Chromebooks and a Virtual Environment

[RJohnson91]

Hi all,

 

We have been told that we need to have Chromebooks in the school due to their multitude of benefits.

 

I have embarked on the uphill battle of getting them perfect in our school for use with the students.

 

A little background information on what we have done already

 

We have signed up to Admin.Google.com so we can remotely manage our Chrome devices which is perfect for the most part.

 

I have ventured two options in regards to creating a 'client' for the students to use to log into the virtual system, I will explain below.

 

Kiosk Mode

 

Via the console online I can assign a kiosk app to start upon boot, since I dont have the time nor the patience to create my own Kiosk app, I have decided to go with the top rated kiosk app so colourfully named 'Kiosk'.

 

This app works very well, it allows users to boot straight into a predefined URL and gives them no access to any other parts of the Chromebook, with a nifty 'Admin' feature which you secure with a password to allow a 'way out'.

 

The problem with this Kiosk app (and later I find other kiosk apps) is that the Citrix virtual sessions never actually launches, it just hangs.

 

I have tried this through the internal portal and external CAG, all with the same result, I have concluded that the Kiosk apps do not work with virtual environments.

 

Chrome Public Sessions

 

This seems to be Googles answer to Kiosks, or something similar.

 

Via the online console I can configure a multitude of options, forcing users to use google safe search for instance, blocking the installations of apps e.t.c e.t.c

 

It also allows me to auto launch the web browser and point it to a URL as default, and logging into the virtual system works!.

 

So what's the problem Ryan?

 

Public Sessions can be configured in many ways, as described above.

 

However, you cannot lock down the bar at the bottom of Chrome OS, allowing users to use the search function, to click network settings, Bluetooth settings, volume.

 

Users can navigate to the devices main settings and adjust the display, touchpad ... the list goes on and on.

 

I can just imagine how much fun a handful of 12 to 18 year olds will have with that much power...

 

 

 

Hopefully you can see my headache, so my question to you guys is ...

 

Do you run Chromebooks in your school, if so, how the hell do you lock them down ?

 

If you don't run virtual, but you have managed to lock them down without an auto launched kiosk app, tell me how oh guru!

 

Thanks

 

Ryan

 

 

TL/DR

 

1. Kiosk App applied via the admin console don't seem to work with a Citrix Virtual Environment.

2. Public Sessions is too wide open, kids will change all the settings and we'll have a bad time!

3. I'm pulling my hair out finding a way to get these to work in our school.

4. TELL ME HOW!

[rogerdnixon]

We use 100's of ChromeOS devices at school - our main OS now. I'd strongly suggest that trying to use them in the manner you are suggesting is not a great idea. Users should be signing into them with their Google Apps accounts and then they access all their own stuff. Logoff and give to the next person. When the user logs on they pick up Chrome Management policies that are applied to their account. So you can lock them down as much or as little as you want very easily.

 

Kiosk mode is really meant for display signage, reception sign in systems and the like - not for regular use. I'd suggest looking on the following G+ communities GEG UK, Chromebook EDU & GAFE Admins - all full of Google Apps and ChromeOS gurus. Want a longer discussion - happy to help.

[SpaceInvader83]

We use lots of Chromebooks here, most are personal devices where the users login with their own Google Apps account but we do have a shared resource of Chromebooks that are set up in Public Session Mode, works great for us, user accepts policy to login to the chromebook, they can then log into whatever they wish, upon exiting the session the settings are binned off ready for the next user.

 

This is how Google recommend setting up for shared devices.

 

 

With public session kiosks (also called public sessions), multiple users can share the same Chrome device without the need to sign in. For example, use public sessions to configure Chrome devices for use as kiosks, loaner devices, shared computers, or for any other work or school-related purpose for which users don't need to sign in.

Edited February 3, 2016 by SpaceInvader83