DYMO Label Printer CUPS Docker

A Docker container that provides a CUPS print server with compiled DYMO LW5xx drivers, ready to print to networked DYMO label printers. Designed to be used as a sidecar container for label printing solutions.

Supported Printers

• DYMO LabelWriter 5XL
• DYMO LabelWriter 550 / 550 Turbo
• DYMO LabelWriter Wireless
• DYMO LabelManager MLS

Quick Start

1. Clone with submodules:

git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/realworldtech/dymolp-docker.git
cd dymolp-docker

2. Configure your printer in docker-compose.yml:

environment:
  - PRINTER_NAME=DYMO-5XL
  - PRINTER_URI=socket://YOUR_PRINTER_IP:9100
  - PRINTER_PPD=lw5xl.ppd
  - PRINTER_DESCRIPTION=DYMO LabelWriter 5XL

3. Build and start:

docker compose up -d

The printer is automatically configured on first startup. CUPS web admin is available at http://localhost:631 (default credentials: admin/admin).

Sending Print Jobs

From the host or another container on the same network:

echo "Hello DYMO" | lpr -H localhost:631 -P DYMO-5XL

Or use the IPP URL directly: ipp://localhost:631/printers/DYMO-5XL

Environment Variables

Variable	Default	Description
CUPS_USER	admin	CUPS admin username
CUPS_PASSWORD	admin	CUPS admin password
PRINTER_NAME	(none)	Printer name in CUPS (e.g. DYMO-5XL)
PRINTER_URI	(none)	Device URI (e.g. socket://10.0.0.50:9100)
PRINTER_PPD	lw5xl.ppd	PPD file name (see available PPDs below)
PRINTER_DESCRIPTION	Same as name	Human-readable printer description
PRINTER_LOCATION	(empty)	Printer location string

Available PPD Files

File	Printer Model
lw5xl.ppd	LabelWriter 5XL
lw5xlp.ppd	LabelWriter 5XL (portrait)
lw550.ppd	LabelWriter 550
lw550p.ppd	LabelWriter 550 (portrait)
lw550t.ppd	LabelWriter 550 Turbo
lw550tp.ppd	LabelWriter 550 Turbo (portrait)
lww.ppd	LabelWriter Wireless
lmmls.ppd	LabelManager MLS

Architecture

The Docker image uses a multi-stage build:

• Stage 1 (builder): Compiles the DYMO LW5xx Linux drivers from source on Debian Bookworm
• Stage 2 (runtime): Slim Debian image with CUPS, Avahi, and the compiled driver binaries + PPD files

On startup, the entrypoint script:

1. Creates the CUPS admin user
2. Starts dbus and Avahi (for AirPrint/Bonjour on Linux hosts)
3. Starts CUPS and auto-configures the printer from environment variables

Linux Hosts

For Avahi/AirPrint multicast discovery on Linux, switch to host networking in docker-compose.yml:

network_mode: host

For USB-connected printers, uncomment the devices section:

devices:
  - /dev/bus/usb:/dev/bus/usb

Driver Source Code Notice

The DYMO driver source code is included as a git submodule from dymosoftware/Drivers. The LW5xx_Linux directory within that repository contains GPL v2 license files (LICENSE and COPYING), however the top-level Drivers repository itself is published without a license file. The licensing status of the overall repository is unclear. Users should assess this for their own use case.

The Dockerfile patches the driver source during build to fix known issues:

• Missing #include <ctime> in LabelManagerLanguageMonitorV2.cpp
• Autotools regeneration for missing ppd/Linux directory (issue #5)