Introduction

Linutop Operating System is designed to minimise cost and maintenance by offering stability, privacy and efficiency, using standard and documented Linux systems:

• PC Version is based on XUBUNTU (UBUNTU With XFCE Desktop classic graphic environment)
• Raspberry Pi Version is based on Raspberry Pi OS (With XFCE Desktop classic graphic environment)

Linutop specific applications:

• Linutop Kiosk (player and setup)(Kiosk for secure web browsing and/or Digital Signage player)
• Lintutop configuration pannel (Configuration menu for a quick OS setup)
• Lintutop asrun (autolauncher for autostarted application)

Linutop OS is a maintenance free system for:

• Public Internet access (secure kiosk for Internet or local website browsing)
• Digital signage, DOOH (media player for full screen web page display, image, video, PDF, kiosk for Internet or audio player)
• Telecom
• and many other uses

Linutop OS is small and can also be run on smaller configuration with less RAM allowing recycling of older PCs or raspberry Pi in order to extend their life cycle minimizing waste.

Energy Efficient Computing - Sustainable development - Green IT

Hardware requirements

Get the OS

• Linutop OS Pro is already pre-installed on Linutop machine.

• Linutop OS Pro can be purchased on USB Key, SD Card or a download on Linutop shop.

• Linutop OS Free can be downloaded for free. The Free Version has no limitation, only Linutop Kiosk and linutop Configuration Menu are in demo version most features can be used. (the full version (pro) is available in the Linutop shop) and can be installed. This can be done from the Free system, following the installation documentation.

How to install the ISO image on a bootable CD

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 install the image to create a bootable USB or SD

The USB or SD image needs to be written on a USB or SD device.

On Windows™, download Disk Imager, uncompress it and execute the software. Plug in a USB key or an SD card (1GB min), select it and select the Linutop .img file. Click the Write button.

On Linux systems, any of the following commands will be executed as an administrator. Dezip the image of the OS and put yourself in this directory. Then, to determine the name of the usb key or SD card, you can use the lsblk command:

# lsblk

NAME   MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
sda      8:0    0  74,5G  0 disk 
 -sda1   8:1    0  74,5G  0 part /initrd/cdrom
sdb      8:16   1  14,5G  0 disk 
 -sdb1   8:17   1    60M  0 part /media/linutop/boot
 -sdb2   8:18   1   3,5G  0 part /media/linutop/e6e7f776-11a4-4cd7-b4fd-c44ecdbf
loop0    7:0    0 816,8M  0 loop /initrd/rofs

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

How to install NOOBS image on an SD card for Raspberry Pi

On Windows™ or Linux, Linutop OS XS NOOBS files can simply be copied on a FAT formatted SD card.

How to install SD image or NOOBS in a Raspberry Pi compute module

Linutop OS XS can be install on NEC Large-Screen Pxx4 and Vxx4 Displays with Raspberry Pi Compute Module

Download and install the Compute Module boot installer. It will make the compute module visible as a storage

- For the NOOBS simply copy the NOOBS files directly on the compute module storage and restart the screen.

- For the SD image needs to be written on the compute module storage.

On Windows™, download Disk Imager, uncompress it and execute the software. Plug in a USB key or an SD card (1GB min), 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

$ lsblk

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:

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

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:

General tab Local settings Language - Keyboard - Time - graphic configuration and Autostart

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.

Time and Date are automatically synchronized by a NTP Server on the Internet. If the system is offline, it will use the local battery backup internal clock. On Raspberry Pi there is no internal backup clock, it has to be synchronized on the network with an Internet NTP server or a local NTP Server or manually.

To manually setup the clock you can use the Date command line in a terminal.

sudo date --set "14 Feb 2021 18:30:00"

Display settings

Network settings

auto lo
iface eth0 inet static

address 192.168.1.81
netmask 255.255.255.0
gateway 192.168.1.254

sudo gedit /etc/network/interfaces

sudo gedit /etc/dhcpcd.conf

interface eth0
static ip_address=192.168.1.81/24
static routers=192.168.1.254
static domain_name_servers=192.168.1.254

interface wlan0

ifconfig

Advanced settings (mostly PC)

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:

System backup and restoration (PC only)

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:

Available applications

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

The Linutop OS XS is slightly different to accommodate the Raspberri Pi Platform.

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

Linutop applications Command line:

Linutop Kiosk (player):

linutop-kiosk

Linutop Kiosk settings:

linutop-kiosk-settings

Linutop panneau de configuration:

sudo linutop-os-settings

Linutop autostart:

asrun

Automatically start applications

Adding Applications

$ sudo apt-get install packageName

Overview

The Linutop OS 32 bit 14-04-version, 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.

By default the Linutop OS behaves like any system. Anything you do is written on disk and will still be there after a reboot. Administration tasks will require a master password.

Switching the system in Lock mode will make all new changes temporary. After having configured the system to your needs, switching to this mode will allow to discard all new changes on reboot. You'll always find the same start at startup.

Lock mode security setup

The choice of the security level can be done in the Linutop Configuration Panel, Security tab. Check the Linutop Lock box to enable high security.

The Lock mode offers additional options:

• the admin password can be changed (Password button)

• security options can be added/removed (Setup button):

  

Back to normal mode

To switch back to normal mode, you'll have to execute the Linutop Configuration Panel and uncheck the Linutop Lock in the Security tab.

If you've disable the startup menu and the desktop icons, you can use the Ctrl+Alt+s shortcut.

The password you've defined when you switched to lock mode will be asked to start the application. Don't forget this password!

Halt/Reboot in lock mode

To halt or reboot the system in lock mode, start the Linutop Configuration Panel and go to the Tools tab.

Touch Screens - calibration

The compatibility of touch screens depends on the standards. It should be checked with your Linux:

• PC 32 bit, Xubuntu 14.04
• PC 64 bit, Xubuntu 18.04
• Raspberry Pi, Raspbian Buster

Some screen requires calibration. To do this, start the calibration tool from the menu System :

Some touch screens are known to work well:

• ASUS all in one
• ASUS eeetop
• eGalax touch screens
• EloTouch touch screens
• iiyama Pro Lite txx31,32,34

USB Key 4G

The compatibility of 4G keys can be verified on the Internet.

It allows broadband connectivity on a player.

Linutop OS is based on the following versions:

• PC 32 bit, Xubuntu 14.04
• PC 64 bit, Xubuntu 18.04
• Raspberry Pi, Raspbian Buster

A 4G modem is more likely to work raspberry 3 with a stronger USB power supply.

Printers (PC only)

To configure printers, start the Printing tool:

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:

Linutop OS dosen't start?

For PC :

• Select the BOOT device in the BIOS. Be sure to use the Proper OS, 32bits or 64bits.

  For Raspberry Pi:If the Raspberry Pi hardware is a newer version you may try the .img rather than NOOBS or update the firmware prior to boot.

  Otherwise there may be an alteration of the media (SD or USB key) so change media or image and therefore re-download.

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).

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 Screen capture application in the Accessories menu 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 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).

My system is unstable, what can I do ?

On Raspberry, you can have stability problems. Most of the time this is due to the SD card used. We recommend you to use cards with a minimum certification A1 .

Root user and passwords

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.

On Linutop OS for PC, the linutop user default password is blank.

On Linutop OS XS (Raspberry Pi) the pi user default password is raspberry.

To enable the root account, set its password:

$ sudo passwd

Security

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

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

Thin client

$ rdesktop -f -k fr 192.168.1.1

Linutop OS as server

$ sudo apt-get install apache2

$ sudo apt-get install libapache2-mod-php5

$ sudo gedit /var/www/test.php

<?php phpinfo(); ?>

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

$ sudo apt-get install phpmyadmin