Networking and Remote Access

Networking and Remote Access

This page covers how to connect to museum kiosks remotely for maintenance and troubleshooting.

AnyDesk (Remote Desktop)

AnyDesk is the main tool for remotely controlling kiosk computers. It lets you see the kiosk's screen and use its keyboard/mouse from your own desk.

How to Connect

1. Install AnyDesk on your own computer from anydesk.com
2. Open AnyDesk and type the kiosk's AnyDesk ID (a 9-digit number shown during Kiosk Base Setup)
3. Enter the password when prompted

Tips

• Touch the mouse before disconnecting — on the remote machine, move the mouse cursor slightly before you close the AnyDesk session. Otherwise the cursor sometimes gets stuck/frozen.
• If AnyDesk shows "offline", the kiosk might not have internet or AnyDesk might not be running. Try connecting via SSH instead (see below).

Finding a Kiosk's AnyDesk ID

If you lost the ID, connect to the kiosk via SSH or physically go to the machine and run:

anydesk --get-id

SSH (Terminal Access)

SSH gives you a text-only terminal connection to a kiosk — no graphical desktop, just the command line. Useful for quick fixes.

Connecting via SSH

From a terminal on your own computer:

ssh username@kiosk-ip-address

Replace username with the account name set during Installing Mint, and kiosk-ip-address with the kiosk's IP address.

Finding a Kiosk's IP Address

If you're physically at the kiosk, open a terminal and run:

hostname -I

This shows the kiosk's IP address on the local network.

Enabling SSH on a Kiosk

If SSH isn't working, it may not be installed. On the kiosk, run:

sudo apt install -y openssh-server

Wi-Fi Configuration

To connect a kiosk to Wi-Fi from the terminal:

nmcli device wifi connect "NETWORK_NAME" password "WIFI_PASSWORD"

Replace NETWORK_NAME and WIFI_PASSWORD with the actual values.

To see available networks:

nmcli device wifi list

Troubleshooting

Can't connect to the kiosk at all

• Is the kiosk powered on?
• Is it connected to the same network as your computer (or to the internet for AnyDesk)?
• Try pinging it: ping kiosk-ip-address

AnyDesk says "offline"

• The kiosk might not have internet
• AnyDesk service might not be running. If you can SSH in, run: sudo systemctl start anydesk.service

SSH connection refused

• SSH server might not be installed — see "Enabling SSH on a Kiosk" above
• The kiosk's firewall might be blocking port 22

See Also

• Kiosk Base Setup — Initial kiosk configuration (installs AnyDesk automatically)
• Linux Utils and Useful Commands — More terminal commands