Tools for Creating an Automated SiteKiosk Installation

Deploying a SiteKiosk rollout on a great number of terminals can become a lot easier using some of the tools provided by PROVISIO. With the help of these tools you can create a standalone installation script that you bundle with the required files or use it to create an installation package with one of the deployment toolkits available on the market or prepare a machine to create an image using an imaging software. One of the deployment toolkits is Microsoft's SCCM, which has been the topic of an FAQ article already.

The following is an overview of the tools and what you can do with them.

The installer of SiteKiosk allows you to conduct a silent installation as part of a script or using a deployment toolkit. To do so you need to start the executable of the installer that can be downloaded from our website www.provisio.com with parameters. A basic silent installation of SiteKiosk looks like this:

sitekiosk.exe /S /V"/qn"

A full list of available parameters for the silent installation, including examples, can be found in this FAQ article.

During the installation of SiteKiosk a little tool will be copied to the installation path of SiteKiosk (default path: C:\Program Files\SiteKiosk). The tool ist SKStartup.exe (default path: C:\Program Files\SiteKioskSKStartup.exe). This tool can be used to register SiteKiosk and set the startup options. To register SiteKiosk use the license name and license number you received from PROVISIO or a reseller as parameters for SKStartup.exe:

SKStartup.exe /l "YourComp - 10 License(s)" /s 9QH6H-YWF7V-R2PAR-WT3MT-DX6F6

The parameter /l is followed by the license name and the parameter /s is followed by the license number.

SKStartup.exe can also be used to automatically set the desired start settings for SiteKiosk, e.g. Autostart. For this a bit of extra work is required. First you need to create a SiteKiosk configuration file that fits your kiosk project using the SiteKiosk configuration tool, preferrably safe it to the default location for SiteKiosk configuration files: C:\Program Files\SiteKiosk\config\. Next you start SiteKiosk and from the SiteKiosk Quick Start menu you select Customized. Choose your configuration file and set all the start options as desired, then click on the Export button to export your startup options. This creates a file called startup.xml. This file needs to be part of your installation package. You can copy it to wherever you want, e.g. directly into the SiteKiosk installation path once the installation is done. Now you can use the /i parameter with SKStartup.exe to apply the start settings on any of your SiteKiosk terminals:

SKStartup.exe /i startup.xml

Make sure to also copy the SiteKiosk configuration file you created to the same location you used while creating the startup.xml file on all of your machines.

You can of course register SiteKiosk and set the startup options in just one step:

SKStartup.exe /i startup.xml /l "YourComp - 10 License(s)" /s 9QH6H-YWF7V-R2PAR-WT3MT-DX6F6

Note that in order to use the SKStartup.exe you need to first install SiteKiosk, e.g. using the silent installation and only then register SiteKiosk and set the startup options. The SiteKiosk configuration file and the startup.xml file can be created on any PC you have installed SiteKiosk on, you can even use an unregistered version for it.

The SKStartup.exe is also described on this page of the SiteKiosk help.

An optional step is to automatically register the SiteKiosk terminal with a SiteRemote team. This is obviously only required when you want to use the remote management and digital signage features of SiteRemote. Within a SiteRemote team you can find the Extras button which will bring up the Apps page where you can find the Auto Register Tool. You can install the tool on any PC. It provides a small GUI that lets you select your SiteRemote client type and the data required to register a terminal at a SiteRemote server. Once this data is provided a file will be created with the registration data necessary to register a client. The GUI also provides information where this file needs to be copied on a client to start the registration process, the path depends on the client type. Make the resulting file a part of your installation package and during the installation process, after SiteKiosk has been installed, copy it to the required location. Once the file is at the final location and the terminal is able to reach the SiteRemote server it will be registered.

When creating an image instead of an installation script or package you don't need to use most of the tools as you can do most of the required steps with the normal GUI options of SiteKiosk. Use the imaging software of your choice and make sure to follow its procedures to create a working image. Install the operating system and all required updates and drivers. Also install other software like Flash or Acrobat Reader if desired and apply all available updates to them as well. Make sure everything that requires it is registered.
Now you would install SiteKiosk and prepare the configuration to include all the settings required for the kiosk project. You can also register SiteKiosk, if your license count covers enough machines. You may also configure the desired start settings.
Next you are ready to shutdown the machine and create the image using an imaging software.
An optional step before shutting down the machine to make the image would be to prepare it for use with SiteRemote. An important thing to remember is to not register the machine with SiteRemote before you create the image, otherwise all machines using that image will show up as the same machine under SiteRemote. Instead use the Auto Register Tool described above to create the auto registration file. Before copying the file to the required folder (see the instructions in the GUI of the Auto Register Tool) make sure to disconnect the internet connection to prevent the machine from directly registering itself. Once the file is in place you are ready to start the imaging process.

Whether you prefer a script, a deployment toolkit or an image to deploy a great number of SiteKiosk terminals, the above tools should provide you with the necessary help to make this an easy task.