raspi-kiosk-server
Raspberry Kiosk Server : start raspberrypi in web-browser kiosk mode, and use it as a webserver.
# Setup
## SD Card flashing
You'll need latest Raspbian image to flash your sdcard : http://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads/
- Insert sdcard in your sdcard reader
- Mount partition
- Detect the correct /dev/sdX with :
df -h - flash card, with the correct path in
ifparameter :
dd bs=4M if=~/Downloads/2014-01-07-wheezy-raspbian.img of=/dev/sdc
For complete sdcard flash manual, please use eLinux documentation : http://elinux.org/RPi_Easy_SD_Card_Setup
## Boot config
The boot partition store the cmdline.txt that setup the fixed ip adress of the raspberrypi, and the autostart file that will setup the desktop display.
See network part of this manual to learn how to attribute the X ip to each raspberry.
- Mount /boot partition and edit cmdline.txt, add
ip=10.42.0.X::10.42.0.1at the end of line - Copy config/autostart on /boot partition, and edit the url on last line
## Desktop config
For the last step, you'll need to connect ot your raspberrypi using ssh.
- Put the sdcard in the raspi and start it
- Connect by ssh from remote host using :
ssh pi@10.42.0.X(password: raspberry) - launch raspi-config tool to force raspberrypi to start on Desktop :
raspi-config - Edit /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf and use this setting in [Seat] section :
xserver-command=X -s 0 dpms - Replace LXDE autostart script by the one on /boot partition :
cd /etc/xdg/lxsession/LXDE/
sudo rm autostart
sudo ln -sf /boot/autostart
Optional : when using raspi-config, you can choose to expand the disp-space used on the sd-card
Server config
In this section, we'll install nginx/mysql/php5/nodejs/laravel to have a full-stack webserver ready on the raspberrypi.
Raspberrypi kiosk clients will connect to this server to have their content served.
Connect to ssh, and use these commands :
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install vim mysql git nginx php5-fpm php5-cgi php5-cli php5-common php5-mcrypt php5-mysql redis-server
wget http://node-arm.herokuapp.com/node_latest_armhf.deb
sudo dpkg -i node_latest_armhf.deb
rm node_latest_armhf.deb
curl https://www.npmjs.org/install.sh | sudo sh
curl -sS https://getcomposer.org/installer | php
sudo mv composer.phar /usr/local/bin/composer
Now we'll setup the raspberrypi to served the content of www folder in the repository to its web clients.
Still in ssh :
sudo mkdir /var/www
sudo chmod 775 /var/www -R
sudo chown www-data:www-data /var/www
sudo su www-data
git clone https://github.com/alx/raspi-kiosk-server.git
Exit from www-data user (or disconnect/reconnect from ssh), and use these commands :
sudo cp /var/www/raspi-kiosk-server/config/nginx_default.conf /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/default
sudo /etc/init.d/nginx reload
If you connect to http://10.42.0.X, you should view an Hello World page.
Other raspberrypi client configured in kiosk mode (with the right url) should automaticly display this page.
## Connect different screens
Mini-laravel app that use routes to serve different displays to clients.
## Refresh screens from server
Use nodejs and socket.io to notify clients that their display should be changed. This solution is lighter than an auto-refresh js script on client browser that will refresh the webpage from server every X seconds.
- Change ip adress in nodejs/server.js file with the raspberrypi ip adress
- Install service that will start during the boot of the raspberrypi :
sudo cp /var/www/raspi-kiosk-server/nodejs/node_debian_init.sh /etc/init.d/
sudo update-rc.d node_debian_init.sh defaults
- Install nodejs dependencies :
sudo su www-data
cd /var/www/raspi-kiosk-server/nodejs
npm install express redis socket.io socket.io-client
- Reboot
Reference tutorial to connect laravel to socket.io service : http://www.volkomenjuist.nl/blog/2013/10/20/laravel-4-and-nodejsredis-pubsub-realtime-notifications/
Network setup
Here is a description of how the allocation of ip adresses are working.