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How to set up Profinity as a kiosk application

Set up a display that opens Profinity full screen when the computer starts and signs in on its own, with no login page. You turn on Kiosk Mode for a profile, which signs the display in as a chosen user, and then set the computer to open a browser full screen on Profinity. Kiosk Mode describes how to choose the kiosk user and keep its session working.

You need:

  • Profinity running as a service or in Docker, so that it starts on its own when the computer starts, as described in Run Profinity as a service.
  • Administrator access to the computer that drives the display.
  • Google Chrome on Windows or macOS, or Chromium on Linux.
  • The profile to display, and the Modify profiles permission.
  • An enabled user account to act as the kiosk user, with only the permissions the display needs. Kiosk Mode needs the Profinity Server licensed feature, as described in Licensing, because the kiosk user is a user account, and user accounts need that feature. Choosing the kiosk user describes how to pick that account.

Turn on Kiosk Mode

Kiosk Mode is set for each profile and applies only to the active profile.

  1. Select ADMIN in the side menu, then open the Profile pill.
  2. Select the name of the profile to display. Profile Settings opens.
  3. Select the Home tab, then turn on Kiosk mode.
  4. In Kiosk mode user, choose the kiosk user. Anyone at the display acts as this user.
  5. Select Save.
  6. If the profile is not already active, select ACTIVATE on its row in the profile list.

The profile's row carries the ACTIVE marker. Profinity refuses the save when Kiosk mode user is empty or names a user that is disabled.

Open the browser full screen at startup

Start the browser in its full-screen kiosk mode at http://localhost:18080, the default Profinity address, which opens the home dashboard of the active profile. Profinity has to be running before the browser opens it, so start the browser after the user signs in to the computer, by which time the Profinity service has started. Use the browser's and the operating system's own documentation for the steps.

To hide the side menu so that only the dashboard shows, add ?noMenu=true to the address, so that it reads http://localhost:18080/?noMenu=true. On an address that already has a query string, add &noMenu=true instead. Profinity always shows the active profile, whatever the address.

Check the display

  1. Restart the computer.
  2. Check that the browser opens full screen.
  3. Check that the dashboard of the kiosk profile appears without a login page.

A kiosk session ends under the normal token expiry, after 120 minutes by default. For a display that runs unattended for longer, refer to Choosing the kiosk user.

Lock down the display

Kiosk mode fills the screen, and operating system shortcuts still work. Lock the computer down with the operating system's own tools.

Troubleshooting

What you see Cause What to do
The browser shows that it cannot connect after a restart The browser opened before Profinity finished starting. Select reload in the browser. If it happens at every restart, check that Profinity runs as a service, as described in Run Profinity as a service.
The login page appears, or the display shows the wrong profile The kiosk profile is not active, Kiosk Mode is off for it, or the Kiosk mode user is disabled. Activate the profile, and check its Home tab, as in Turn on Kiosk Mode. Refer to Kiosk Mode troubleshooting.
The login page appears after the display has run for some hours The kiosk session reached its token expiry. Refer to Choosing the kiosk user for a session that does not expire.