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Launch Chromium in Kiosk Mode on Raspberry Pi OS Lite

This document provides instructions to configure a Raspberry Pi running Raspberry Pi OS Lite (without a desktop environment) to automatically launch Chromium in kiosk mode and display a specified URL on system startup.

1. Start Raspberry Pi OS Lite​

Start from a clean installation of Raspberry Pi OS Lite.
Ensure SSH is enabled so you can connect remotely if needed.

2. Update and Install Required Packages​

Update the system package list, upgrade existing packages, and install the required components:

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt install -y chromium-browser xserver-xorg x11-xserver-utils xinit openbox

3. Create Kiosk Launch Script​

Create a script to launch Chromium in kiosk mode.

sudo nano /home/pi/kiosk.sh

Add the following contents (replace the URL as needed):

#!/bin/bash
xset s off
xset s noblank
xset -dpms

sed -i 's/"exited_cleanly":false/"exited_cleanly":true/' ~/.config/chromium/Default/Preferences
sed -i 's/"exit_type":"Crashed"/"exit_type":"Normal"/' ~/.config/chromium/Default/Preferences

/usr/bin/chromium-browser --noerrdialogs --disable-infobars --kiosk https://google.com

Make the script executable:

sudo chmod +x /home/pi/kiosk.sh

4. Configure Openbox​

Create the Openbox configuration directory and autostart file:

mkdir -p ~/.config/openbox
nano ~/.config/openbox/autostart

Add the following line:

~/kiosk.sh &

5. Configure X Session​

Create or edit the .xinitrc file to define the session startup command:

nano ~/.xinitrc

Add:

exec openbox-session

6. Configure Automatic Start on Login​

Edit the .bash_profile file:

nano ~/.bash_profile

Add this line at the end:

[[ -z $DISPLAY && $XDG_VTNR -eq 1 ]] && startx -- -nocursor

7. Enable Automatic Login​

Run Raspberry Pi configuration tool:

sudo raspi-config

Navigate to: System Options → Boot / Auto Login → Console Autologin

Then exit and reboot:

sudo reboot

8. Configure Wi-Fi Network​

Use nmtui to add or edit wireless connections:

sudo nmtui

Select Add a New Network and complete the setup.

9. [Optional] Remove Old Wi-Fi Configurations​

NetworkManager stores connection profiles in: /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/

Each saved network is stored as a separate file named after the SSID or a UUID.