LPC(8)

NAME
lpc - line printer control program

SYNOPSIS
/usr/etc/lpc [ command [ parameter... ] ]

DESCRIPTION

lpc controls the operation of the printer, or of multiple printers, as described in the /etc/printcap database. 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.

USAGE

  Commands
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(1) or lpq(1) (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(1)) for the specified printers. The abort command can only be used by the super-user.

clean [all| [printer...]]
Remove all files with names beginning with cf, tf, or df from the specified printer queue(s) on the local machine. The clean command can only be used by the super-user.

disable [all| [printer...]]
Turn the specified printer queues off. This prevents new printer jobs from being entered into the queue by lpr(1). The disable command can only be used by the super-user.

down [all| [printer...]] [message]
Turn the specified printer queue off, disable printing and put message in the printer status file. The message doesn't need to be quoted, the remaining arguments are treated like echo(1V). This is normally used to take a printer down and let others know why (lpq(1) 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(1) can put new jobs in the spool queue. The enable command can only be used by the super-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. lpq(1) reports that there is no daemon present when this condition occurs. 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 the super-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 the super-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 the super-user.

up [all| [printer...]] Enable everything and start a new printer daemon. Undoes the effects of down.

FILES
/etc/printcap
    printer description file
/var/spool/*
    spool directories
/var/spool/*/lock
    lock file for queue control

SEE ALSO
lpq(1), lpr(1), lprm(1), printcap(5), lpd(8)

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 super-user.