These instructions can be used to create a simple computer kiosk that runs a full-screen instance of a web browser. This guide was last tested against Debian 12.9 (Bookworm) GNU/Linux.

Note that this guide is not intended to create a perfectly secure system and is vulnerable to tampering by knowledgeable users.

It is assumed that anyone using this guide knows the basics of Debian Linux and how to install it properly.

Install a minimal Debian base system. There are a few specific settings needed for this guide:

  • Skip setting a root password
  • Create a user named kiosk-user and set a password
  • Skip installing any desktop environment
  • Optionally, enable the SSH server for remote administration

Once installation is complete log in as the kiosk-user. 

sudo apt-get update

Install required packages.

sudo apt-get install \
    xorg \
    chromium \
    openbox \
    lightdm

Delete (or move) the lightdm config file at /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf and replace it with the following. 

[SeatDefaults]
autologin-user=kiosk-user
user-session=openbox

Reboot to verify you are logged in as the kiosk-user automatically.

You may just see a black or blank screen, but can right click to open a context menu for launching applications.

Create an openbox config directory for kiosk-user. 

mkdir -p ~/.config/openbox

Create a script at ~/.config/openbox/autostart for the kiosk-user. This script will be run at login. The xset command is used to disable screen blanking and Display Power Management Signaling. 

xset s off -dpms

chromium \
    --no-first-run \
    --disable \
    --disable-translate \
    --disable-infobars \
    --disable-suggestions-service \
    --disable-save-password-bubble \
    --start-maximized \
    --kiosk "https://www.google.com" &

Reboot and you should see the machine automatically log in and run Chromium in kiosk mode.

Depending on your system the browser may load before an Internet connection is available. The browser may simply be refreshed after a couple seconds when the machine has a working connection. Alternatively, the autostart script can be modified to wait until a connection is established before staring the browser.

Citations