I have a server which will be running a web server and the primary means for accessing it will be via a web browser.
I need to also provide a screen and keyboard/mouse for local use. Basically that means providing a mechanism for running a web browser. I don't *have* to limit the GUI to only running the browser, but it seems like that wouldn't be a bad idea (in which case the browser needs to stay running, ie be restarted if it dies for any reason).
Chromium crossed my mind but as I understand it that's not really ready yet. My base OS install is Ubuntu Server, so ideally I'm looking for something that would be an apt-get install away from Ubuntu Server rather than a different OS or distro.
Suggestions?
On Wed, Jun 29, 2011 at 4:26 PM, Mark Rogers mark@quarella.co.uk wrote:
I have a server which will be running a web server and the primary means for accessing it will be via a web browser.
I need to also provide a screen and keyboard/mouse for local use. Basically that means providing a mechanism for running a web browser. I don't *have* to limit the GUI to only running the browser, but it seems like that wouldn't be a bad idea (in which case the browser needs to stay running, ie be restarted if it dies for any reason).
Chromium crossed my mind but as I understand it that's not really ready yet. My base OS install is Ubuntu Server, so ideally I'm looking for something that would be an apt-get install away from Ubuntu Server rather than a different OS or distro.
Suggestions?
Chromium is fine I've been using it daily for a while, you could also install the google chrome package which will setup an extra /etc/apt/sources.d/ file pointing to the google chrome repo, then google chrome is just an apt-get update & upgrade away. I think both can be started in kiosk mode so i guess you could have an X session starting the browser up automatically.
-- Dennis
On 29/06/11 16:45, Dennis Dryden wrote:
Chromium is fine I've been using it daily for a while, you could also install the google chrome package which will setup an extra /etc/apt/sources.d/ file pointing to the google chrome repo, then google chrome is just an apt-get update& upgrade away. I think both can be started in kiosk mode so i guess you could have an X session starting the browser up automatically.
What would be the bare minimum I'd need in order for Chromium/Chrome to function though? My starting point is a server install without a GUI (no Gnome/KDE/X), and I'll obviously need a minimal GUI in order for any of these options to work, but I'd like to keep it as minimal as I can.
Out of curiosity I tried "sudo apt-get install firefox" to see what dependencies it dragged in but unsurprisingly it was going to pull in a full gnome install.
On 29/06/11 4:26 PM, Mark Rogers wrote:
I need to also provide a screen and keyboard/mouse for local use. Basically that means providing a mechanism for running a web browser. I don't *have* to limit the GUI to only running the browser, but it seems like that wouldn't be a bad idea (in which case the browser needs to stay running, ie be restarted if it dies for any reason).
Hi Mark,
There was a talk at the last Cambridge Geek Night from the maintainer of the Webian Shell project, that provides a browser-only UI:
It's still in early stages of development, but might be worth getting in touch for some ideas.
My other not completely helpful suggestion would be to hack xinit or GDM/GNOME config to spawn any old browser instead of the panel, etc. I'd guess using a lightweight window manager instead of a full desktop environment like GNOME would actually make this easier.
Cheers, Rob.
On Wednesday 29 June 2011 16:26:18 Mark Rogers wrote:
I have a server which will be running a web server and the primary means for accessing it will be via a web browser.
I need to also provide a screen and keyboard/mouse for local use. Basically that means providing a mechanism for running a web browser. I don't *have* to limit the GUI to only running the browser, but it seems like that wouldn't be a bad idea (in which case the browser needs to stay running, ie be restarted if it dies for any reason).
Chromium crossed my mind but as I understand it that's not really ready yet. My base OS install is Ubuntu Server, so ideally I'm looking for something that would be an apt-get install away from Ubuntu Server rather than a different OS or distro.
Suggestions?
I've been confronted with this problem in two guises, one a touch screen installation. Here I just used Gome and locked down the desktop with Pessulus.
Its not totally secure, in particular it will alow booting from a usb stick, it will let you into the file manager if you just insert a usb drive. But apart from measures like that it will do the job.
The second one has keyboard and mouse. Here I am using fluxbox, and disabling all the menu entries. You have to edit the apps file and also the startup file, and if you use ephiphany as the browser you can lock it down using pessulus.
Another possibility is webconverger and hack around with it to customise it. That is professional grade, and I would have used it but could not figure out how to drive the touch screens from it.
If you lock down using pessulus, make sure to create another account before you set auto login. Otherwise you'll be really up the creek. Been there done that. Yes, you have to boot into recovery mode..... etc.
Peter
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Dennis Dryden -
Mark Rogers -
Peter Alcibiades -
Robert Waldie