Chapter 10. Restricting the session to a single application

You can start the GNOME session in single-application mode, also known as kiosk mode. In this session, GNOME displays only a full-screen window of the application that you have selected.

10.1. Single-application mode

Single-application mode is a modified GNOME session that reconfigures the Mutter window manager into an interactive kiosk. This session locks down certain behavior to make the standard desktop more restrictive. The user can interact only with a single application selected by the administrator.

You can set up single-application mode for several use cases, such as:

  • In the communication, entertainment, or education fields
  • As a self-serve machine
  • As an event manager
  • As a registration point

The GNOME Kiosk utility provides the single-application mode configuration and sessions.

The following single-application sessions are available:

Search Appliance Session
This session always starts the Mozilla Firefox web browser at the www.google.com website.
Kiosk Script Session
This session starts an arbitrary application that you specify in a shell script.

10.2. Enabling search appliance mode

This procedure installs and enables the Search Appliance Session, which restricts the GNOME session to the Google search engine in a web browser.

Procedure

  1. Install the GNOME Kiosk packages: 

    # dnf install gnome-kiosk gnome-kiosk-search-appliance
  2. At the GNOME login screen, select Search Appliance Session from the gear button menu and log in as the single-application user.
  3. The Mozilla Firefox browser opens as a full-screen window in its kiosk mode. It shows the Google search page.

Additional resources

  • The /usr/share/doc/gnome-kiosk/README.md file provided by the gnome-kiosk package.

10.3. Enabling single-application mode

This procedure installs and enables the Kiosk Script Session, which restricts the GNOME session to a selected single application.

Procedure

  1. Install the GNOME Kiosk packages: 

    # dnf install gnome-kiosk gnome-kiosk-script-session
  2. At the GNOME login screen, select Kiosk Script Session from the gear button menu and log in as the single-application user.

  3. The gedit text editor opens as a full-screen window. It shows the shell script that configures which application runs in your single-application session.

    Edit the shell script and enter the application that you want to start in the single-application session.

    For example, to start the Mozilla Firefox browser, enter the following content: 

    #!/usr/bin/sh

firefox --kiosk https://example.org
  4. Save the script file.

  5. Close the gedit window.

    The session terminates and restarts with your selected application.

  6. The next time you log into the single-application session, your selected application runs.

Additional resources

  • The /usr/share/doc/gnome-kiosk/README.md file provided by the gnome-kiosk package.