Overview

Linutop Kiosk is a powerful software for quickly setup a secure web access, a digital signage or a MultiMedia Player. The Linutop-kiosk application is included in Linutop OS and available for PC or Raspberry Pi

The Linutop Kiosk offers 3 operating modes:

Getting started with Linutop Kiosk General tab configuration

Starting the configuration tool will display the following screen:

The top section of the General tab (Kiosk mode) lets you choose the mode:

The next section (Configuration) allows to setup a few things:

Web Kiosk browser tab

The Web Kiosk browser tab of the configuration tool lets you define how the web browser should behave. It is split in 3 parts:

• Interface: buttons to display to the users
• Restrictions: websites restrictions
• Advanced settings: some less used options, hidden by default

Parameters

external_browser_cmd=chromium-browser --kiosk %u

external_browser_cmd=commandlinelauncher

http*://*.google.*

Web Kiosk browser Security tips

If you use the Linutop Kiosk for a public access point, you probably want to check a few things to secure the browser and the system.

• Make sure to set a password in the General tab.
• Start in fullscreen. This will prevent the user to access the rest of the desktop. And if the password is set, it will also remove the menu bar for maximum security.
• Activate the cleanup of session after a certain time. This will prevent complaints from users who didn't clear their session themselves.
• Make sure to enable the Linutop OS Lock mode to secure the entire system (system passwd, no reboot, useless desktop, hidden menu...).

Using the browser

The browser offers standard features for such an application:

• 1: go to home page
• 2: history navigation
• 3: stop loading the page
• 4: URL bar
• 5: session cleanup

Playlist and Formats

The section frame Playlist update allows to setup how the data to be displayed should be retrieved. Two distinct methods can be used:

• Online update will download a playlist and associated content from a Linutop TV service or private server. This configuration is intended to manage several screens a schedueld broadcast.
• Local update (USB, remote control, local or network directory update and static playlist) can be used to manage directly one screen.

Display settings

Digital Signage Player settings and external Player or Browser configuration

Other options

Local remote control

This feature allows the user to directly interact with the playlist. It can also be used to display a message with the direct display feature.

Activation of the Local remote control:

To enable the remote, remote activation has to be checkedm then to start the remote, the Linutop-kiosk player must be running.

Connection to the local remote control:

Once started, the remote is a web page accessible from any devices, such as smartphone, tablet, PC's web browser connected on the same network.

The remote web address can be seen in blue below the remote activation checkbox. Just copy the URL web dress in any browser to display it.

It can also be directly displayed on the same screen as the player by clicking on the right mouse button.

Using Linutop remote control :

Direct display mode withe the remote control:

Direct display allows to send a text message on the screen, it also returns a copy of the screen.

You can also directly display an item using the drag and drop menu below

The direct display template can be customized using the button "change direct template" in the Linutop kiosk settings menu.

Direct template

Direct template example

Sample Template

Template: for a bus station, a pier and a small airfield. It can display a message via a web browser from a phone or tablet on the local network.

You can also create your own template to suit your preferences. This is a simple HTML file, it is very easy to edit.

For this, you just need to edit this template by keeping this lines, to be able to display the direct text.

<span id="text" style="font-size:5.7em"></span></span>

Proxy settings

The Network tab of the setup interface lets you define which proxy to use.

User name and password entries can be left blank if your proxy doesn't require authentication.

The URI can take two forms:

• http://192.168.1.2:3128: simple URL, with port
• pac+http://192.168.1.3/proxy.pac: URI of a autoconfiguration script

Linutop Kiosk Network configuration

Linutop Kiosk Can display on several screens on the same network from linutop.TV broacast management server. on a local network or via Internet.

FAQ

How the Kiosk application works

Linutop-Kiosk works in pull mode and starts to check for the latest playlist and use the local cache.

If the Network is not available it uses the last playlist and items in cache.

Storage of parameters for buster and 18.04 to the operating mode of the Kiosk:

• Configuration : /home/linutop or pi/.config/linutop/preferences
• Local: /home/linutop or pi/.linutop-kiosk/playlist
• Tv: /home/linutop or pi/.linutop-kiosk/playlist,/home/linutop or pi/.linutop-kiosk/data
• Usb: /home/linutop or pi/.linutop-kiosk/usbauto
• Remote: /usr/share/linutop-webkiosk/text.html (direct template)

Storage of parameters of 14.04 version according to the operating mode of the Kiosk:

• Common: /etc/xdg/webkiosk/preferences
• Local: /etc/xdg/webkiosk/playlist
• Tv: /home/linutop or pi/.linutop-kiosk/playlist,/home/linutop or pi/.linutop-kiosk/data
• Usb: /home/linutop or pi/.linutop-kiosk/usbauto
• Remote: /usr/share/linutop-webkiosk/text.html (direct template)

Mini-server of automatic diffusion of the media on local network

This script is used to automatically broadcast the contents of a directory on a local network in order to synchronized the media on all players. It is a light broadcast server for players. Each player is configured to display the contents of the synchronized directory.

1. Get the IP address of your other machines

The "About" tab of the control panel allows you to have more info

In the Network section, you can retrieve the IP address of the current machine.

2. Create the main directory containing the items to be copied

In this part, you just have to create the directory containing the files to broadcast.

3. Open and edit the script according to your preferences (all information is in comment), here is the download link of the script: auto-synchro.sh.

4. Save the script, go to the "Start Application" section of the Linutop Control Panel.

In the command to enter just type: "bash /path/to/script.sh"

You must commit the changes and restart the system for the script to start at startup

5. Configuring the player to display the contents of the synchronized directory

Just add the directory to your local playlist

You can distribute as many documents on as many machines as you want.

External applications

The set of applications displaying specific files can be configured in the main configuration file (/home/linutop or pi/.config/linutop/preferences). The association between files and applications is done using mime types, in a [mimetypes] section.

Simple exemple of file associations:

[mimetypes]
application/pdf = evince

Type of slideshow items

When using the local playlist to define the slideshow (no XML), the application will guess the type of each item to display using the protocol and file extension. If not correctly detected, the default behaviour is to display the item as a web page. To override this behaviour, you can associate filename extensions with display types.

The known types are:

• video
• image
• document (distant item that will be cached and displayed locally)

The association is done in the main configuration file (/etc/xdg/webkiosk/preferences), in a [slideshow-types] section. For exemple:

[slideshow-types]
iso = video
flv = video
gif = image

DBus interface

The browser offers a DBus interface, allowing to control a few things.

The DBus interface listens signals sent on the system bus on the object /com/linutop/WebKiosk. The messages are:

• com.linutop.WebKiosk.Signal.StopSession: stop the current web session
• com.linutop.WebKiosk.Signal.StartSession: start a new session
• com.linutop.WebKiosk.Signal.AddTime (uint32 s): add s secondes to the timer
• com.linutop.WebKiosk.Signal.uit: stop the application

dbus-send can be used to send the signals:

# stop the current session
dbus-send --system /com/linutop/WebKiosk com.linutop.WebKiosk.Signal.StopSession

# add 2 minutes to the timer
dbus-send --system /com/linutop/WebKiosk com.linutop.WebKiosk.Signal.AddTime uint32:120

Scheduler (Advanced use)

The Linutop Kiosk can use an XML file to define multiple playlists, managed by a scheduler. It is possible to manually create these files.

<schedule>
  <loop id="0">
    <item uri="http://www.google.com" time="10" />
    <item uri="http://my_server/display/an_image.png" type="image" time="5" />
    <item uri="http://my_server/display/a_video.avi" type="video" />
    <item uri="http://my_server/display/an_image_as_web_page" time="5" />
    <item uri="http://my_server/display/a_video_as_web_page" />
  </loop>
</schedule>

uri="ftp://username:passwd@server/myfile"

<schedule>
  <loop id="0">
    <!-- default playlist defined here -->
  </loop>

  <loop id="1" start="14:00" end="18:15">
    <!-- this playlist will be read every day between 14:00 and 18:15 -->
  </loop>

  <loop id="2" start="14:00" end="18:15" weekdays="0246">
    <!--  this playlist will be read every monday, wednesday,
          friday and sunday between 14:00 and 18:15 -->
  </loop>

  <loop id="3" start="2011/03/25 00:00">
    <!-- this playlist will be used starting on march the 25th of 2011 -->
  </loop>

  <loop id="4" start="20:00" end="06:00" idle="1">
    <!-- this playlist is marked as idle. This will shut down the screen of the client -->
  </loop>
</schedule>

Adding a font to the system

Additionnal fonts can be necessary to display some web pages or documents.

It is possible to add new fonts to the system using a font file (fontname.ttf), to do so you need to create a folder with the name of the font in lower case in /usr/share/font then copy the fontname.ttf file into the folder. There is two way to do so, using thunar as root :

$ sudo thunar

$ sudo mkdir /usr/share/font/fontname
$ sudo cp fontfile.ttf /usr/share/font/fontname/fontname.ttf

Prevent thunar network access

By default thunar can access your network. to secure/prevent this network access, use the command below.

$ sudo chmod 000 /usr/share/gvfs/mounts/network.mount

$ sudo chmod 644 /usr/share/gvfs/mounts/network.mount

How to configure a Secure Internet kiosk

This section explain how to setup a secure kiosk.

First you need to select Web Kiosk in the main panel and to check fullscreen and use a password (don't forget to set the password).

Then in the Web Kiosk tab you can choose which website will be displayed as home and in each new tab. Also you can blacklist or whitelist website using the restriction panel. Once done hit the OK button to validate the configuration.

Once secured to quit the kiosk application hit Ctrl+q and enter your password.

How to display a web page on a digital signage screen

This section explains how to display a web page. It can be a local web page, Internet or intranet.

This can automatically display:

• A dashboard (KPI)
• A clock for a home screen
• A dynamic screen template in javascript (template)
• The pages of a website with a zoom
• A web page with automatic scrolling

Select Dynamic Display Player to automatically run at startup and check "Run kiosk on startup

Then, in the Dynamic View Player tab, you must use the Add button to open a dialog box that allows you to choose which webpage to display and its display time, a time of 0 means it will be posted forever.

Once you have clicked the "web page" button, the browser (chromium or firefox will open), allowing you to access the desired page and copy its address in "Location URI" then validate

A local address can also be inserted "http://192.168.200.48/production/l1"

The default browser is the kiosk (based on WebKit, faster but can have a different rendering), it is possible to select an external browser by checking the option and allow the opening of Chromium, Firefox or other allowing accommodate the latest standards and strong authentication.

Display a network shared folder content

This configuration simply displays the contents of a shared folder containing photos, video, pdf on a screen.

In order to display the contain of a shared folder on a local network with or without password.

You must :

3- Open a dialog by pressing the Add button of the "Dynamic Display Player" interface.

4- Copy the path and insert it in the "Location URI" dialog box.

In case you want to add a password you have to go to "Browse the network", choose the network and then choose the option "Remember forever".

How to connect Linutop-Kiosk to Linutop TV

This section explain how to use the Linutop TV service.

First you need to select Media Player in the main panel and if you want it to start automaticaly check the associated parameter.