Chromium-mir-kiosk, deprecation archive?

wall-x · October 7, 2021, 10:25am

Hello, I recently found that chromium-mir-kiosk is no longer available. Is there a snapcraft archive for depreciated snaps, or other repo source?

Would it be possible copy an installed chromium-mir-kiosk snap from one system to another?

I am using Ubuntu server 18.04

Thank you for input.

James-Carroll · October 7, 2021, 10:34am

There isn’t an archive or alternative repo for deprecated snaps.

You could potentially transfer the snap over, you’d need to get it’s .snap file which contains the contents of the application, and it’s .ack file which cryptographically signs it. Both of these should be on the filesystem somewhere although at present I’m not sure where exactly. (Under /var/lib/snapd presumably). On another system you could then snap ack the ack file and snap install the snap file.

You might want to look into using https://snapcraft.io/wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk as a replacement instead, it’s actively supported.

ogra · October 7, 2021, 11:08am

if you are hard-tied to using a chromium back-end, I got two electron branches (which is chromium without all the google UI bits) that you could use as a kiosk snap if needed:

(using X11/XWayland on top of mir-kiosk or ubuntu-frame like the old chromium-mir-kiosk did)

or:

for a plain wayland implementation…

If you “just need a browser”, James’ suggestion to use the well maintained wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk is your best way forward …

wall-x · October 8, 2021, 9:55am

Thanks very much James and Ogra, I will try these suggestions.

I did take a look at wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk but no luck just black screen. The package states support for Desktop and Core; I am targeting Server 18.04 & 20.04 I assume this is the cause.
Also, I am unclear on the licensing of wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk, it seems unset.

Mir-kiosk & ubuntu-frame have been no problem.

Thanks again.

alan_g · October 8, 2021, 9:58am

Did you enable running as a daemon?

snap set wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk daemon=true

You can also check the logs for errors with:

snap log -n 100 wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk

Pinging @tobias, the wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk guy.

wall-x · October 8, 2021, 11:16am

Thank you Alan_g.

I just cleaned and started with blank slate:

$ snap list
Name         Version    Rev    Tracking       Publisher   Notes
core         16-2.51.7  11743  latest/stable  canonical✓  core
core20       20210702   1081   latest/stable  canonical✓  base
mesa-core20  21.0.3     95     latest/stable  canonical✓  -

Followed instructions from here: ghub/MirServer/ubuntu-frame/blob/master/RUNNING_ON_YOUR_DEVICE.md

$ sudo snap install ubuntu-frame
$ sudo snap set ubuntu-frame daemon=true
$ sudo snap install wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk
$ sudo snap set wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk daemon=true

No errors reported during install.

The screen does go gray-gradation with ubuntu-frame.

   $ snap list
    Name                  Version      Rev    Tracking       Publisher   Notes
    core                  16-2.51.7    11743  latest/stable  canonical✓  core
    core20                20210702     1081   latest/stable  canonical✓  base
    mesa-core20           21.0.3       95     latest/stable  canonical✓  -
    ubuntu-frame          38-mir2.4.1  262    latest/stable  canonical✓  -
    wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk  2.30.5       54     latest/stable  glancr      -


$ snap services
Service                               Startup  Current   Notes
ubuntu-frame.daemon                   enabled  active    -
wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon           enabled  inactive  -
wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.restart-watcher  enabled  active    -

Should ‘wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon’ be active too?

Here is log result, there are a couple issue: 
error: error running snapctl: snap "wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk" has "install-snap" change in progress.  
 As well as "Wayland interface not connected!".

sudo snap logs -n 100 wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk
2021-10-08T10:43:33Z wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon[24759]: + true
2021-10-08T10:43:34Z systemd[1]: snap.wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon.service: Service hold-off time over, scheduling restart.
2021-10-08T10:43:34Z systemd[1]: snap.wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon.service: Scheduled restart job, restart counter is at 1.
2021-10-08T10:43:34Z systemd[1]: Stopped Service for snap application wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon.
2021-10-08T10:43:34Z systemd[1]: Started Service for snap application wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon.
2021-10-08T10:43:34Z systemd[1]: Stopping Service for snap application wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon...
2021-10-08T10:43:34Z systemd[1]: Stopped Service for snap application wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon.
2021-10-08T10:43:34Z systemd[1]: Started Service for snap application wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon.
2021-10-08T10:43:34Z systemd[1]: Stopping Service for snap application wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.restart-watcher...
2021-10-08T10:43:34Z systemd[1]: Stopped Service for snap application wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.restart-watcher.
2021-10-08T10:43:34Z wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon[24925]: + snapctl get daemon
2021-10-08T10:43:34Z wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon[24925]: + [ false = true ]
2021-10-08T10:43:34Z wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon[24925]: + snapctl stop wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon
2021-10-08T10:43:34Z wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon[24925]: error: error running snapctl: snap "wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk" has "install-snap" change in progress
2021-10-08T10:43:34Z wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon[24925]: + true
2021-10-08T10:43:34Z systemd[1]: snap.wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon.service: Service hold-off time over, scheduling restart.
2021-10-08T10:43:34Z systemd[1]: snap.wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon.service: Scheduled restart job, restart counter is at 1.
2021-10-08T10:43:34Z systemd[1]: Stopped Service for snap application wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon.
2021-10-08T10:43:34Z systemd[1]: Started Service for snap application wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon.
2021-10-08T10:43:34Z systemd[1]: Started Service for snap application wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.restart-watcher.
2021-10-08T10:43:34Z wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon[24990]: + snapctl get daemon
2021-10-08T10:43:34Z wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon[24990]: + [ false = true ]
2021-10-08T10:43:34Z wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon[24990]: + snapctl stop wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon
2021-10-08T10:43:34Z wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.restart-watcher[25013]: Setting up watches.
2021-10-08T10:43:34Z wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.restart-watcher[25013]: Watches established.
2021-10-08T10:43:34Z systemd[1]: Stopping Service for snap application wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon...
2021-10-08T10:43:34Z systemd[1]: Stopped Service for snap application wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon.
2021-10-08T10:43:49Z systemd[1]: Started Service for snap application wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon.
2021-10-08T10:43:49Z systemd[1]: Stopping Service for snap application wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.restart-watcher...
2021-10-08T10:43:49Z systemd[1]: Stopped Service for snap application wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.restart-watcher.
2021-10-08T10:43:49Z wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon[25167]: + snapctl get daemon
2021-10-08T10:43:49Z wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon[25167]: + [ true = true ]
2021-10-08T10:43:49Z wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon[25167]: + exec /snap/wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk/54/bin/wayland-launch /snap/wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk/54/bin/set-arch-triplet /snap/wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk/54/bin/gio-updater /snap/wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk/54/bin/launch-wpe
2021-10-08T10:43:49Z wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon[25167]: + snapctl is-connected wayland
2021-10-08T10:43:49Z wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon[25167]: + echo Wayland interface not connected!
2021-10-08T10:43:49Z wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon[25167]: Wayland interface not connected!
2021-10-08T10:43:49Z wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon[25167]: + exit 1
2021-10-08T10:43:49Z systemd[1]: snap.wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILURE
2021-10-08T10:43:49Z systemd[1]: snap.wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
2021-10-08T10:43:49Z systemd[1]: snap.wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon.service: Service hold-off time over, scheduling restart.
2021-10-08T10:43:49Z systemd[1]: snap.wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon.service: Scheduled restart job, restart counter is at 1.
2021-10-08T10:43:49Z systemd[1]: Stopped Service for snap application wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon.
2021-10-08T10:43:49Z systemd[1]: Started Service for snap application wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon.
2021-10-08T10:43:49Z systemd[1]: Started Service for snap application wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.restart-watcher.
2021-10-08T10:43:50Z wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon[25234]: + snapctl get daemon
2021-10-08T10:43:50Z wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.restart-watcher[25250]: Setting up watches.
2021-10-08T10:43:50Z wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.restart-watcher[25250]: Watches established.
2021-10-08T10:43:50Z wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon[25234]: + [ true = true ]
2021-10-08T10:43:50Z wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon[25234]: + exec /snap/wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk/54/bin/wayland-launch /snap/wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk/54/bin/set-arch-triplet /snap/wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk/54/bin/gio-updater /snap/wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk/54/bin/launch-wpe
2021-10-08T10:43:50Z wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon[25234]: + snapctl is-connected wayland
2021-10-08T10:43:50Z wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon[25234]: + echo Wayland interface not connected!
2021-10-08T10:43:50Z wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon[25234]: Wayland interface not connected!
2021-10-08T10:43:50Z wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon[25234]: + exit 1
2021-10-08T10:43:50Z systemd[1]: snap.wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILURE
2021-10-08T10:43:50Z systemd[1]: snap.wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
2021-10-08T10:43:50Z systemd[1]: snap.wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon.service: Service hold-off time over, scheduling restart.
2021-10-08T10:43:50Z systemd[1]: snap.wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon.service: Scheduled restart job, restart counter is at 2.
2021-10-08T10:43:50Z systemd[1]: Stopped Service for snap application wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon.
2021-10-08T10:43:50Z systemd[1]: Started Service for snap application wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon.
2021-10-08T10:43:50Z wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon[25323]: + snapctl get daemon
2021-10-08T10:43:50Z wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon[25323]: + [ true = true ]
2021-10-08T10:43:50Z wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon[25323]: + exec /snap/wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk/54/bin/wayland-launch /snap/wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk/54/bin/set-arch-triplet /snap/wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk/54/bin/gio-updater /snap/wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk/54/bin/launch-wpe
2021-10-08T10:43:50Z wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon[25323]: + snapctl is-connected wayland
2021-10-08T10:43:50Z wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon[25323]: + echo Wayland interface not connected!
2021-10-08T10:43:50Z wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon[25323]: Wayland interface not connected!
2021-10-08T10:43:50Z wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon[25323]: + exit 1
2021-10-08T10:43:50Z systemd[1]: snap.wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILURE
2021-10-08T10:43:50Z systemd[1]: snap.wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
2021-10-08T10:43:50Z systemd[1]: snap.wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon.service: Service hold-off time over, scheduling restart.
2021-10-08T10:43:50Z systemd[1]: snap.wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon.service: Scheduled restart job, restart counter is at 3.
2021-10-08T10:43:50Z systemd[1]: Stopped Service for snap application wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon.
2021-10-08T10:43:50Z systemd[1]: Started Service for snap application wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon.
2021-10-08T10:43:50Z wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon[25383]: + snapctl get daemon
2021-10-08T10:43:50Z wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon[25383]: + [ true = true ]
2021-10-08T10:43:50Z wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon[25383]: + exec /snap/wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk/54/bin/wayland-launch /snap/wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk/54/bin/set-arch-triplet /snap/wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk/54/bin/gio-updater /snap/wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk/54/bin/launch-wpe
2021-10-08T10:43:50Z wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon[25383]: + snapctl is-connected wayland
2021-10-08T10:43:50Z wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon[25383]: + echo Wayland interface not connected!
2021-10-08T10:43:50Z wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon[25383]: Wayland interface not connected!
2021-10-08T10:43:50Z wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon[25383]: + exit 1
2021-10-08T10:43:50Z systemd[1]: snap.wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILURE
2021-10-08T10:43:50Z systemd[1]: snap.wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
2021-10-08T10:43:50Z systemd[1]: snap.wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon.service: Service hold-off time over, scheduling restart.
2021-10-08T10:43:50Z systemd[1]: snap.wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon.service: Scheduled restart job, restart counter is at 4.
2021-10-08T10:43:50Z systemd[1]: Stopped Service for snap application wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon.
2021-10-08T10:43:50Z systemd[1]: Started Service for snap application wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon.
2021-10-08T10:43:50Z wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon[25442]: + snapctl get daemon
2021-10-08T10:43:50Z wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon[25442]: + [ true = true ]
2021-10-08T10:43:50Z wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon[25442]: + exec /snap/wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk/54/bin/wayland-launch /snap/wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk/54/bin/set-arch-triplet /snap/wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk/54/bin/gio-updater /snap/wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk/54/bin/launch-wpe
2021-10-08T10:43:50Z wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon[25442]: + snapctl is-connected wayland
2021-10-08T10:43:50Z wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon[25442]: + echo Wayland interface not connected!
2021-10-08T10:43:50Z wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon[25442]: Wayland interface not connected!
2021-10-08T10:43:50Z wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon[25442]: + exit 1
2021-10-08T10:43:50Z systemd[1]: snap.wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILURE
2021-10-08T10:43:50Z systemd[1]: snap.wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
2021-10-08T10:43:51Z systemd[1]: snap.wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon.service: Service hold-off time over, scheduling restart.
2021-10-08T10:43:51Z systemd[1]: snap.wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon.service: Scheduled restart job, restart counter is at 5.
2021-10-08T10:43:51Z systemd[1]: Stopped Service for snap application wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon.
2021-10-08T10:43:51Z systemd[1]: snap.wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon.service: Start request repeated too quickly.
2021-10-08T10:43:51Z systemd[1]: snap.wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
2021-10-08T10:43:51Z systemd[1]: Failed to start Service for snap application wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk.daemon.

Thank you guys.

ogra · October 8, 2021, 12:43pm

what does snap connections wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk show ?

alan_g · October 8, 2021, 1:01pm

This is likely your problem, and is easily fixed:

snap connect wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk:wayland

The likely reason for this is that snapd doesn’t autoconnect the Wayland interface when installing wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk if there are multiple Wayland slots. (You have multiple slots because both Ubuntu Server and Ubuntu Frame provide one.)

wall-x · October 8, 2021, 1:28pm

Success!

Here’s what I did for completeness.

$ sudo snap connect wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk:wayland

$ sudo snap connections wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk

Interface         Plug                                   Slot                              Notes
audio-playback    wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk:audio-playback    :audio-playback                   -
avahi-observe     wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk:avahi-observe     -                                 -
dbus              -                                      wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk:dbus-cogctl  -
hardware-observe  wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk:hardware-observe  -                                 -
hostname-control  wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk:hostname-control  -                                 -
network           wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk:network           :network                          -
network-bind      wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk:network-bind      :network-bind                     -
network-manager   wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk:network-manager   -                                 -
opengl            wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk:opengl            :opengl                           -
process-control   wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk:process-control   -                                 -
upower-observe    wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk:upower-observe    :upower-observe                   -
wayland           wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk:wayland           :**wayland**                          manual

$ sudo snap restart wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk

Some success! TLS (cert expired) error on the screen instead of gray-gradation.

$ sudo snap set wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk url=https://www.google.com

This worked!

I will also try the other approaches offered by Ogra, while I look for clarity on the wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk license model.

Thanks for the help guys. I’ve seen your handles all over these threads, it great. You really help move the ball forward.

Thanks again!

tobias · October 18, 2021, 10:16am

I developed the wpe-webkit-mir-kiosk snap as a by-product of my day job. WPE Webkit, libwpe, wpebackend-fdo and cog are all under permissive but different licenses, so I wasn’t sure which one would be most appropriate But I guess the snap store license only covers “original” code anyway? In any case, I’ll change the license in the store to reflect that we have no interest (and, in fact, basis) to monetize it.