Linux OS Service ‘hplip’

HPLIP is an HP developed solution for printing, scanning, and faxing with HP inkjet and laser based printers in Linux.

The HPLIP project provides printing support for 1,292 printer models, including Deskjet, Officejet, Photosmart, PSC (Print Scan Copy), Business Inkjet, LaserJet, Edgeline MFP, and LaserJet MFP. (Note: Not all models are currently supported).

The Hewlett-Packard Linux Imaging and Printing project (HPLIP) provides a unified single and multi-function connectivity solution for Linux. The goal of this project is to provide “radically simple” printing, faxing, scanning, photo-card access, and device management to the consumer and small business desktop Linux users. This project is based open source software and uses GPL compatible licenses.

HPLIP is comprised of several major components; applications, driver, backend, daemons, and PPD files. HPLIP is designed to work with the CUPS spooler system. A CUPS/HPLIP system provides bi-directional communication which is necessary for full HPLIP support. HPLIP provides a new CUPS backend called “hp” which supports bi-directional printing connectivity.

HPLIP uses HPIJS for generating printer-ready-data for non-postscript print jobs. HPIJS has been available since 2001 as a uni-directional solution. HPIJS has been modified to support HPLIP, but HPIJS is still backward compatible with existing spoolers. HPIJS is included with the HPLIP solution.HPLIP supports connectivity over USB, parallel and network (JetDirect).

Features:

  • Printing to 1,292 HP printers, including Deskjet, Officejet, Photosmart, PSC, Business Inkjet and LaserJet. (For a complete list, please see Supported Devices).
  • High quality photo printing.
  • Full-bleed printing.
  • Automatic duplexing (on equiped printers).
  • Scanning from compatible Officejet, PSC, Photosmart, and LaserJet MFPs.
  • Automatic document feeder (ADF) scanning.
  • A Scanner Access Now Easy (SANE) compatible interface.
  • Color and B&W scanning.
  • PC send fax utility.
  • Send fax address book.
  • Photo card access utility.
  • Device manager (toolbox) with maintenance tools, supplies levels, and status information.
  • USB, network, and parallel connection types.
  • Full integration with CUPS.
  • PPD file provided for Postscript-only laser printers.
  • Command line utilities for many often needed tasks.
  • A simple setup utility.
  • Automated Installer.

Service Control

1. Init.d script location : /etc/init.d/hplip

2. Example of “chkconfig –list [service]”

# chkconfig --list hplip
hplip           0:off   1:off   2:on    3:on    4:on    5:on    6:off

3. Available service usage options

# service hplip
Usage: /etc/init.d/hplip {start|stop|status|restart|condrestart}

To start the hplip service:

# service hplip start
Starting hpiod:                                            [  OK  ]
Starting hpssd:                                            [  OK  ]

To stop the hplip service:

# service hplip stop
Stopping hpiod:                                            [  OK  ]
Stopping hpssd:                                            [  OK  ]

To check the status of the hplip service:

# service hplip status
hpiod (pid 13962) is running...
hpssd (pid 13967) is running...

To restart the hplip service:

# service hplip restart
Stopping hpiod:                                            [  OK  ]
Stopping hpssd:                                            [  OK  ]
Starting hpiod:                                            [  OK  ]
Starting hpssd:                                            [  OK  ]
# service hplip condrestart
Stopping hpiod:                                            [  OK  ]
Stopping hpssd:                                            [  OK  ]
Starting hpiod:                                            [  OK  ]
Starting hpssd:                                            [  OK  ]

4. Which daemons does it run

/usr/sbin/hpiod
python /usr/share/hplip/hpssd.py

5. Which modules does it load

none

Other Information

1. RPM packages

hplip-[version]-[release]

e.g:
hplip-1.6.7-4.1.el5_0.3

2. Configuration file

/etc/hp/hplip.conf

3. Example configure file

# cat /etc/hp/hplip.conf
# hplip.conf.  Generated from hplip.conf.in by configure.

[hplip]
version=3.15.9
[dirs]
home=/usr/share/hplip
run=/var/run
ppd=/usr/share/ppd/HP
ppdbase=/usr/share/ppd
doc=/usr/share/doc/hplip-3.15.9
html=/usr/share/doc/hplip-3.15.9
icon=/usr/share/applications
cupsbackend=/usr/lib/cups/backend
cupsfilter=/usr/lib/cups/filter
drv=/usr/share/cups/drv/hp
bin=/usr/bin
# Following values are determined at configure time and cannot be changed.
[configure]
network-build=yes
libusb01-build=no
pp-build=yes
gui-build=yes
scanner-build=yes
fax-build=yes
dbus-build=yes
cups11-build=no
doc-build=yes
shadow-build=no
hpijs-install=yes
foomatic-drv-install=yes
foomatic-ppd-install=no
foomatic-rip-hplip-install=no
hpcups-install=yes
cups-drv-install=yes
cups-ppd-install=no
internal-tag=3.15.9
restricted-build=no
ui-toolkit=qt4
qt3=no
qt4=yes
policy-kit=no
lite-build=no
udev_sysfs_rules=no
hpcups-only-build=no
hpijs-only-build=no
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