Share Scanner on Ubuntu with Windows Client

This post will show you how to share a scanner connected to a computer running Ubuntu 14.04 with a client running Windows 8.1.

Ubuntu Server Configuration

Ubuntu should come pre-installed with the saned service, which provides functionality for sharing scanners over the local network. Follow the steps below to configure the saned service in Ubuntu.

1. Edit the file /etc/default/saned
   • sudo gedit /etc/default/saned
2. Set the value RUN=yes
3. Edit /etc/sane.d/saned.conf
   • sudo gedit /etc/sane.d/saned.conf
4. Add your local network (for example: 192.168.1.0/24 ) under the “## Access List” section
5. Restart the saned service
   • sudo service saned restart
6. Tell the computer to start saned automatically
   • sudo update-rc.d saned defaults
7. Verify that the saned service is running
   • sudo service saned status

That covers the Ubuntu server configuration. The next step is to configure the Windows client.

Windows Client Configuration

By default, Windows doesn’t understand the sane protocol, so a third party addon must be installed.

1. Download SaneTwain
2. Unzip the contents
3. Move SaneTwain.ds into C:\Windows\twain_32
4. Move ScanImage.exe into any location (The Desktop would be a convenient place)
5. Open ScanImage.exe
6. Enter the IP address of the Ubuntu server you configured above
7. Click the scanner icon at the top left to save the scan, or click the magnifying glass icon for a preview

You should now be able to scan images from Windows using Ubuntu as the server!

Sources:

1.  Ubuntu Sane Deamon Tutorial
2.  SaneTwain home page