So we did the thing and now you have one or more “new” catalog computers, so unlike the old PK catalogs, we can update and adjust the settings without having to reinstall every time. Let's cover the basics of what you need to know about keeping Linux mint (LM) up to date, keeping OpenKiosk updated and the settings you may want to adjust, and lastly where to adjust the screensaver if you wish.
So, let’s take a step back and define a couple of things. Linux Mint (LM) is an operating system that can do most of the things that Windows can do, but doesn’t have as strict hardware requirements as Windows does, letting us reuse older hardware for online catalogs.
Open Kiosk is a web browser based on Mozilla Firefox that has extra features to lock out users from accessing the desktop or going to other websites, like Amazon or Facebook. It also doesn’t retain data, like login information or browsing history.
So let’s get started with Open Kiosk since we can’t do anything else until we log in as admin.
Press SHIFT+F1 to bring up the admin login
The password should be the admin password and it should open to the settings page.
Note the Quit Button on the upper right
By default it will go to the OpenKiosk settings page, keep full screen enabled to lock patrons out of the rest of the system, and if you need to you can scroll down to change the Password.
Under General you can confirm that OpenKiosk is up to date, by scrolling to the section OpenKiosk Updates.
Selecting Home from the left will let you update the homepage
Please do not change anything under Privacy & Security, as some options are duplicates of settings found under OpenKiosk, and may break the functionality of the Open Kiosk browser.
Sync is a holdover from Firefox, again nothing useful to set
More from MDG - other products from the folks who brought you OpenKiosk
Much like Windows, LM is constantly being updated. In the screenshot below I’ve used several arrows to point out some basic items, we’ll start with the big yellow one, it's the panel and works just like the taskbar in Windows. Next the blue one, is the Menu and is similar to the Start menu, the tall white arrow shows your network status, in this case using an Icon that looks like an ethernet port to show a wired connection, finally the red arrow is update indicator, and the dot shows we have updates to install, it will change color depending on how important and how long its been since the last set of updates. To check for updates close OpenKiosk, at the desktop click on the shield by the date and time
The Update manager will pop open and look like this:
Go ahead and click select all then Install updates, A dialog box may pop up like this one
Click OK, type in the password for selcoamin (if asked) and then wait for it to finish
If you want to change the screensaver, either the floating text or use something else, here’s what you need.
From the applications Menu, click settings, then Xscreensaver
It will open to the settings window as shown if you want to try a different screen saver the options are on the left, phosphor is a good choice if your current screen savor seems glitchy or jumpy
If you want to change the text click on the advanced tab, and change the text in the box - you could also use a text file for a longer message, like you library hours
https://openkiosk.mozdevgroup.com/
https://www.linuxmint.com/documentation.php
As always feel free to contact the Help Desk at helpdesk@selco.info if you have any questions.
Minty Cat - Set up Checklist
Boot From Mint USB (Linux Mint Xfce V. 22)
Hit enter to select the default boot option
Double click on Install LM
install Mint - install answers :
Language - English
Keyboard - English US
Check install multimedia codecs
select Erase Disk and install Linux Mint
click install now
click continue
select Chicago (close enough)
For the Who are you Dialogue
name - selcoadmin
computer name - Minty-Cat-[location]-0X replacing X with a number (ex. Minty-Cat-S#L-01)
do not encrypt the home folder, it will break auto login for patron
Click Continue
wait for it
Click Restart Now
Follow prompts to remove USB stick and hit enter
After Reboot
login
check for and install updates
when asked about a local mirror - say no
Click OK when asked about additional changes
reboot if needed
login
check for available hardware drivers
Launch Menu ‣ System ‣ Driver Manager
Tick the appropriate checkboxes to select the available drivers and click Apply Changes.
System > users and groups
add patron
Name: patron
PW: the usual patron Password
Check
confirm that SELCOadmin is an Admin and patron is Desktop user that’s not required to enter a PW
System > Login Window
under the users tab - fill out auto login for patron with a delay of 0
Open Firefox and search for open kiosk - on the open kiosk webpage there will be 2 commands under Debian install - copy each into the terminal and hit enter
curl -O https://www.mozdevgroup.com/dropbox/okcd/115/release/OpenKiosk115.12.0-2024-06-25-x86_64.deb
sudo apt install -y ./OpenKiosk115.12.0-2024-06-25-x86_64.deb
Reboot - confirm that patron auto logs in
uncheck the show this dialog at startup on the welcome window then close
settings > session and startup
under the Application Autostart tab:
click add
Name : OpenKiosk
Command: /bin/OpenKiosk (use browse to get there)
Trigger: on login
From start select the software manager
search for screen saver
select Xscreensaver from the list
click install
enter admin PW
click the back arrow
select Xscreensaver-gl-extra, and install
select Xscreensaver-data-extra and install
close the software manager
Start>system settings> Xscreensaver
mode: only one Screen Saver
select “Font Glide”
click settings
select Horizontally scrolling text
Font border 0
under the advanced tab
select Text in the text manipulation box, Change the text to “Library Catalog”
click close to save the changes
From Start menu - under internet select open kiosk
shift + F1 to open settings (admin is the default PW)
Under general - Automatically install updates
Under Home set home to library catalog
Under OpenKiosk:
enable full screen
change PW to standard administrative PW
uncheck Enable Context Search