version 2.04, dated 1999/10/28 — a whole vintage moment, and it still ate ✨

📦 where this page comes from