Porteus Kiosk Edition v2.1 feedback

[fanthom]

Hi all,

As announced here: http://forum.porteus.org/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=2412, Porteus Kiosk Edition v2.1 has been released!
Please use this thread to report bugs, requests, and other feedback.

Thanks!

[Michele13]

I Can't download the KIOSK edition because the download page has been deleted

[Hamza]

Hello Michele13,

The page you are looking for is http://www.porteus.org/download-kiosk.html

Cheers

[my1002]

I choose Disable DPMS in the wizard, but the screen goes blank after a few minutes...
Want to confirm, do i need to choose that option, or just use the default to make my screen don't go to sleep?

Just tried the default option, the monitor also goes blank...

[fanthom]

DPMS bug is fixed now. please download wizard once again and create new ISO (choose to disable DPMS to keep monitor awaken all the time).

thanks for reporting.

[my1002]

Thanks fanthom, i'll try later and let u know the result.

[my1002]

Fanthom, DPMS setting is working now.

[sanzi]

Hi all!

I have a problem. How can I log in text mod in one installed computer? Should I know a key combination or something else?
And one thing. My Tp-Link WN422G usb wifi stick is not working, however I install the WiFi module with the Wizard. Some good idea to this situation? Thanks so much!

[donald]

Hi sanzi
Please read
http://www.porteus.org/faq/kiosk-faq.html
..... 8) ....

[stainsby]

I've just started with this neat little distro. We replaced Firefox with a kiosk player application we are building that's based on node-webkit. I followed the FAQ - it went well - better than expected even. The only additional dependency needed was solved by slotting in the GConf module (008-GConf-3.2.5-i486-1.xzm). I might talk a bit more about the project later, depending on what the client will allow me to broadcast. Thanks for making Porteus!

[stainsby]

One thing we'd like to do is sync content from a remote server onto the various kiosks - they are spread over remote locations in Australia - some of them very remote! If you'd like to see our client's kiosk network, take a look at this: http://www.hitnet.com.au/index.cfm?obje ... 236C998D2B ..

I understand that the kiosk system is read-only, but I'd like to scan for an additional drive at boot time to find one that is writeable - that drive will have the synced store of content on it. Unfortunately, I can't seem to mount ext2/ext3/ext4 drives, so I'm assuming support for this is left out to save space. I'd like to avoid full Porteus as the Kiosk edition is so neat and already has a lot of things locked down. Is there an easy way I can add support say ext2 or some other writeable fs/device?

Obviously, security is very important. However, the ability to sync content remotely is an immovable requirement, given the difficulty of getting the content there through other means.

[fanthom]

hi stainsby,

that picture looks awesome (brokenman will be proud as he is Aussie)

I can't seem to mount ext2/ext3/ext4 drives, so I'm assuming support for this is left out to save space.

space is not the main factor - the issue is well explained on kiosk download page:

Code: Select all

Note that when you copy the ISO to a block device in this manner, you are copying the underlying filesystem of the ISO (iso9660) onto the flash device. This is a read-only filesystem, so in order to make changes to the kiosk software, you must remaster the ISO and reburn it. While this may sound like more work than customizing an installation in place, utilizing this method enhances the security and stability of the kiosk edition, preventing unauthorized manipulation of the system components.

Is there an easy way I can add support say ext2 or some other writeable fs/device?
Obviously, security is very important. However, the ability to sync content remotely is an immovable requirement, given the difficulty of getting the content there through other means.

kiosk copies to RAM (unless you disable this feature in the wizard) so it's enough to enable ssh component and you are ready to perform updates remotely:
- prepare new (updated) ISO locally
- scp image to remote host
- check if md5sum is ok
- write new image to a partition using 'dd' utility
- reboot
- check if updated kiosk appeared online

everything could be fully automated with a bash script to update all the clients with one shot.
some utilities (like dd or md5sum) will be missing in default kiosk so must be added. it's probably a good idea to run ssh server on different port than '22' and with strong root password, etc...

[stainsby]

I'm pretty well across how the distro works now having played with it all day. I like the fact that it copies a read-only file system into RAM for the OS.

"prepare new (updated) ISO locally"

Nice idea - I hadn't thought of that approach. However, the kiosks have different combinations of content "modules" (sorry, the term 'modules' is pretty overloaded now - nothing to do with Porteus modules) on them, and there are dozens of kiosks, each with a dozen or so modules. If we were to produce new ISOs with all of the content , they will be large (i.e. GBs), and content is pretty dynamic - it can change on a daily basis. As well as being a cumbersome process, receiving this amount of data over the AU network would be too much to ask of some remote locations. Additionally - and this is a hard requirement - user input at the kiosk needs to be logged and synced back to the central server for reporting and stats. Some locations have intermittent Internet access, and so there needs to be a simple data store on the kiosks (eg. CSV files or even couchdb/pouchdb).

I really think we need a second storage device/partition/area that's writeable. Having struggled with getting ext2,3,4 kernel modules into the kiosk edition today, I'm looking at the full Porteus now, although I'm loathe to leave the neat little kiosk edition behind.

For our project, the kiosk devices themselves are enclosed in a locked enclosure, and so only screen access is allowed, which affords some extra security at least.

[fanthom]

yes - i was worrying that ISO can be big.
the only solution is to compile custom kiosk kernel with support for your preferred writable filesystem or you could just take vmlinuz+000-kernel.xzm from standard edition and add it to the kiosk (replace original vmlinuz) which will give you all features of the standard porteus kernel in the kiosk.

[stainsby]

OK, I might give that one more go. I'd like to keep the kernel trimmed if possible. I saw in another thread that you're reluctant to publicize the .config file for your kiosk's kernel. Would you be OK to email that to me (sam [at] sustainablesoftware.com.au)? Otherwise I'll try the vmlinuz monster mashup.