cups-snmp(8)

💖 cups-snmp — the CUPS SNMP backend (bestie, it's deprecated 😭)

okay so this is cups-snmp(8), the OpenPrinting manual page, and I need you to sit down for this one because it's giving legacy in the most literal way possible.

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✨ NAME ✨

snmp — the cups snmp backend, and yes, it is deprecated. putting that right at the top because I love you and I want you informed. 💅

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🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

/usr/lib/cups/backend/snmp ip-address-or-hostname
/usr/libexec/cups/backend/snmp ip-address-or-hostname
lpinfo -v --include-schemes snmp

three whole ways to summon it, iconic. ⭐

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🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

so the DEPRECATED CUPS SNMP backend does legacy discovery and identification of network printers using SNMPv1. that's the whole vibe. it's the old way of finding printers, and it still works, but the clock is ticking, bestie. 🕰️

when it's used for discovery through the scheduler, the backend will list all the printers that respond to a broadcast SNMPv1 query with the "public" community name. then it sends additional queries to the printers that actually responded, so it can figure out the correct device URI, the make and model, and all the other info you need for printing. it's basically doing a little vibe check on every printer on the network. 📡✨

first form: you run the SNMP backend directly, yourself, as the user, to look up the device URI and other information when you've got an IP address or a hostname. super useful for programs that need to configure print queues when the user handed you an address and nothing else. just an address. that's it. we work with what we get. 🙈

second form: the SNMP backend gets run indirectly, using the lpinfo(8) command. the output gives you all the printers detected via SNMP on the configured broadcast addresses.

⚠️ heads up: no broadcast addresses are configured by default. so like. it will find nothing until you set that up. not me warning you twice. 🫶

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🎀 ENVIRONMENT 🎀

• CUPS_DEBUG_LEVEL — you can override the DebugLevel value with this one. cranks the logging up or down, your call.
• CUPS_MAX_RUN_TIME — you can override the MaxRunTime value with this one.

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🍓 FILES 🍓

the SNMP backend reads the /etc/cups/snmp.conf configuration file, if present, to set the default broadcast address, the community name, and the logging level. if it's not there, it's not there. no cap. 📄

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💀 NOTES 💀

the CUPS SNMP backend is deprecated and will no longer be supported in a future version of CUPS. I'm not being dramatic, that's literally what it says. start making other plans, bestie. 😭

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👑 CONFORMING TO 👑

the CUPS SNMP backend uses the information from the Host, Printer, and Port Monitor MIBs, plus some vendor private MIBs and intelligent port probes, to determine the correct device URI and the make and model for each printer. it's doing detective work. it's the main character. 🔍

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🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

• backend(7)
• cups-snmp.conf(5)
• cupsd(8)
• lpinfo(8)
• CUPS Online Help — http://localhost:631/help

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💜 COPYRIGHT 💜

Copyright © 2020-2024 by OpenPrinting.

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okay that's the whole page, you ate that, go configure your printers 🫶✨ and just so you know — this was the CUPS version, dated 2021-02-28. mwah. 💅🎀