How to configure a Sissa network printer using Linux

SISSA secure printing via LPD should not require the official Canon Driver for basic setup, just a generic PostScript driver (available by default on all GNU/Linux systems). If you want to use the official drivers, please read this guide Install Canon drivers on Linux. The official drivers are required to specify advanced settings, like image quality, double sided printing layout, et cetera, but you can also change these options from the printer itself when selecting documents to print.

The best option to manage printers on GNU/Linux is to use the CUPS web interface. You can reach the web interface opening any web browser (Firefox, Chrome, Konqueror, etc…) and writing the address https://localhost:631/ in the address bar.

The browser will probably complain about the self signed certificate: you can just ignore this warning, since it's running on your own laptop and MITM attacks are improbable. Just click on “Proceed” to go on.

Click on Administration and log in with your laptop credentials. These are your personal computer username and password, not your SISSA account credentials.

In order to add a new printer, click on Add printer.

Select the LPD method.

Write as printer's URL the following:

lpd://YOUR-SISSA-USERNAME@lpd.sissa.it/secure-printer

Please make sure to replace YOUR-SISSA-USERNAME with your SISSA account username (the actual username, not an alias). DO NOT WRITE YOUR PASSWORD: it's not required (you'll be identified by your username and then your PIN on the printer).

Add a simple name and description. Then, select the product manufacturer as Generic

And the printer model as Generic PostScript

The printer is now configured.

If you want to use the lpadmin command, you can just run this:

lpadmin -p secure-printer -E -LSISSA -D'Canon imageFORCE C5150' -vlpd://YOUR-SISSA-USERNAME@lpd.sissa.it/secure-printer -m'Canon imageFORCE C5140/5150 UFR II' -P/usr/share/cups/model/cnrcupsifc5140zk.ppd -o printer-is-shared=false -o printer-error-policy=abort-job

In this example, the printer's driver is placed in /usr/share/cups/model/cnrcupsifc5140zk.ppd, the path might be different on your distro. It's also possible to just use the Generic PostScript driver:

lpadmin -p secure-printer -E -LSISSA -D'Canon imageFORCE C5150' -vlpd://YOUR-SISSA-USERNAME@lpd.sissa.it/secure-printer -m drv:///sample.drv/generic.ppd -o printer-is-shared=false -o printer-error-policy=abort-job

If you want to configure CUPS via command line, you can just include this section in your /etc/cups/printers.conf file:

<Printer secure-printer>                                                                                                                                                                                                 
UUID urn:uuid:6dfeae14-a9f8-3c4b-5470-25ef02260226
Info canonlpd
Location 
MakeModel Generic PostScript Printer
DeviceURI lpd://YOUR-SISSA-USERNAME@lpd.sissa.it/secure-printer
State Idle
StateTime 1785315267
ConfigTime 1785315732
Type 8400972
Accepting Yes
Shared No
JobSheets none none
QuotaPeriod 0
PageLimit 0
KLimit 0
OpPolicy default
ErrorPolicy retry-job
</Printer>

Please make sure to edit the file with root privileges.

To start printing, just select the newly added printer (in the example it's called “secure-printer”):

Then, just reach to your next SISSA printer and log into it with your badge or your PIN. Choosing the Secure Print option, you should be able to see the documents you've sent for printing. Just select them all and press Print + Delete if you plan to only print it once, or Print + Keep if you plan to print the same document again in the near future.