Kiosk
From MEPIS Documentation Wiki
Contents |
Introduction
For some purposes, it may be desirable to lock down the application in order to protect it from users. Examples include computers in a school or public location for general use, where the file system, desktop and internet access need to be closed.
Applications
Kiosktool is a point-n-click tool for system administrators to enable KDE's KIOSK features or otherwise preconfigure KDE for groups of users.
Webconverger is a simple and secure Web platform for deployments in places like offices or Internet cafes where only Web applications are used. It provides an up-to-date Web browser that runs locally.
Use
Relevant KDE settings that can be locked down include all desktop settings (wallpaper, kicker, icons, etc.), actions (file associations, file creation, etc.), and individual applications settings (browser limits, macro use, etc.). They are gathered by kiosktool from their various locations in the system and stored in profiles. Open the KIOSK Admin Tool, and you'll see the Default profile. Don't touch it!
Modifications to the profiles can be done using kiosktool. However, unless you follow the step below, your changes will be overwritten by upgrades. If you want to modify the kiosk profiles, you can either copy the existing ones and modify them, or create new kiosk profiles in (for example) /etc/kde3/kioskprofiles/ and enable them in /etc/kde-user-profile. The kiosk tool will do this for you if you click "profile properties" and browse to a new folder.
The package debian-edu-config contains sample desktop profiles for students and administrators.
