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I am building a custom Debian CD to install a Debian web server with our software, and it have to handle a printer, which can be any existing printer. How can I add all printers drivers, and how CUPS will install it the right way? The server will not be connected to Internet.

I think about a directory containing deb files, declared as the main source in apt/sources.list, but which files to put in this folder?

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up vote 5 down vote accepted

"any existing printer" changes every day, as does the driver set (the same printer can ship with different firmware levels, and these may require different/updated drivers). If you make such a commitment you are setting yourself up for a horrible series of failures.
I strongly suggest you avoid supporting such a claim if at all possible.

Assuming you still want to do this, installing CUPS will get you a bunch of basic printer drivers that ship with it. You should ensure that all the common printers you know about are on the list, and also gather up all the "less common" drivers and package them appropriately (you'll have to do this yourself I'm afraid).
This page talks about what you need to do, but for most commercial printers (HP & Canon) it basically boils down to "Make a package containing the appropriate PPD files, and make sure you keep them up to date", and for consumer grade printers it boils down to a lot of pain and suffering.

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+1 for pain and suffering... –  Bart Silverstrim Nov 2 '11 at 15:42
@BartSilverstrim Ask me how I know… (and our printer support was unofficial "if it works for you great, if not we can't help you" support - It still caused so much drama that it's being removed!) –  voretaq7 Nov 2 '11 at 16:03
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