Rock 4C+ Autologin for headless kiosk operation

#1

Can someone point me in the right direction.
I’m trying to setup one 4C+ module as a headless kiosk, access by ‘ssh’ only.
I have looked at several suggestions, both here in the forums, and also other web sites.
But have had no luck in configuring Debian to automatically login so that Chromium can can run.
Any pointers to a good tutorial for beginners.
I’m a newbie to using Debian.

Thanks in advance

#2

So I am not sure I understand correctly, what you write is a bit contradictive. A headless system is commonly one without a GUI, yet you mention a kiosk mode, so I’m thinking there is a GUI running and display attached.

If so:

  1. Ensure ssh is enabled: systemctl enable --now ssh (sometimes also sshd, depends on the distribtuion)
  2. Determine your display manager: systemctl status display-manager.service. This will show you the specific unit that display-manager is an alias for. If it is not enabled, ensure it is like above. If no unit is found, you are in fact running a headless system and first need to install one (preferably the default Debian one)
  3. Look up configuration for the display manager your system uses on how to do autologin for your user. Typically this achieved by simply setting one or two options in the corresponding configuration file in /etc.
  4. (if I understand your intentions correctly) Configure chromium to autostart. To do so place a link or copy to the chromium desktop file in your users $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/autostart (e.g., /home/youruser/.config/autostart/chromium.desktop -> /usr/share/applications/chromium.desktop)
  5. Restart your display manager: systemctl restart display-manager

I hope this helps, I left the instructions intentionally general to explain the concept.