This section documents a number of configuration tasks an
administrator might find useful in setting up a machine to serve as
a public kiosk.
To prevent all drives, such as floppy disks, cdroms, or other
removable media from automatically mounting, unset the
/desktop/gnome/volume_manager/automount_drives
/desktop/gnome/volume_manager/automount_media
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keys as shown in
Figure 4-11.
To prevent a user from saving files to disk and from access to
all "Save As..." dialogs, set the
/desktop/gnome/lockdown/save_to_disk
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key as shown in
Figure 4-13.
To prevent the user from forcing an application to quit by
eliminating access to the force quit button, set the
/apps/panel/global/disable_force_quit
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key as shown in
Figure 4-14.
When using a machine as a public kiosk, it is recommended that
the system be configured to skip the login screen and to
automatically start an X session.
The automatic login process is enabled through the configuration
of gdm, the Gnome
Display Manager. Specifically, the automatic login
functionality is set in the gdm
configuration file, /etc/X11/gdm/gdm.conf.
The automatic login process can be enabled by directly editing
/etc/X11/gdm/gdm.conf, or by using the
graphical Login Screen Setup tool. Both techniques are described
below.
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Note |
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Configuring gdm requires
administrative privileges.
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Tip |
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For more detailed information regarding the configuration of
gdm, the Gnome
Display Manager, refer to the Gnome Display
Manager Reference Manual available within the online help
system through (the main menu
on the panel) => , in the
Desktop Category.
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To enable automatic login using the graphical Login Screen Setup tool, start the application by
either
After typing in the administrative password, the Login Screen Setup tool will appear on your
screen. To enable automatic login, check the box labelled "Login a user automatically on first bootup" and
enter a valid system user name in the Automatic
login username text entry box.
Figure 4-15 demonstrates this configuration for a fictional
user named "sam".
To enable automatic login, add (or change) the following
directives to /etc/X11/gdm/gdm.conf:
AutomaticLoginEnable=true
AutomaticLogin=<valid_username>
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where <valid_username> is a valid user on
the system.
