Porteus Kiosk version 3.1 has been released.

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fanthom
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Porteus Kiosk version 3.1 has been released.

Post#1 by fanthom » 23 May 2014, 09:12

I'm pleased to announce Porteus Kiosk version 3.1

This distribution release includes bug fixes, software updates and new features. At a mere 50 megabytes, the Porteus Kiosk Edition ISO includes just the libraries and utilities required to run Firefox in a secure environment, making this a perfect fit for kiosks and other web terminals. From now on the ISO also includes kiosk wizard, which automates the customization process while keeping the Kiosk edition locked down and secure.

Please mind that since version 3.1 Porteus Kiosk has been migrated to separate kiosk website which holds the ISO, kiosk documentation and services.

You can download the kiosk ISO from here:
link

Here's the changelog from kiosk version 3.0 to 3.1:

1) Upgraded all system components to latest stable versions: linux kernel-3.12.20, xorg-server-1.15.0, busybox-1.22.1, mozilla-firefox-24.5.0, adobe-flash-11.2.202.359, etc. For full packages list please visit this link.

2) Rewritten 'Kiosk Wizard' into gtkdialog and included directly in the kiosk ISO.
Gtkdialog version offers unique features over the web version which are explained on the kiosk wizard page.

3) Introduced an 'Automatic Updates' commercial service which turns the kiosk into a 'rolling release' distribution.
More info can be find at this link.

4) Implemented several new functions in the wizard:
- Added printing support for local and remote printers.
- Added possibility of removing address bar from the firefox's UI layout. Buttons are still visible so it's possible to navigate back and forth, zoom-in, zoom-out, print, etc but it's not possible to switch to any other webpage than the home page.
- Added possibility of controlling numlock behavior during boot.
- Added possibility of enabling incoming ICMP protocol. This is useful when you want to monitor remotely if kiosk is up and running with the help of the ping utility.
- Disabled DPMS (you can enable it in the wizard) as it's better to keep monitor turned on during kiosk session by default.
- Added customizable firefox user agent which may be helpful in forcing layouts on some websites which are set to support certain browsers only (like e.g IE6) or identifying kiosk session with an unique string.
- Added possibility of editing the config file generated by the wizard manually.
- Added installer to the wizard so it's possible to burn the base kiosk ISO on a CD but install it on hard drive or usb stick after finishing the configuration part.

5) Introduced many changes on the ISO level:
- Enchanced security with md5sum check of every kiosk component when 'automatic updates' service is enabled. If md5sum wont match the registered value then booting will stop with a message that kiosk has detected an unauthorized access to it's components.
- Backported multithreaded squashfs patches from kernel-3.13.x to make the kiosk even faster.
- Updated initrdpxe.xz with firmware which may be necessary to initialize some network controllers.
- Updated the code responsible for PXE boot which is more verbose now and it should be easier to find the reason of a failure (like http server being down).
- Removed 'Public Fox' addon and replaced it's functionality with home grown solutions. Porteus Kiosk 3.1 does not contain any 3rd party addon by default to eliminate risk that one day they may get outdated and incompatible with firefox.
- Added 000-kernel.xzm (split from 01-core.xzm) which should make easier to update/downgrade just the kernel in kiosk.
- Forced 'copy2ram' by default. Kiosk ISO is very small so should fit into RAM nicely and this feature is needed for 'automatic updates' service to make sure that upgrade process wont be interrupted by the kiosk session.
- Kiosk ISO content was simplified with three folders only: /boot, /docs and /xzm.
- PXE boot does not support /rootcopy functionality so this folder was removed. From now on all files must be kept in the xzm modules.
- Swapped Xdialog messages to dunstify notifications which looks more attractive.
- Added possibility of rebooting, suspending the PC and restarting X session to the kiosk's shutdown utility.

6) Other fixes and improvements not mentioned here.

Please mind that Kiosk 3.1 has been created from scratch so we need a help with tracking all the bugs and fixing them. Please report any findings on the Kiosk section of the forum:
Porteus Kiosk Edition

or privately through the 'Contact us' form:
http://porteus-kiosk.org/contact.html

Thank you for using Porteus Kiosk!
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