Porteus Kiosk

 

Kiosk Wizard


Porteus 'Kiosk Wizard' is a tool which lets you configure our operating system from the ground up - according to your needs and preferences.


Since version 3.1, the wizard has been rewritten in GTK and included directly in the kiosk ISO rather than embedded on the porteus-kiosk.org website. There are few reasons for this:

  • Sensitive data like root/vnc/wifi passwords, browser homepage, wallpaper URL, etc are not transported over the network and processed by our server anymore as all kiosk customizations are performed locally on your own PC.
  • When the wizard is launched on a local PC, it is able to discover available hardware and use that information directly. This applies to network interfaces, screen resolution, monitor refresh rate and supported ACPI power states, etc. It should be easier now to configure kiosk correctly.
  • The new wizard allows testing of important functions in real time so users can check them before creating the ISO. This applies to setting the homepage, desktop wallpaper, testing screen saver, trying different browser UI layouts, testing supported power states, etc. By implementing this feature we want to reduce the time spent on kiosk configuration and eliminate time wasted on creating/burning a new ISO in case of unwanted results.
  • The wizard embeds an installer so it's possible to install the kiosk on a hard drive or usb stick directly after doing the configuration.

    • HOW DOES IT WORK


    The initial wizard will show up during the first kiosk boot and ask you to configure network connection:





    Wizard allows to start new configuration, point kiosk to existing remote config or load previously created config from removable device or network:





    If you start a new configuration you are presented with many options to configure your system:




    Each option is well documented with descriptions and tooltips. Please hover the mouse pointer over a certain function or field to see additional informations like in the 'remote printer path' example below:




    'Test' buttons allow you to check features in real time so please use them whenever possible. Right mouse click is disabled permanently in kiosk but it is possible to launch a browser from the bottom of the wizard UI and copy data like e.g. homepage, list of IPs to be whitelisted, wallpaper URL directly to the input windows. Please navigate to the webpage of your choice, mark the text with a left mouse click to copy it to the buffer and paste it on the input field a middle mouse click. Please use Alt+Tab key combination to switch between the browser and wizard windows.




    Once the configuration part is finished the user is presented with the final config which will be used to configure the kiosk when installing on writable media. It is possible to edit the config manually but please do so with caution. It's better to restart the whole configuration process instead of guessing the parameter names:




    On the installation page you will be able to choose the storage device where the kiosk will be installed. It is important to identify and select the correct media so please perform this task carefully:




    Once all choices are made the wizard will download additional components from our server, create the ISO, burn it on the selected device and perform a reboot. Please make sure you remove the installation media otherwise the kiosk wizard will be started again:




    After a reboot your customized kiosk will be ready to use.