16  Kiosks

Craig observed that at the Museum, computers used in exhibits were not connected to the internet and interfaces were limited to PowerPoint presentations. Craig attempted to set up networked kiosks that would be both on the Internet but “locked down” to specific exhibit related pages. Craig’s idea was to develop interfaces that can be served on the Museum’s website and also deployed in a gallery setting. Two examples of such systems are the Pottery from the America’s showcase and finding guide as well as the Zuni Reflections on Chavez Cave Perishables exhibit station.

When embarking on this kiosk project, Craig found several aging Macintosh computers. All were out of support by either Apple or NMSU, and all were taken off the campus network due to vulnerabilities. Some of the machines exhibited frayed power cables, but most appear to be running. Craig also found assorted working PC components and concentrated these onto a single table located in the exhibit preparation area. Both the Macs and PCs were used for exhibit interfaces.

Craig reviewed various kiosk systems and found two that were free and warranted further investigation. The first is Porteus Kiosk which is a very small and dedicated Linux distribution specifically for running kiosks. Porteus is a challenge to set up and configure. Craig supplied his notes on deploying Porteus. The second approach Craig encountered was the use Firefox’s Kiosk Mode. Configuration of Firefox Kiosk Mode is reasonably simple and straightforward. This solution that may be of interest to others.

Porteus kiosk is a wonderful solution, but it is difficult and time consuming to configure. With additional experience, setup may be more smooth but Craig encountered difficulties trying to properly setup and configure. What follows is a step-by-step guide as to how Craig installed and configured Porteus.

16.1 Kiosk Software Install

Mac is running:

  • macOS Catalina 10.15.7
  • iMac 21.5 from Late 2015
  • 8 gig 1867 MHz DDR3
  • Intel HD Graphics 6000 1536 MB
  • Serial: C02T25BKGF1J

This machine runs very slow and Craig was given the go-ahead to erase the computer.

16.1.1 Purpose

The purpose of installing Porteus Kiosk under a Virtual Machine is to have some flexibility in configuring the OS before having to install it on a production machine.

16.1.2 Dependencies

  • Windows computer with a working internet connection
  • Download the latest release of Porteus Kiosk. There should be an iso file, note its location.
  • Download and install the latest version of VirtualBox

16.1.3 Installing Porteus on a VirtualBox Machine

Doing this can be helpful when figuring out the parameters because it is easy to rebuild and recreate. This YouTube video from 2020 was helpful for guidance on the VirtualBox procedures.

  • In the Oracle VM VirtualBox Manager > Create New Machine
  • Name the new machine and give it an OS, set to Linux 64 bit, and click Next.
  • Set the Memory Size for the VM. I set it to 8000 MB which is 8 Gig.
  • Set the radio button “Create virtual hard disk now” and click “Create”
  • On the Hard disk file type, select “VDI (VirtualBox Disk Image)” and click “Next”
  • On the Storage on physical hard disk screen, select “Dynamically allocated” and click “Next”
  • On the File location and size screen, leave the location default and set the size to 36 Gigs and click “Create”
  • From the newly created machine, pull up the settings.
  • Go to System and turn off Floppy under the boot order.
  • Under the “Processor” tab, select 2 CPUs and ensure that the execution cap is set to 100% and PAE/NX is enabled.
  • Under the Storage Options, click The Controller: IDE “Empty”
  • Then choose the Porteus iso file downloaded from Porteus and click “Open”
  • Then from the settings click OK.
  • Start the newly created VirtualMachine
  • Proceed through the Kiosk Wizard
  • Once the wizard is complete, then install the OS to the Virtual Machine.

16.1.4 Installing Porteus Kiosk in a VM

  • Click “Select Ethernet connection”
  • Click “Configure connection using DHCP” > leave defaults > click “Next”
  • Select Mozilla Firefox browser > on the confirmation screen click “Next”
  • Wait for connection to establish and download Firefox
  • Click “Launch the Kiosk Wizard to create new configuration”
  • Check the documentation on configuration parameters.
  • Enable Kiosk hostname and set a name.
  • Set a custom homepage
  • Whitelist the pages to use
  • Disable the Address bar
  • Set Refresh webpage to 120 seconds to refresh every two minutes to keep screen saver from coming up
  • Set session idle to Enable and leave at 5 minutes and set Force session restarts when idling to Yes
  • Enable Touchscreen calibration
  • Enable Screen rotation
  • Once all of the desired settings are configured, click “Next”
  • Save the config file. Note the file name and location. Default is kiosk-config.txt and location /media.
  • Click Next
  • Disable Porteus Kiosk automatic fixes and updates service.
  • On the system installation screen, select Quick formatting and direct it to the VBOX_HARDDISK

16.1.5 Installing Porteus Kiosk on a local machine

16.1.5.1 Set Up Craig used University Museum

  • Using Remote Management using a text file.
  • That file is located here and can be edited through the Cascade interface. Note it is important to define in the file its location, its early in the existing config file.
  • Porteus settings for changing the configurations.

16.1.5.2 Procedures

  • Put the Porteus Kiosk installer onto a USB drive.
  • The key is to set the boot order so that USB is before the hard drive.
    • On Windows, do this in the BIOS.
    • On MacOS, do this in system settings.
  • Connect computer to internet, plug in USB, and restart the machine.
  • Go through the install wizard.

16.1.6 Other useful resources

Video showing install. Video showing non-persistence reboot configuration that might be useful

It seems like a good way to configure the OS is to run it in a virtual machine. VirtualBox seems like a good choice.

[Solved] Redirecting Blocked Pages - Porteus Installing Firefox Add-ons - Porteus