Firefox 2’s Kiosk Mode
I discus why I need to use Kiosk mode on the Internet Explorer 7’s Kiosk Mode How-to. This is a How-to on achieving the same functionality in Firefox 2. I will only cover one method, as each of these plugins have pretty detailed instructions. It’s a lot easier to get kiosk mode running of Firefox then Internet Explorer because of plugins!
I chose Real Kiosk because it has the simplest install and usability!
Please read the entire article before attempting this because you will not be able to uninstall it without knowing how before hand!
Installation
- Open Firefox and goto the Real Kiosk plugin page.
- Click the install link
- Restart Firefox
You are now in full kiosk mode and you can still use tabs!
Options
There are some options you can invoke by editing the user.js file. You can open it by typing Windows Key+R and the following, quotes and all:
"C:\Documents and Settings\%username%\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\"
There will be a folder with a random name ending in .default
Open that folder and look for a file named: user.js (if it doesn’t exist, open notepad, save it with the name “user.js” and set the “Save file type as” to “All files”)
Enable The Navigation Toolbar
If you want to have the enable Navigation toolbar, add the following:
user_pref("rkiosk.navbar", true);
Remove The Print Dialog
If you want to remove the print dialog, add following:
user_pref("print.always_print_silent",true);
user_pref("print.show_print_progress",false);
Additional Information
Now the users can still close Firefox using Alt+F4 - just as with IE7’s Kiosk mode. Again, to prevent this, you’ll need to use a lockdown application like Fortres.
Uninstallation
- You will need to run Firefox in Safe Mode. To enter Safe Mode you must first make sure Firefox is not running in the background. This includes all windows like the Download Manager and Extensions that open in a separate window.This should not be confused with restarting the computer in Windows Safe Mode!Use the “Mozilla Firefox (Safe Mode)” shortcut in the Mozilla Firefox program folder in the Windows Start Menu. If you have accidentally deleted this shortcut, you can start Firefox or Thunderbird in Safe Mode by Windows Key+R and entering the following, quotes and all:
"C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -safe-mode - This will open the following window, click “Disable all add-ons”, then “Continue in Safe Mode”.
- When Firefox opens, click the “Tools” menu then “Add-ons”.
- In the Extensions Manager, click “Uninstall” for R-kiosk.
- Now restart Firefox and you should be good!
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[...] IE7 does have a “Kiosk Mode” which launches the browser with no tool bars, no address bar, nothing! just the browsing window. Click here for a Firefox How-to. [...]
I’ve been writing an involved kiosk-type web application in PHP for a couple of weeks, and I’ve been fretting about how I could silently queue up print jobs.
It was possible in IE5.5 through pure javascript, but that was a security hole they closed in IE6. I didn’t want to revert back to IE5.5. In IE7, it was looking like my only option was going to be to write an ActiveX control… which I really, really, really did not want to do. This extension just relieved a LOT of stress!
(Thank God my application will be used in a controlled environment, where I can KNOW that the user will be using Firefox!)
Good to hear Chris! So, can you disable FF’sauto update - would that mess up you app?
I’m not sure that I completely understand what you’re asking. Are you recommending that I disable Firefox’s auto-update to prevent any potential break at a point release, or are you assuming that I’ve done that and wondering how I did so?
The traffic on these kiosks passes through a proxy, so if I can’t get the auto-update disabled, I’ll just block Firefox updates at the proxy.
I wanted to make sure that Firefox didn’t autoupdate because, if it needed to restart, your app would close!
Nice thing … where did you get this stuff from
We use kiosk mode for Internet Explorer at work, I wrote an article about it and thought I should write one for Firefox too!
Hey Saman,
The link in the first line of this post to your IE7 Kiosk article is broken. Just thought you should be aware of it.
Thanks buddy! Apparently, I accidentally deleted my redirection plugin!
[...] which launches the browser with no tool bars, no address bar, nothing! just the browsing window. Click here for a Firefox [...]
This is really useful as I am writing a kiosk app and wanted to use FF. I used the plug-in, and set the settings in user.js (had to create it) on an xp platform. However, it does not appear to work on Vista. The contents of the Profiles folder are much lighter on vista. I put user.js there, but the options have no affect - any ideas?
I really don’t know about Vista - I know it changes the default install location for programs….
Maybe you could checkout the Mozilla forums.
It turns out its not a vista thing, its more to do with me not being used to vista. What I was doing was creating the user.js file in in the wrong user directory.
The easiest way to create the user.js file is to open FireFox, type: about:config in to the nav bar, then a whole world of options opens up to you. By right clicking on any option then selecting New->string you can set up the r-kiosk options like user_pref(”print.always_print_silent”,true); by just entering print.always_print_silent in the way I describe then set it to TRUE. It will save it in your user.js file or create it if it does not exist. Very easy! It works fine now, and my kiosk app is well on the way!
I’d just like to say that the number of self righteous twits on the message boards who rant on about this being a security risk are locked in their own small world and don’t seem to appreciate that choosing to allow your own browser to print without a dialog box is perfectly valid and applicable to many real life applications.
Many thanks for your help - hope my suggestion helps other users.
Hey Patrick
So I also couldn’t locate that folder with the user.js file. So I took your advice and typed it into the about:config page, but the silent print isn’t working.
I have a javascript function that tells a specific frame on the page to print, but the dialogue box still pops up. I’m running Firefox 2.00.12, is this not compatible?
Can you inform me about settling the following problem? When in normal full screen mode as a new window the window opens correctly. But in kiosk mode the new window occupies the whole screen.
For example: window.open(’XXX.php’,'XXX’,’scrollbars=no,width=320,height=500,left=0,top=220,
resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,menubar=no’);
Yes, it would be great if popups would keep their original size rather than being enlarged to full screen.
Any advice?
Is it possible to enable download by editing the user.js file? I would like to use this addon in a medacenter pc i am building.
I think you may have just saved my bacon by coming up as the first result in Google for “firefox kiosk mode”
Glad that I could help!
As for returning a #1 spot in Google, WOOOOHHHHOOOOO!!!!!
Firefox 2’s Kiosk Mode | Samanathon.com…
A simple way to initiate Kiosk Mode, with a lightweight plugin, in Firefox. This is a true kiosk mode as it prevents the user from doing anything but use the Internet….
Will it work on linux platform?
I honestly haven’t tested it, but it’s a simple matter to try it out!
Look here
I installed/enabled with navigation toolbar code from above, but it is still showing the minimize, maximize, and close buttons in the upper right hand corner. HELP!!!
The plugin make no mention of the minimize, maximize, or close buttons…
Try running Firefox in full screen mode.
Just tried this plugin out and found some bugs that I was going to inform the author of but I don’t feel like registering for an account to report so I will let you all know here. The right side of the screen shows the close X and about 10 px of the right side of the screen as well as it shows the status bar below the browser. I have a screen shot upon request but nowhere to post that here.
Asylum’s last blog post: Kenny Shaw
I have also installed rkiosk … but i have one big problem .. if i want to open a pdf file (online) it fails.
I get the following error message.. anyone got an idea to help me?
“Can’t use Adobe Reader to show the PDF file in the browser. Close the webbrowser and try again”.
is this a know rkiosk problem?
[...] can view is local to the PC and is not “live” internet content. Saman Sadeghi has an excellent tutorial about R-kiosk over at his [...]
We are using Firefox Kiosk successfully in an exhibition here. However when opening links in a new window Kiosk-Mode shows the tab-bar allowing the user to exit Firefox and the rest of it.
Is there an analog comand to the enabling/disabling of the Navigation toolbar:
user_pref(”rkiosk.navbar”, true);
user_pref(”rkiosk.navbar”, false);
e.g. something like: user_pref(”rkiosk.tabbar”, false);??
best regards
gerhard
How to control this??? After installing, whenever I open firefox its in kiosk mode. Isnt there some easy command line parameter or something so I can switch it on and off????
You could create different Firefox profiles:
firefox.exe -profilemanager