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Kiosk Mode on Linux

Turn a Linux computer into a dedicated kiosk: at startup it opens your PandaSuite application alone, visitors cannot leave it, and staff leave with the account password.

Kiosk mode for a Linux package relies on GNOME Kiosk, a session that runs a single application and nothing else: no desktop, no dock, no notifications. It requires GNOME 49 or later, which Ubuntu 26.04 LTS provides. The steps below are for Ubuntu and its DEB package: on another distribution with GNOME 49 or later, GDM reads the same settings from another file (/etc/gdm/custom.conf on Fedora and Arch Linux, /etc/gdm3/daemon.conf on Debian) and GNOME Kiosk installs with the distribution’s package manager. Other desktops are not supported for kiosk mode.

Enable Kiosk Mode in the Export

  • Open the Linux package export form from the dashboard.
  • Under Launch method, enable Kiosk mode.
  • Generate the package, then install or reinstall it on the device, for example with sudo apt install --reinstall ./your-app.deb.

The package adds a kiosk session for your application. Once GNOME Kiosk is installed (see Prepare the Device), it appears in the session menu of the login screen, with (Kiosk) after the application name.

Packages exported before the Kiosk menu existed do not have it: if Ctrl + Shift + K does nothing, export the package again and reinstall it.

Prepare the Device

Do these steps once, with an administrator account, before deploying on site.

  1. Install GNOME Kiosk while the device is online: sudo apt install --no-install-recommends gnome-kiosk. Without --no-install-recommends, apt also installs Firefox and two more sessions for the login screen.

  2. Open /etc/gdm3/custom.conf and, under [daemon], turn on both automatic and timed login for the account that runs the kiosk (replace kiosk-account with its user name):

    [daemon]
    AutomaticLoginEnable=true
    AutomaticLogin=kiosk-account
    TimedLoginEnable=true
    TimedLogin=kiosk-account
    TimedLoginDelay=10

    Automatic login opens the kiosk when the device starts. Timed login opens it again whenever the login screen appears, for example after staff leave kiosk mode. Recent versions of the login screen require both settings.

  3. Turn off Apport, the Ubuntu crash reporter, so that no crash dialog appears over the kiosk: set enabled=0 in /etc/default/apport.

Start in Kiosk Mode at Login

  • Sign in to the kiosk account’s regular desktop session and launch the application.
  • Press Ctrl + Shift + K (Enable Kiosk Mode at Startup), then click Continue.
  • Restart the device. You should now see your application alone, in full screen.

The account now opens the kiosk session at every login. This step needs no password: it only changes the account’s own session.

If the application reports that GNOME Kiosk is not installed, or that kiosk mode needs GNOME 49 or later, install gnome-kiosk or upgrade the device, then press Ctrl + Shift + K again.

What Visitors Cannot Do

In kiosk mode, the application keeps visitors inside it:

  • Keyboard shortcuts that leave full screen, close or minimize the window, reload the page, zoom, or open developer tools do nothing, and no menu bar appears.
  • Right-click and long press do not open a menu.
  • Links to other websites do not open, and downloads do not open a file manager.
  • The page’s exit action is ignored: only staff leave, with the shortcut below.

Visitors cannot change the channel the kiosk opens on either: in kiosk mode, only a channel link opened with the dropdown set to Desktop changes it (see Dedicate a device to a channel). To change it, leave kiosk mode, open the channel’s link from the desktop, then start kiosk mode again.

The application also recovers on its own. It restarts after a crash, reloads the page if the page crashes or stops responding, and tries again every 5 seconds when the content cannot load. A kiosk that starts before the network is ready shows its content as soon as the connection arrives.

Leave Kiosk Mode

  • Press Ctrl + Shift + L (Leave Kiosk Mode), then click Continue. The login screen appears.
  • Click the account, open the session menu with the gear icon at the bottom right, choose Ubuntu, then type the account password. The desktop opens, and the account no longer starts in kiosk mode.
  • Without any input, the kiosk starts again after the timed login delay.

To start kiosk mode again, press Ctrl + Shift + K from the desktop, or choose the (Kiosk) session on the login screen. From the desktop, Ctrl + Shift + L turns kiosk mode off at startup and quits the application.

On the login screen, act without pausing: while timed login is on, the password prompt closes after 5 seconds without input. If someone opens the prompt and leaves it, the login screen can stay until the device restarts: restart it to bring the kiosk back. Keep the keyboard out of visitors’ reach, and test the exit before deploying on site.

See Also