Pharos Server - General Article


Pharos is no longer supported by OIT as a service. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to Print and Mail for support.

For Print and Mail's general number, call 801-422-3365.

For physical printer-related issues, call 801-422-4859.

For software or computer-related issues, call 801-422-1469.

Print and Mail in conjunction with OIT maintain the Pharos printing system that allows students to print to many locations around campus, including the library. Cougar Cash is used to pay for printing on campus.

Departments that would like to request authorization to use this service must contact OIT Technology Support Center (801-422-4000 or it@byu.edu).

Table of Contents

Access this Service

Download Pharos Client

If you desire to print to a public printer on campus, you must install the appropriate Pharos Client.

Pricing

There is no charge for use of this service.

 

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How to Print to BYU Printers

A few things to be aware of when printing from BYU Printers:

 

Printing From a Personal PC or Mac

Note: You must have the Open Access Print Driver (Pharos) downloaded onto your personal PC or Mac in order to print to Campus Printers. See this article Remove or Add Print Drivers from Windows for PC installation and see here for Mac OS X Installation.

  1. From the File menu of your document, select Print.

  2. From the drop-down menu on the Print dialog box, select BYU Public B&W to print on a black and white printer or BYU Public Color to print on a color printer.

  3. Click OK.

  4. Enter your Net ID and a name for the print job.

  5. Click Print. Your print job is sent to a print queue that you can access from any printing release station on campus.

 

Printing From a Linux System

Instructions to print from a Linux system can be found on here at the Linux Installation of Pharos Client section.

 

Printing From a Mobile Device

Instructions to print from a mobile device can also be found at printandmail.byu.edu/expressprint/

 

Download the App

  1. Navigate to the play/app store.

  2. Search for Pharos Print and install the app.

  3. Enter the Server Address as: Pharos.byu.edu.

  4. Enter the Port as: 443.

  5. Sign in with your BYU Net ID and Password.

 

Upload a Print Job

  1. Navigate to the file you want to print and hit the share button.

  2. Select the mobile print app.

  3. The file will upload and be ready to print.

 

Print a Print Job

  1. Swipe your Cougar Cash Card (ID Card) at any print Kiosk.

  2. Find your print job and select Print.

 

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First-time Troubleshooting

Login box shakes when entering NetID and password (Pharos App) - This usually happens when the user has never printed at a Pharos Printing kiosk before OR if the user has been issued a new ID card since they last printed. In order to fix this, go to any printer on BYU campus and swipe your card to log in to the printer (you do not need to print anything). This will create a Pharos account which will then sync with your BYU account. You should now be able to log in to the Pharos Print app with your NetID and password.

If the user is still unable to sign into the app, also verify that they can log in to Box, Eduroam, or Campus Computers. Pharos authenticates against Active Directory. Verify they are not part of the cas_pass GRO group.

 

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Mac OS X Installation of Pharos Printing

Install the Software

Access the Mac OS X Pharos Client in this section of the article. 

Note: Software Distribution may be located through the MyBYU link search or by clicking here.

  1. On the software product page, click Add to Cart.

  2. Verify on the View Cart page that the software information is correct and click Check Out.

  3. Verify your information on the Customer Information page and click Next to go to the Purchase Receipt page.

  4. To access your files, click the Secure Download link on the Purchase Receipt.

  5. On the My Software, Secure Download page, click the link that appears in the download section under the Description heading.

  6. When prompted, save the file to your desktop or to a preferred, noted location.

  7. Locate and open the file that you downloaded to start the installation.

  8. Install the popup.pkg (this will install Pharos Popups).

 

Print to the Driver

To check if the driver has been successfully installed open up System Preferences. Select the Print and Fax icon.  Your list of printers should now include Campus_Black_and_White and Campus_Color. 

To send a job to either of these, go to <file/print> and select the printer from the list. Campus_Black_and_White should automatically be set as the default printer (to change this click on the Default Printer drop-down menu and selecting a different printer). 

After clicking the Print button a Pharos Pop-up box will appear asking for your BYU Net ID and a name for the print job.  Click the Print button and go to any Pharos station on campus to retrieve your print job.

Fast User Switching is not compatible with Pharos.

 

Removing Pharos Popup

To remove Popup from a client machine, run the Pharos Uninstaller:

  1. Launch the Uninstaller application in </Library/Application Support/Pharos/Utilities>.

  2. Select Pharos Popup and any other Pharos components that you would like to uninstall, then click <Continue>.

  3. A list of the selected items will be shown. Click <Continue>.

  4. Type in an administrator user name and password when required to do so. The selected components will be removed from the client machine.

  5. Click <Done>.

  6. Open System Preferences > Printers and Scanners.

  7. Use the minus button to remove the Pharos printers.

 

Note: The Pharos Client will not install properly if it is installed more than once or in addition to an older version.  These just first be uninstalled before the new driver can be successfully installed.

 

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Linux Installation of Pharos Printing

There are many different kinds of Linux distributions, all with their own software packages installed. These instructions require that the Linux distribution have a software package called the Common Unix Printing System (CUPS).

Almost all Linux distributions will have this installed by default. Also note that the version of CUPS installed will vary from computer to computer depending on the configuration of the system. This means that the instructions may deviate slightly from those outlined below, but the general settings given below should remain the same.

Once the printers are installed, printing to them will not generate the pop-up window normally seen in Mac and Windows installations. This is because this method of installation ties the installed printer to a single user account, meaning that it will always print to the same Net ID.

 

Installation

To install the Pharos printers, do the following:

  1. Open up a web browser (most Linux distributions have Firefox as the default browser).

  2. Navigate to http://localhost:631. Assuming you have CUPS installed, it should pull up the CUPS configuration screen.

  3. Click the Administration tab.

  4. On the screen that comes up, click the Add Printer button. It may ask for your Linux administrator privileges login and password at this point. If you get an authentication error, try running the browser as the root user, either with the sudo command or logging in as root.

  5. It will ask you to select the device type. Select the LDP/LPR Host or Printer option.

  6. The next screen will ask for the connection location. Enter the following, replacing ROUTEYID with your own BYU Net ID:

    1. If you are installing the B/W printer: lpd://ROUTEYID@pharos.byu.edu/CampusBW18

    2. If you are installing the color printer: lpd://ROUTEYID@pharos.byu.edu/CampusColor18

  7. Press the Continue button. On this screen, enter the printer information, such as name, description, location, etc.

  8. Press the Continue button. On this screen, it will ask you to choose the printer brand. Select Generic, and press the Continue button.

  9. On this screen, it will ask you to select the appropriate Pharos Client. Select Generic PostScript Printer Foomatic/Postscript (recommended) (en), then press the Add Printer button.

  10. Press the Set Default Options button. Your printer has now been installed.

 

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