USB Printing in VE

This howto tries to cover the "device" configuration for printing with a USB printer in a Container. Please refer to your specific distro for required printing packages.

• Install usbutils in both HN and VE.
• In a shell on HN type lsusb and you'll get the list fo the usb devices on your system:

 Bus 002 Device 006: ID 0dda:2026 Integrated Circuit Solution, Inc. USB2.0 Card Reader
 Bus 002 Device 005: ID 05e3:0608 Genesys Logic, Inc. USB-2.0 4-Port HUB
 Bus 002 Device 003: ID 05e3:0608 Genesys Logic, Inc. USB-2.0 4-Port HUB
 Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002  
 Bus 008 Device 005: ID 04b8:0005 Seiko Epson Corp. Stylus Printer
 Bus 008 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001  
 Bus 007 Device 002: ID 046d:c044 Logitech, Inc. 
 Bus 007 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001  
 Bus 006 Device 002: ID 051d:0002 American Power Conversion Uninterruptible Power Supply 
 Bus 006 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001  
 Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002  
 Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001  
 Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001  
 Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 

• Now examine the output of your command and you'll see two important lines: one for your printer and one for the usb port at which is attached, in my case:

 Bus 008 Device 005: ID 04b8:0005 Seiko Epson Corp. Stylus Printer
 Bus 008 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001

• In /dev directory in HN you should have:
  • a symlink to your usb printer: lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 7 Nov 28 14:14 usblp0 -> usb/lp0
  • a usb directory
  • a printer inside the /dev/usb directory: crw-rw---- 1 root lp 180, 0 Nov 28 14:14 lp0
  • a bus/usb directory
  • many directories in bus/usb: named with the bus numer that you get with the first lsusb command. In this example the relevant one is 008