KDE System Administration/Kiosk/Keys

This article contains a listing of known keys that can be used with Kiosk and what they do. How to actually use these keys and other capabilities of Kiosk such as URL restrictions, creating assigning profiles, etc. is covered in the Introduction to Kiosk article.

Which configuration file to put these entries in depends on whether you wish to make them global to all applications or specific to one application. To make the restrictions valid for all applications, put them in kdeglobals. To enable a restriction for specific applications place them in the application-specific configuration, e.g. konquerorrc for Konqueror.

Application Action Restrictions

These keys disable actions that are commonly found in KDE applications. To use these actions, create a section in kdeglobals that looks like this:

[KDE Action Restrictions][$i]
action/<key>=false

Key	Menu	Action
action/file_new	File	New
action/file_open	File	Open
action/file_open_recent	File	Open Recent File
action/file_save	File	Save
action/file_save_as	File	Save As
action/file_revert	File	Revert
action/file_close	File	Close
action/file_print	File	Print
action/file_print_preview	File	Print Preview
action/file_mail	File	Email File
action/file_quit	File	Quit
action/edit_undo	Edit	Undo
action/edit_redo	Edit	Redo
action/edit_cut	Edit	Cut
action/edit_copy	Edit	Copy
action/edit_paste	Edit	Paste
action/edit_select_all	Edit	Select All
action/edit_deselect	Edit	Deselect
action/edit_find	Edit	Find
action/edit_find_next	Edit	Find Next
action/edit_find_last	Edit	Find last
action/edit_replace	Edit	Replace
action/view_actual_size	View	100% Zoom
action/view_fit_to_page	View	Fit To Page (zooming)
action/view_fit_to_width	View	Fit To Width (zooming)
action/view_fit_to_height	View	Fit To Height (zooming)
action/view_zoom_in	View	Zoom In
action/view_zoom_out	View	Zoom Out
action/view_zoom	View	Zoom
action/view_redisplay	View	Refresh
action/go_up	Go	Up
action/go_back	Go	Back
action/go_forward	Go	Forward
action/go_home	Go	Home
action/go_previous	Go	Previous
action/go_next	Go	Next
action/go_goto	Go	Go To...
action/go_goto_page	Go	Go To Page...
action/go_goto_line	Go	Go To Line...
action/go_first	Go	Go To Start
action/go_last	Go	Go To End
action/bookmarks	Bookmarks	Also disables action/bookmark_add and action/bookmark_edit
action/bookmark_add	Bookmarks	Add Bookmark
action/bookmark_edit	Bookmarks	Edit Bookmarks
action/tools_spelling	Tools	Check Spelling
action/options_show_menubar	Settings	Show/hide Menubar
action/options_show_toolbar	Settings	Show/hide Toolbar, will also disable the "Toolbars" submenu if present
action/options_show_statusbar	Settings	Show/hide statusbar
action/options_save_Settings	Settings	Save Settings
action/options_configure	Settings	Configure application
action/options_configure_keybinding	Settings	Configure Shortcuts
action/options_configure_toolbars	Settings	Configure Toolbars
action/options_configure_notifications	Settings	Configure Notifications
action/fullscreen	Settings	Enter full screen mode
action/help	Help	Not yet fully implemented
action/help_contents	Help	Application handbook
action/help_whats_this	Help	Go into "what's this" mode
action/help_report_bug	Help	Report a bug
action/help_about_app	Help	Show about application dialog
action/help_about_kde	Help	Show about KDE dialog

KCalc

By marking the kcalcrc config file as immutable, the "Configure" button will not be shown.

File Manager

Key	Action
action/editfiletype	Edit associated applications
action/properties	File properties
action/openwith	Open file with action
action/openintab	Open link in a new tab
action/kdesktop_rmb	RMB menu, see note below
action/iconview_preview	Show preview thumbnails in icons, though it leaves the actual setting untouched. To disable previews (as opposed to simply disabling the user to change the setting) you also need to add the following lines to konqiconviewrc: [Settings] PreviewsEnabled[$i]=false
action/sharefile	Disables file sharing from the UI, but you may also want to disable filesharing altogether.
action/sendURL	Send Link Address
action/sendPage	Send File
action/devnew	Create New -> Device
action/incIconSize	Increase icon size
action/decIconSize	Decrease icon size
action/go	Entire go menu
action/configdesktop	Configure desktop in RMB menu, see also Control Module Restrictions
action/executeshellcommand	In Konqueror Tools menu, see also shell_access
action/show_dot	Disables the option to toggle showing hidden files, the actual setting remains unaffected. To disable showing hidden files, add the following lines to konqiconviewrc: [Settings] ShowDotFiles[$i]=false

Konsole

These keys can appear in kdeglobals, konsolepartrc or konsolerc.

Key	Action
action/konsole_rmb	Context menus
action/settings	Disable the entire settings menu
action/show_menubar	Show/hide the menubar
action/show_toolbar	Show/hide the toolbar
action/scrollbar	Show/hide the scrollbar
action/bell	Configure bell actions
action/font	Configure font
action/keyboard	Set keyboard type
action/schema	Select the schema to use
action/size	Set the terminal size
action/history	Configure history
action/save_default	Save settings as defaults
action/save_sessions_profile	Save sessions profile
action/send_signal	Send a signal to the current terminal
action/bookmarks	Bookmarks menu
action/add_bookmark	Add a bookmark
action/edit_bookmarks	Edit bookmarks
action/clear_terminal	Clear the current terminal
action/reset_clear_terminal	Clear and reset the current terminal
action/find_history	Find in history
action/find_next	Find next item in history
action/find_previous	Find previous item in history
action/save_history	Save history to disk
action/clear_history	Clear history of current terminal
action/clear_all_histories	Clear histories of all terminals
action/detach_session	Detach current tab
action/rename_session	Rename current session
action/zmodem_upload	ZModem uploading
action/monitor_activity	Monitor current terminal for activity
action/monitor_silence	Monitor current terminal for silence
action/send_input_to_all_sessions	Replicate input to all sessions
action/close_session	Close current terminal session
action/new_session	Create a new terminal session
action/activate_menu	Activate menubar
action/list_sessions	Session list menu
action/move_session_left	Shift tab to the left
action/move_session_right	Shift tab to the right
action/previous_session	Go to tab to the left
action/next_session	Go to tab to the right
action/switch_to_session_#	Go to tab numbered #, where # is a number between 1 and 12 inclusive.
action/bigger_font	Increase font size
action/smaller_font	Decrease font size
action/toggle_bidi	Turn bidirectional text support on or off

KWin

Key	Action
action/kwin_rmb	Context menus on window titlebar and frame

Plasma

Locking down the entire config with [$i] will cause everything to be immutable. Locking a Containment group will render that one group of widgets to be immutable, and locking a widget itself will cause it to not be movable as well as otherwise locked.

In addition, the following resource restrictions are available:

plasma/allow_configure_when_locked (since Plasma 4.4)

Whether widgets and containments can be configured when immutable / locked. The default is true as a convenience to users.

plasma/containment_actions (since KDE Frameworks 5.49)

Whether or not to allow Plasma mouse actions on desktop and panels (most notably context menus, but also mouse wheel to switch virtual desktops, etc.)

plasma/plasmashell/unlockedDesktop (since Plasma 5.0)

Whether to allow widgets in Plasma to be unlocked; when false, the following restrictions apply:

• Widgets cannot be unlocked
• Favorites and applications in the application launchers cannot be added, removed, rearranged, or otherwise altered (since Plasma 5.7)
• Application launchers in the task manager cannot be added or removed (since Plasma 5.8)

plasma-desktop/scripting_console (since Plasma 4.4)

Whether the plasma desktop scripting console is accessible or not.

plasma-desktop/add_activities (>= 4.7.1)

Whether the user may add new activities or not

Other

Plasma offers to download new widgets, wallpapers, scripts, and other 3rd party add-ons from the KDE Store using the KNewStuff (aka "Get Hot New Stuff") framework. The buttons are typically labeled "Get New ..." with a "star" icon. If this feature is undesirable it can be disabled using the following key:

ghns (since KDE Frameworks 5.27)

Whether the Download Dialog of Get Hot New Stuff can be accessed

Authorizing .desktop Files

Application .desktop files can have an additional field X-KDE-AuthorizeAction.

If this field is present the .desktop file is only considered valid if the action(s) mentioned in this field has been authorized. If multiple actions are listed they should be separated by commas (',').

If the .desktop file of an application lists one or more actions this way and the user has no authorization for even one of these actions then the application will not appear in the KDE menu, will not allow execution via that .desktop file and will not be used by KDE for opening files of associated mimetypes.

File Dialog

These keys disable actions that are found in the KDE file dialog. To use them, create a section in kdeglobals that looks like this:

[KDE Action Restrictions][$i]
action/<key>=false

Key	Action
action/home	Go to home directory
action/up	Go to parent directory
action/back	Go to previous directory
action/forward	Go to next directory
action/reload	Reload directory
action/mkdir	Create new directory
action/toggleSpeedbar	Show/hide sidebar
action/sorting menu	Sorting options
action/short view	Select short view
action/detailed view	Select detailed view
action/show hidden	Show/hide hidden files
action/preview	Show/hide preview
action/separate dirs	Show/hide separate directories

Printing

There are several keys that restrict various aspects of the KDE print dialog and printing system. To use them, create a configuration section like this:

[KDE Resource Restrictions][$i]
print/<resource key>=false

Note how each of the printing keys start with print in the configuration file.

print/copies

Disables the panel that allows users to make more than one copy.

print/dialog

Disables the complete print dialog. Selecting the print option will immediately print the selected document using default settings. Make sure that a system-wide default printer has been selected. No application-specific settings are honored when this restriction is activated.

print/options

Disables the button to select additional print options.

print/properties

Disables the button to change printer properties or to add a new printer.

print/selection

Disables the options that allows selecting a (pseudo) printer or change any of the printer properties. Make sure that a proper default printer has been selected before disabling this option. Disabling this option also disables print/system, print/options and print/properties.

print/system

Disables the option to select the printing system backend, e.g. CUPS. It is recommended to disable this option once the correct printing system has been configured.

Resource Restrictions

KDE applications can take advantage of many types of resources such as configuration data, caches, plugin registries, etc. These are loaded from both system-wide as well as from per-user locations on disk. It is possible to restrict the use of the per-user resources directories, preventing users from adding to or altering existing shared resources.

This is accomplished by creating a section like this in a configuration file:

[KDE Resource Restrictions][$i]
<resource key>=false

The following resources can be used as keys and controlled in this manner:

Key	Directory	Provides
all	n/a	All resources listed in this table
autostart	share/autostart	Apps to start on login
data	share/apps	Application data
data_<appname>	share/apps	Application data for the application named <appname>
html	share/doc/HTML	HTML files
icon	share/icon	Icons
config	share/config	Application configurations
pixmap	share/pixmaps	Images
xdgdata-apps	share/applications	Application .desktop files
sound	share/sounds	Sound files
locale	share/locale	Localization data
services	share/services	Protocols, plugins, kparts, control panels, etc. registry
servicetypes	share/servicetypes	Plugin definitions, referenced in services registry entries
mime	share/mimelnk	Mimetype definitions
wallpaper	share/wallpapers	Desktop wallpaper images
templates	share/templates	Document templates
exe	bin	Executable files
lib	lib	Libraries

Screensavers

In kdeglobals in the [KDE Action Restrictions] group:

opengl_screensavers

Defines whether OpenGL screensavers are allowed to be used.

manipulatescreen_screensavers

Defines whether screensavers that manipulate an image of the screen (e.g. moving chunks of the screen around) are allowed to be used.

Automatic Log-out

In kscreensaverrc:

[ScreenSaver]
AutoLogout=true
AutoLogoutTimeout=600

The timeout is the time in seconds that the user must be idle for before the logout process is automatically started. Be careful with this capability as it can lead to data loss if the user has unsaved files open.

Session Capability Restrictions

These keys apply to various capabilities associated with a desktop session and are not application specific. To use them, create a section in kdeglobals that looks like this:

[KDE Action Restrictions][$i]
<key>=false

custom_config

Whether the --config command line option should be honored. The --config command line option can be used to circumvent locked-down configuration files.

editable_desktop_icons

Defines whether icons on the desktop can be moved around. In order to prevent adding, removing, or renaming icons, you should set the desktop folder read-only. (since Plasma 5.14)

lineedit_text_completion

Defines whether input lines should have the potential to remember any previously entered data and make suggestions based on this when typing. When a single account is shared by multiple people you may wish to disable this out of privacy concerns.

lineedit_reveal_password

Defines whether password input fields may have a button that allows showing the password in plain text. (since KDE Frameworks 5.30 and/or Plasma 5.9)

action/lock_screen

Defines whether the user will be able to lock the screen.

logout

Defines whether the user will be able to logout from the Plasma session.

movable_toolbars

define whether toolbars may be moved around by the user. See also action/options_show_toolbar.

run_command

Defines whether the "Run Command" (Alt-F2) option is available.

Note

To also disable desktop context menu run command action/run_command is required at [KDE Action Restrictions]

run_desktop_files

Defines whether users may execute desktop files that are not part of the default desktop, KDE menu, registered services and autostarting services.

• The default desktop includes the files under $KDEDIR/share/kdesktop/Desktop but not the files under $HOME/Desktop.
• The KDE menu includes all files under $KDEDIR/share/applnk and $XDGDIR/applications
• Registered services includes all files under $KDEDIR/share/services
• Autostarting services include all files under $KDEDIR/share/autostart but not the files under $KDEHOME/Autostart

shell_access

Whether a shell suitable for entering random commands may be started. This also determines whether the "Run Command" option (Alt-F2) can be used to run shell-commands and arbitrary executables. Likewise, executables placed in the user's Autostart folder will no longer be executed. Applications can still be autostarted by placing .desktop files in the $KDEHOME/Autostart or $KDEDIR/share/autostart directory. See also run_desktop_files.

You probably also want to activate the following resource restrictions:

• "appdata_kdesktop" - To restrict the default desktop.
• "apps" - To restrict the KDE menu.
• "xdgdata-apps" - To restrict the KDE menu.
• "services" - To restrict registered services.
• "autostart" - To restrict autostarting services.

Otherwise users can still execute .desktop files by placing them in e.g. $KDEHOME/share/kdesktop/Desktop

skip_drm

Defines if the user may omit DRM checking. At the time of writing, this primarily applies to document formats with a DRM mechanism (e.g. PDF).

action/start_new_session

Defines whether the user may start a new session.

action/switch_user

Defines whether user switching is allowed.

Telemetry

Whilst telemetry is disabled by default, a user can choose to enable it inside applications.

To force global disabling set

/etc/xdg/KDE/UserFeedback.conf

[UserFeedback]
Enabled=false