cups asks for root password if user is not member of lpadmin group

Umm... I tried to reproduce this bug and I wasn't even asked for a password of any sorts. If that is confirmed, perhaps that should be a bug in of itself.

On Ubuntu 9.04, I went to add a new printer and was successful and was never asked to enter any type of password.

Woah... this is weird.

I have a Jaunty (9.04) machine. I tried upgrading it to Karmic (9.10), and I got THIS in the middle of my upgrade:

    Setting up cups-pdf (2.5.0-4) ...
     * Reloading Common Unix Printing System: cupsd [fail]
    Password for root on localhost?

Wow... an interactive password prompt during "apt-get dist-upgrade"!!

Sounds like a closely related issue.

Alan

I've found this easy to reproduce by attempting to delete a printer.

The current work-around suggested has many ramifications, and is not recommended. A better workaround in my case was to edit the username (which by default was filled in as root) to my own username, and then use my own password (as my user has sudo privileges).

Ed's workaround does not work for me.

I just got a phone call from my Mom having the same problem. I was able to work around by invoking "gksudo system-config-printer" and adding the printer.

I can confirm that Kevin Otte's workaround is working for me. No need to set an actual root password.

Also, I tested this on a different, clean beta install and did not experience the same behavior. This bug affects only my system upgraded from a previous release.

On home desktop: Did not encounter Alan's problem upgrading from 9.04 to 9.10.

On laptop: Freshly installed Karmic does not exhibit this problem.

@Kevin Otte: Did your home desktop exhibit the bug reported here following the upgrade? Does it prompt for a root password when adding or deleting a printer when you launch system-config-printer without gksu?

Fresh install of Karmic 9.10 (64 bit) -- no prompt for root password. Woot!

Thanks for the help.

Yes, it is confirmed that this does not affect a clean install. However, it clearly is happening in upgrade scenarios.

@Alan: Maybe the bug title should be modified to reflect this?

Looks like that on update a maintainer script of the old package is executed. Pitti, do you know how to make a new CUPS package so that this does not happen?

I'm also seeing this on an upgraded system. Setting a root password is not a workaround, it is a bad idea. gksudo suggestion above works.

I also had this problem.

My workaround was:
System > Administration > Users Groups
Add "Configure Printers" privlegs to desired user.

@Sini - Thanks. That's the best workaround to date. In fact, on a clean karmic install that privilege is enabled by default. That would explain why only us upgraders are experiencing this behavior.

I'm running Ubuntu 10.04 beta and this appears to be affecting a clean install. When I attempt to add a printer it prompts me for the root password that does not exist. I can also confirm that running gksudo rectifies the problem. For this reason, I feel system-config-printer (mine is version 1.1.91) should utilize gksudo for privelege escalation as opposed to the seemingly custom made box prompting for a root password.

I think this is more than just a printing issue. When trying to do Sini's suggested workaround, I am not able to make changes to ANY user accounts because it is asking for a root password to do so. This is on a clean install of 10.04. See screenshot for visual proof.

When I try to add a printer to my 10.04 clean install on a Dell 1420N laptop, I run into this root password problem. The problem does not occur with a clean install on a desktop.

Clean install of 10.04 and I still see the root prompt. I have seen this bug since 7.10 and I am surprised it is still around.

Clean install of 10.10 + latest updates & I get a root prompt upon plugging in my Canon ip4200. "gksudo system-config-printer" worked for me.

Thanks Jeff for the
"gksudo system-config-printer" worked for my ip5200 on 10.10 - 64

I just ran into the "enter password for root" after trying to make the printer available to windows under virtual box - what used to work some weeks ago. But that might be another problem.

I also get a prompt for root password for Ubuntu 11.04 when I try to add a printer.

"gksudo system-config-printer" solution worked.

I've only ever seen this message when the user wasn't a member of "lpadmin". The UI user manager has a check box "configure printers" under the account advanced settings. I believe the message is coming because CUPS is asking for an HTTP password.

I ran into this problem on 12.04 and setting root password solved the problem.

as mentioned in #22; I had this issue when I messed up accounts and groups. It prompts (with an ugly prompt) for authentication if you're not in the lpadmin group. When I set 'sudo usermod -aG lpadmin myusername' it worked flawlessly afterwards.

The bug is that it does not detect more gracefully if you are not a member of the lpadmin group.

Still reproducable on 15.10 (Kubuntu)