(BSD System Compatibility)

lpc(1Mbsd)

lpc -- (BSD) line printer control program

Synopsis

   /usr/ucb/lpc [command [parameter . . . ]]

Description

lpc controls the operation of the printer, or of multiple printers. lpc commands can be used to start or stop a printer, disable or enable a printer's spooling queue, rearrange the order of jobs in a queue, or display the status of each printer--along with its spooling queue and printer daemon.

With no arguments, lpc runs interactively, prompting with `lpc>'. If arguments are supplied, lpc interprets the first as a command to execute; each subsequent argument is taken as a parameter for that command. The standard input can be redirected so that lpc reads commands from a file.

Commands may be abbreviated to an unambiguous substring. Note: the printer parameter is specified just by the name of the printer (as lw), not as you would specify it to lpr(1bsd) or lpq(1bsd) (not as -Plw).

? [command . . . ]
help [command . . . ]: Display a short description of each command specified in the argument list, or, if no arguments are given, a list of the recognized commands.
abort [all | [printer . . . ]]: Terminate an active spooling daemon on the local host immediately and then disable printing (preventing new daemons from being started by lpr(1bsd)) for the specified printers. The abort command can only be used by a privileged user.
clean [all | [printer . . . ]]: Remove all files created in the spool directory by the daemon from the specified printer queue(s) on the local machine. The clean command can only be used by a privileged user.
disable [all | [printer . . . ]]: Turn the specified printer queues off. This prevents new printer jobs from being entered into the queue by lpr(1bsd). The disable command can only be used by a privileged user.
down [all | [printer . . . ]] [message]: Turn the specified printer queue off, disable printing and put message in the printer status file. The message does not need to be quoted, the remaining arguments are treated like echo(1). This is normally used to take a printer down and let others know why (lpq(1bsd) indicates that the printer is down, as does the status command).
enable [all | [printer . . . ]]: Enable spooling on the local queue for the listed printers, so that lpr(1bsd) can put new jobs in the spool queue. The enable command can only be used by a privileged user.
exit
quit: Exit from lpc.
restart [all | [printer . . . ]]: Attempt to start a new printer daemon. This is useful when some abnormal condition causes the daemon to die unexpectedly leaving jobs in the queue. This command can be run by any user.
start [all | [printer . . . ]]: Enable printing and start a spooling daemon for the listed printers. The start command can only be used by a privileged user.
status [all | [printer . . . ]]: Display the status of daemons and queues on the local machine. This command can be run by any user.
stop [all | [printer . . . ]]: Stop a spooling daemon after the current job completes and disable printing. The stop command can only be used by a privileged user.
topq printer [job# . . . ] [user . . . ]: Move the print job(s) specified by job# or those job(s) belonging to user to the top (head) of the printer queue. The topq command can only be used by a privileged user.
up [all | [printer . . . ]]: Enable everything and start a new printer daemon. Undoes the effects of down.

Files

   /var/spool/lp/*
   /var/spool/lp/system/pstatus

Diagnostics

?Ambiguous command: The abbreviation you typed matches more than one command.
?Invalid command: You typed a command or abbreviation that was not recognized.
?Privileged command: You used a command can be executed only by the privileged user.
lpc: printer: unknown printer to the print service: The printer was not found in the System V LP database. Usually this is a typing mistake; however, it may indicate that the printer does not exist on the system. Use `lptstat -p' to find the reason.
lpc: error on opening queue to spooler: The connection to lpsched on the local machine failed. This usually means the printer server started at boot time has died or is hung. Check if the printer spooler daemon /usr/lib/lp/lpsched is running.
lpc: Can't send message to LP print service
lpc: Can't receive message from LP print service: These indicate that the LP print service has been stopped. Get help from the system administrator.
lpc: Received unexpected message from LP print service: It is likely there is an error in this software. Get help from system administrator.

References

lpq(1bsd), lpr(1bsd), lprm(1bsd), lpsched(1M)