Linutop OS Documentation

The Linutop OS is a lightweight Linux based Operating Sytem. More info on linutop.com.

Chapter 1. Get and install the Linutop OS

Hardware requirements

Recommended hardware to use the Linutop OS:

x86 processor (Intel, AMD), at least Pentium III (500Mhz)
512M of RAM (1G recommended)
Any type of bootable storage (USB hard drive or key, IDE or SCSI drive, SSD). Your BIOS should also be able to boot the desired hardware (configuration is hardware dependant).
At least 1G of disc space

The system is based on Ubuntu 10.04, and has the same hardware compatibility. To make sure your hardware is compatible, download and run the Linutop OS demo.

Energy Efficient Computing

Linutop OS is a maintenance free system for:

Public Internet access
Digital signage
Telecom
and many other uses

Get the OS

If you bought a Linutop machine, the Linutop OS is already installed, you can skip this section.

If it's not yet installed, you are probably already running the demo system. If not, go and get it from the Linutop website.

The demo system is limited, some features can't be used, and changes are lost after reboot. To avoid this, you will need to download and install the full system on a persistent media (hard drive or USB key). This can be done from the demo system, following the installation documentation.

Chapter 2. Linutop Configuration Panel

Overview

When booting the Linutop OS for the first time, the Linutop Configuration Panel will be started on the desktop. This application lets you configure the essential features of the Linutop OS.

To start the Linutop Configuration Panel later, use the Configuration Panel item from the Linutop menu:

Local settings

The first tab of the Linutop Configuration Panel will let you configure your local settings:

language
keyboard layout
timezone

Clicking on each button will start a new dialog, allowing the make your choice.

Note: Modifying the language first will update the keyboard layout and timezone as well.

Display settings

By default the Linutop OS will detect the screen resolution automatically.

If you need to set a specific resolution, uncheck the Automatic check box, and click the Screen configuration button. A new dialog will open, allowing to select a standard or custom screen resolution.

Network settings

Connect to the local network

The Linutop OS uses Network Manager to handle connections to the local network. This tool can be accessed in the notification zone of the panel, on the bottom right corner of the screen:

A right click on the icon will let you configure the connection.

A left click on the icon will show a list of available devices. If you have WiFi hardware, discovered networks will appear. Click on the one you want to use, and the connection will be enabled. If needed, a passphrase will be prompted.

Remote access

Configure the Linutop OS

The Linutop OS can be accessed remotely if it is connected to a network. The remote access is disabled by default. To enable it, open the Linutop Configuration Panel, go to the Network tab, and click the Configure the remote access service button.

A new dialog will appear, in which you'll be able to setup a few things:

It is highly recommended to request a password for remote access, by checking the corresponding box.

The buttons on the right column will let you manage the remote access service without rebooting the system.

Click on the Quit button when you are done.

Access the Linutop OS

The remote access uses the VNC protocol.

You will need two things to access the Linutop OS:

the Linutop OS IP address
a VNC viewer

The Linutop OS IP address is available in the About tab of the Linutop Configuration Panel:

A VNC client for Windows™ can be downloaded on the RealVNC website. Install the application and execute it. The IP address of the Linutop OS will be prompted in the Server field. Set it and click Ok:

If you set one, the password will also be prompted. Type it and click OK:

A new window will open, displaying the content of the Linutop OS desktop.

Proxy settings

Proxy settings can be defined in the Network Proxy application.

Once you've validated the settings, you need to restart all the applications that require to use the proxy settings (including the Linutop Configuration Panel).

Sharing data

Accessing Windows™ share

Access to Windows™ shared folders can be done in several ways.

Browsing

In the main menu, select Places then Network:

The file browser will open, allowing to browse the network.

Explicitely connect to a shared folder

If the shared folder you want to access is not browseable, you can specify how to access it. In the main menu, select Places then Connect to Server...:

Select Windows share in the Server field. Type in the needed informations an click Connect:

Note: This tool can be used with several protocols (FTP, SSH, WebDAV...).

Share folders from the Linutop OS

Folders on the Linutop OS can be set as shared, so that other computers on the network can access them.

To mark folders as shared, click the Shared folders on this Linutop button in the Network tab of the Linutop Configuration Panel:

The shares-admin application will start, letting you setup the shared folders on your system:

Note: The underlying application handling the shared folders is called Samba.

Advanced settings

The Advanced tab of the Linutop Configuration Panel lets you configure some less used features.

System Backup & Restore: see details.

System Reset: see details.

The Misc frame lets you configure the following features:

Schedule a daily reboot

Restart the system every day at the configured hour. This helps cleaning the system memory, and restart in ideal conditions.

Don't start Xorg

Xorg is the application that handles all the graphical aspects of the system. For a server use, you might want to disable the graphical interface on the Linutop.

To re-enable the graphical interface, use the startx command from the console when logged in. Uncheck this setting in the Linutop Configuration Panel to automatically restart the graphical interface during boot.

To log in, use the linutop user name. The password is blank by default.

Check and try to fix filesystem errors

The system checks that the filesystem is in good shape when it boots. This is a safety that shouldn't be disabled, but this option lets you decide otherwise.

Format a USB key

This option will format a USB to make it usable under Windows™.

Chapter 3. Use your Linutop System

Available applications

The Linutop OS comes with a set of installed applications. All these applications (in fact, the entire system) are open source.

Table 3-1. Main applications

	Firefox	A web browser
	OpenOffice	An office suite (word processor, spreadsheet, presentation)
	Pidgin	A chat client (MSN, Jabber, IRC...)
	VLC	A multimedia player
	Geeqie	An image viewer
	TSClient	A thin client tool (RDP, VNC, X11)
	AisleRiot	A card game

These applications are integrated in a desktop environment called GNOME. It is the application handling the windows, background, icons, file manager...

Automatically start applications

Main application

The automatic startup of the main application used on the Linutop can be configured in the Linutop Configuration Panel, on the General tab:

The Selected line shows which application is currently set to be started automatically. Clicking on its button will start the AppStarter application:

The drop down menu on the top on the window will let you select the application you want to start. For each application, a specific menu will be displayed on the bottom part of the window.

Two choices are common to all applications:

Disable the screen saver: This option will forbid the screen saver to start (handy for digital signage applications).
Hide the mouse cursor: If no mouse movement is detected, the mouse pointer will disappear after a second.

To test your settings, click the Run a test button.

Validate your choice by clicking the OK button. The newly selected application will appear in the Linutop Configuration Panel.

Additional applications

More applications can be automatically started, using the desktop session mechanism.

To set this up, select in the main menu : System, Preferences, Startup Applications. The first tab of the dialog that appears will let you add, remove or edit startup applications.

Adding Applications

The Linutop OS is built on top of Ubuntu, a Linux based operating system. Ubuntu provides access to a software library containing around 40.000 packages. All these packages contain applications or tools, and can be easily downloaded and installed. All you need is an Internet connection.

To access the collection of software, start the Synaptic Package Manager from the System, Administration menu. The main window will open:

Click the Reload button to refresh the informations about the packages.

You can browse through the multiple categories to have an overview of what is available. Hit Ctrl+F to open the search box:

Click the Search button to start the search. A filtered list of packages will be available in the main window. To install a selected application, follow the following steps:

Right click on the line corresponding to the package, and select Mark for installation in the popup menu:
Reproduce the previous step for all the packages you want to install.
Click the Apply to start the installation:

Warning

To keep the installed packages after a reboot, make sure to be in persistent mode.

Chapter 4. Linutop OS security

Overview

The Linutop OS offers a security system bound to its internal architecture. It uses the concept of LiveCD, but makes it more flexible.

The system is contained in a single file that can't be modified. No matter what happens on the system, you'll always be able to restore the original state of the system using this file.

3 security levels are available:

Medium security (Persistent mode)

This is the default mode. The system will react like a standard one. If you do modifications on the system, they will be available after a reboot.

Modifications made in this mode will be available when switching to a different mode.

High security (Normal mode)

This mode only accepts changes done inside the home directory. This means that:

changes done in the user environment (created documents, appearance changes, navigation history...) will be kept after a reboot.
changes done to the rest of the system will be lost after a reboot.

This mode is recommended if you want to use you Linutop system, but want to avoid problems with the system itself.

Maximum security (Lock mode)

This mode is recommended for systems in public areas, such as web kiosks. The entire system will be locked, and a reboot will always restore it to the same state.

This mode will also enable more security locks:

a password will be needed for administrative tasks.
several settings can be locked, forbidding to modifiy the interface, to shut down or reboot the system, hidding the menu and so on.

Security level setup

The choice of the security level can be done in the Linutop Configuration Panel, Security tab. Changing the mode will require a system reboot to apply the new security level:

Only the Lock mode offers additional options:

the admin password can be changed (Password button)
security options can be added/removed (Setup button):

Chapter 5. Operating System tools

System Installation

The installation of a new Linutop OS needs to be done from a running Linutop system. This can be:

a system installed on a Linutop machine
the Linutop demo CD or USB system

You need to be connected to Internet in order to perform the installation.

In the Linutop Configuration Panel, select the Services tab, and login with your linutop.com email address and invoice number:

When logged in, a list of available OS and configurations will be available. Select the system you want to install. If you don't know which one to select, choose the first one marked as Current:

A new dialog will appear. Plug in a USB key or hard drive. The device will appear in the Target drop down list. Select it.

Caution

The target device will be ENTIRELY ERASED, deleting all the data on it if you proceed to the next step.

Click the Apply button:

The system will be downloaded and intalled on the selected device. When the end dialog appears, it is safe to remove the device.

The device can be used to boot on the same machine, or an other one.

System backup and restoration

Perform backups

It is highly recommended to backup the Linutop OS before you start tweaking it. The entire system can be duplicated on a USB key (1G minimum).

To start the backup tool, open the Linutop Configuration Panel and click USB Backup & Restore in the Advanced tab:

A new window will appear:

Plug in the USB device on which you want to perform the backup. If several devices are connected, choose the correct one from the Target drop box.

You can choose to backup the system only, as provided by Linutop. It is recommended to have one such backup.

The other choice is to backup the system and the modifications you've done on it (added applications, configurations...). Make sure that your data and the system can fit on the USB device.

Caution

The target device will be ENTIRELY ERASED, deleting all the data on it if you proceed to the next step.

Click the Apply. When the copy is done it is safe to remove the USB device.

Restore backups

When you do a backup, the USB key can be used to boot the system. Restoring a backup is a simple operation:

Boot on your backup key.
Start the Linutop Backup & Restore tool.
Choose the internal disk as target.
Select the copy type (system only or all data).
Validate.
Shut down, remove the backup key and restart.

System reset

The original Linutop OS will never be altered, even if you delete files or remove applications. To restore the system to its original configuration, follow these steps:

Run the Linutop Configuration Panel and select the Advanced tab. Click on the System reset button:
If you really want to reset your system to the original configuration, click on the Yes button. You'll have a last chance to cancel the operation.
The system will reboot.
After the reboot, a simple menu with three choices will appear. Select what you want to do with the up and down arrow keys. Validate with the Enter key.
The three choices are:
Cancel the restoration
Do nothing, and restart the system.
Restore the system (keep user data and configuration)
Only the installed/suppressed software will be wiped out.
Restore the system (delete everything)
Suppress all modifications (including data that might have been added on the system.
Caution
The last two choices will DELETE various elements from the system. Make sure that's what you want to do before validating.

Root user

The root account is not enabled on the Linutop OS. All administrative tasks need to be executed using sudo:

$ sudo ls /root
$ sudo service ssh restart

If a password is requested, you must use the one of your current user.

gksudo can be used instead of sudo to graphically ask for the user password.

By default the linutop user password is blank.

To enable the root account, set its password:

$ sudo passwd

System services

The Linutop OS offers a special way to handle the system services installed. Some of the services are blacklisted by default. The services-blacklist command line tool can add and remove services from the blacklist:

$ sudo services-blacklist del ssh       # enable and start ssh
$ sudo services-blacklist add smbd nmbd # disable and stop samba
$ sudo services-blacklist list          # display the current blacklist

Chapter 6. Hardware

Touch Screens - calibration

Most touch screen work out of the box on the Linutop OS. You might need to calibrate them though. To do so, start the calibration tool from the Administration menu:

This tool will ask you to touch four points on the screen and will change the settings dynamically. Settings will be reloaded at each boot.

Some touch screens are known to work well:

ASUS all in one
ASUS eeetop
eGalax touch screens
EloTouch touch screens

Printers

To configure printers, start the Printing tool:

Click the Add button to configure a new printer. The system will try to autodetect connected printers.

Network printers can also be configured. Here is an exemple for a HP printer:

The printer will appear in the main interface list after configuration:

Chapter 7. Download and Install the Linutop OS demo

The Linutop OS demo is available online and can be downloaded on the linutop.com download page. The demo system is provided under two forms:

an ISO image for CD-ROM
a USB image to be installed on a USB key or hard drive

How to use the ISO image

The ISO image needs to be burnt on a blank CD-ROM.

To burn the image on Windows™, download InfraRecorder and install it. Insert a blank writable CD-ROM and start InfraRecorder. Click on the Write Image button, select the Linutop .iso file and click OK.

On Linux, tools such as Brasero, K3B or wodim can burn the ISO image on CD-ROM.

Reboot your computer with the CD-ROM in the tray. The system will be run from your CDROM drive. Nothing will be written on your hard drive.

How to use the USB image

The USB image needs to be flushed on a USB device.

On Windows™, download Disk Imager, uncompress it and execute the software. Plug in a USB key, select it and select the Linutop .img file. Click the Write button.

On Linux systems, use the following command, where /dev/sdX if the name of the device:

$ dd if=linutop-demo-latest.img of=/dev/sdX

Caution

Be carefull to select the correct device.

Chapter 8. FAQ

Can I disable the screen saver?: Yes, in the main menu, select System → Preferences → Screensaver. Change the Mode to Disable Screen Saver.
How can I take a screenshot?: Use the print screen key to take a snapshot of the whole screen, and alt+print screen to take a snapshot of the active window.
I'm prompted a login and a password, what should I use?: The login is linutop and the password is blank (unless you've activated the lock mode).
I want a fancy desktop with lots of effects. Is it possible?: You can enable compiz (if the hardware supports it) in the last tab of the appearance setup tool (System → Preferences → Appearance).

Chapter 9. Recipes

Thin client

Terminal Services client

The Linutop OS provides tools to run Terminal Services sessions. This can be done by using either Terminal Server Client (Internet menu), a graphical application, or by using rdesktop.

Using rdesktop will let you automate the connection to the server. To do so, run the autostart configuration tool, select Custom Command, and define a command like:

$ rdesktop -f -k fr 192.168.1.1

This will connect to the TS server 192.168.1.1, display le login screen in fullscreen, and use a french keyboard to transmit key events.

Citrix client

Citrix provides an ICA client for Linux, usable on the Linutop OS. You can download it from their website (select the .deb download). Save the file in you home directory (/home/linutop). This file can now be installed using the dpkg package manager:

open a terminal (in the menu, Accessories → Terminal)
copy the following command and validate with the Enter key:
```
$ sudo dpkg -i /home/linutop/icaclient*deb
```

To use the client, start Terminal Server Client (Internet menu), and select ICA as Protocol.

Linutop OS as server

Setting up a web server

All the commands listed here have to be typed in a terminal (in the menu, Accessories → Terminal).

Apache HTTP server

To install the Apache web server, install the apache2 package:

$ sudo apt-get install apache2

To make sure it is installed, start firefox and go to the url http://localhost.

The web pages have to be copied in /var/www by default.

PHP

To install PHP, install the libapache2-mod-php5 package:

$ sudo apt-get install libapache2-mod-php5

To make sure it works edit /var/www/test.php:

$ sudo gedit /var/www/test.php

Put this line in the file and save it:

<?php phpinfo(); ?>

Go to http://localhost/test.php in firefox, you should see the PHP informations page.

MySQL Database server

To install a database server (MySQL), install the mysql-server and associated tools:

$ sudo apt-get install mysql-server php5-mysql

A password will be prompted for the root user. It is the MySQL administrator login/password, needed to perform actions on databases.

To install a frontend for the sql server use:

$ sudo apt-get install phpmyadmin

Questions about phpmyadmin configuration will be asked, select apache2 for the first question, select no for the second. Go to http://localhost/phpmyadmin in firefox to use the frontend. The login is root and the password is the MySQL one.