metti-printer

Provisioning

Install python-escpos from GitHub.

We assume the repository to be placed at /srv/metti-printer on e.g. a Raspberry Pi.

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
sudo apt-get install python3 python3-pip python3-full libopenjp2-7 git

sudo mkdir /opt/python-venv
python3 -m venv /opt/python-venv/
/opt/python-venv/bin/pip3 install requests pyusb
/opt/python-venv/bin/pip3 pip3 install git+https://github.com/python-escpos/python-escpos.git

Configure src/constants.py:

cp src/constants.py.example src/constants.py

Sync changes from local repostory to the Raspberry Pi:

rsync -aP --delete . pi@hostname:/srv/metti-printer/

To grant permission to the printer via USB without being root, add the file /etc/udev/rules.d/10-crew.rules with the following content:

SUBSYSTEM !="usb_device", ACTION !="add", GOTO="datalogger_rules_end"
SYSFS{idVendor} =="VENDOR_ID", SYSFS{idProduct} =="PRODUCT_ID", SYMLINK+="datalogger"
MODE="0666", OWNER="crew", GROUP="root"
LABEL="datalogger_rules_end"

In it, replace VENDOR_ID by the vendor id and PRODUCT_ID by the product id of the USB device that can be determined by running lsusb and identifying the USB printer.

To make the python printer server start at boot time as a daemon, install it as a service like so:

# Configure service
sudo ln -s /srv/metti-printer/provisioning/metti-printer.service /etc/systemd/system/metti-printer.service

# Enable service
sudo systemctl enable metti-printer
sudo systemctl daemon-reload

# (Re-)start service
sudo systemctl start metti-printer
sudo systemctl restart metti-printer

# Show service status
sudo systemctl status metti-printer

# Follow service logs
journalctl -u metti-printer.service -f

See also

• Getting a USB receipt printer working on Linux