10-14-2025

Turning a USB-Only Printer into a Wireless Printer with CUPS (Self-Hosted on Linux)

How-to
Linux

Hey, Mind here! 👋

I know it’s a bit funny to start with a “How-to” post, but I really hope this one will be helpful for you (or someone out there).

🖨️ The Beginning

I’ve had my Canon Pixma E410 printer at home for a long time. The ink is expensive, so I asked @latenightdef to help me find a shop that could modify it with an ink tank system — and finally, I got it done!

theprinter

Since I already have a self-hosted Linux server nearby (named miyabidell), I thought:

“Why not make this printer wireless?”

Note: the Canon Pixma E410 doesn’t support Wi-Fi. It can only print via USB and scanning.

Before we start, let’s unbox it, plug it into the server, and get ready.

plugtheusb

⚙️ Preparing

Once your server is powered on, connect the printer and check if it’s detected with:

lsusb

lsusb

If your printer shows up like this — congrats! Everything is working, and we’re ready to move on.

📦 Installing Required Packages

You’ll need the following packages:

  • cups
  • gutenprint
  • gutenprint-cups (for Canon drivers)
  • samba (to make the printer discoverable on your network)

On Fedora (my server’s OS), you can install them with:

sudo dnf install cups gutenprint gutenprint-cups samba -y

🧩 Setting Up CUPS

Once installed, open the CUPS configuration file:

sudo nano /etc/cups/cupsd.conf

check1

Make sure of the following:

  • The Listen line should be Listen *:631 — not Listen localhost:631. Otherwise, you won’t be able to access or manage the printer from other devices.

  • Under the <Location> tags, add Allow @LOCAL and comment out or remove Order allow,deny. Without this, the CUPS web interface (admin, logs, etc.) won’t be accessible from other computers.

Save your changes and restart or enable the CUPS service:

sudo systemctl enable --now cups

🖥️ Adding the Printer

Open your browser and go to:

http://<server-ip>:631

You should see the CUPS web interface:

cupswebsite

Go to the Administration tab → click Add Printer.

admin

If prompted for login credentials, use your server’s username and password (the one with sudo privileges).

Next, select your printer and click Continue.

choose1 choose2

Now, name your printer — anything you like — but make sure to check “Share This Printer.” Without this, the wireless setup won’t work!

choose3

Then, select your printer model and click Add Printer.

done1

Optionally, configure your printer’s default settings. If everything looks fine, skip ahead.

Click Printers, select your printer, and test print.

select testprint

If it prints successfully — congrats again!

testprintresult.png

🌐 Configuring Samba (for Wireless Access)

Samba allows other devices (like phones or laptops) to find your printer easily over the network.

First, enable Samba:

sudo systemctl enable --now smb

enablesmb

Then edit the Samba configuration file:

sudo nano /etc/samba/smb.conf

sambaconfig

Make sure it looks like the example above, then save and restart Samba:

sudo systemctl restart smb

And that’s it — your wireless printer is now ready!

📱 Testing Wireless Printing

Grab your phone, choose any photo or document, and search for printers on your network.

You should now see your server-shared printer available to print.

🎥 Here’s what it should look like in action.

If you see similar results — congrats, everything’s working perfectly!

🏁 Finally

I hope this guide helped you give your old printer a new life instead of tossing it into e-waste. Thanks for reading, and see you in the next blog! 💙