KioWare - Kiosk System Software - User Guides

Microsoft Windows 10*, 11*, 2016, 2019, or 2022
x86-based CPU (ARM not supported)
Microsoft .NET Runtime 4.8 (4.5 in v8.23 and earlier)

*Does not run on Windows CE, Windows RT, Windows IoT (Core), or Windows Mobile Enterprise

Installation Instructions

Launch the KioWare installer by double-clicking (or touching, if using a touchscreen) the KioWareClientSetup.exe file.
Read and accept the License Agreement by selecting the “Agree” button.
Create User/Set shell - Optionally, use the settings below to create a new local Windows user account and specify if that user should run the KioWare shell or not.
- Username - Enter the username of the new or existing Windows account.
- Password - Enter the password of the new or existing Windows account.
- Optional NT Domain - If needed, enter the Windows NT domain of an existing user.
- Set User Shell to KioWare - Check this box to use KioWare as the shell for the new or existing user. Note: Using KioWare as the shell is recommended for the highest security.
Ctrl-Alt-Del Blocking - Use this screen to install (or uninstall) the ability to block Ctrl+Alt+Del. Note: Allowing Ctrl+Alt+Del on your kiosk or computer puts it at greater risk of being hacked. We recommend that you block this key combination. Also, if Ctrl+Alt+Del is not blocked during installation of KioWare, then you will not be able to use the Keyboard Filtering Tab to block Ctrl+Alt+Del if you later want to (see Configuration Tool, Keyboard Filtering Tab, Keyboard Filtering).
Select a directory location to install KioWare. Select the “Browse” button to change the default location.
Begin the installation process by selecting the “Install” button.
The screen will tell you when the installation is complete. Select the “Exit” button to close the screen.

Default Install Directories

Once installed, the KioWare Client Config.exe (opens the Configuration Tool) and KioWare Client.exe (opens the KioWare browser) files will be stored in the default install directory for your operating system (see below).

Operating System	Default Install Directory
32-bit Windows 10 and 11	C:\Program Files\KioWare Client Platform
64-bit Windows 10 and 11	C:\Program Files (x86)\KioWare Client Platform

A KioWare Client directory will also be installed under C:\ProgramData. In this directory, you will find files for any custom toolbars you set up, as well as your user data directory (see Configuration Tool, Related Terms and Questions for more details on the user data directory).

Automatic Installation

Command Line Arguments

To automatically install KioWare, command line arguments can be used. These commands contain parameters (see below) that tell the installer how to install KioWare and anything special that should also be done (e.g., to also load a remote settings file or automatically license KioWare over the Internet). With automatic installation, the typical install screens do not show and no user input is needed for the installation to continue. (See Configuration Tool, Related Terms and Questions for more details on command line arguments.)

Parameters

This table lists the parameters for auto-installation, which license types they are used with (see Configuration Tool, License Tab, License Type), and a brief description of each.

Parameter	Lic Type	Description
InstallDir	All	Installation directory
SetUserAutoLogon	All	Set auto-logon for a Windows account [0=disabled (default), 1=enabled]
UserName	All	Username to log into KioWare account
UserPassword	All	Password to log into KioWare account
UserDomain	All	Domain to log into KioWare account
SetUserKioShell	All	Set user shell to KioWare shell (0=disabled, 1=enabled)
UserGroupName	All	User group name (default is Users)
InstKbdFlt	All	Turn on keyboard filtering (0=turned off, 1=turned on)
Silent	All	Perform actions and exit without showing a user interface (0=disabled, 1=enabled)
LicType	All	(0=Electronic license, 1 or kwls=License server)
LicTrans	All	Electronic license transaction number
LicAuth	All	Electronic license authorization code
LicModel	All	License model (0=Lite, 1=Basic, 3=Full)
LicYear	E-Lic	Optional electronic license expire year
LicMonth	E-Lic	Optional electronic license expire month
LicDay	E-Lic	Optional electronic license expire day
GetLicense	E-Lic	Retrieves the electronic license
LicServerUrl	KWLS	License server URL
LicServerPass	KWLS	License server password
LicSvrClientCertLoc	KWLS	License server client certificate location (0=current user, 1=local machine)
LicSvrClientCertThumb	KWLS	String thumbprint for license server client certificate to use
KwsKioskName	All	A new kiosk name
KwsUnitName	All	A new kiosk unit name
KwsClientCertLoc	All	KioWare Server client certificate location (0 = current user, 1 = local machine)
KwsClientCertThumb	All	String thumbprint for KioWare Server client certificate to use
KwsGroupsAdd	All	List of groups to add the kiosk to, with each group being identified by a unique value from the server
KwsGroupsRem	All	List of groups to remove the kiosk from, with each group being identified by a unique value from the server
KwsGroupsSettsLoc	All	Settings location for KwsGroupsAdd and KwsGroupsRem above (0 = normal settings, 1 = machine settings; default = 0)
Import	All	A path to a remote settings file (kwconfig or kwpkg) to import (if silent, then this can be a URL)
importretries	All	Maximum number of retry attempts (based on importretrymillis below) when an attempt to load settings fails (0=disabled; no further attempts are made when maximum is reached)
importretrymillis	All	The amount of time that KioWare will wait, after each failed attempt to load settings, before making another retry attempt (up to a specific number of retries; see importretries above)
ConfigName	All	Used for Multi-Settings mode
BasicAuthPath	All	File path of the JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) file used for importing machine specific basic authentication (see also Machine Specific Basic Authentication Entries Window)
BasicAuthTag	All	Tag that identifies which authentication credentials to import (from the JSON file; see BasicAuthPath above)
BasicAuthMergeType	All	The type of import (0 = overwrite, 1 = prepend, 2 = append; no import type or any other value = overwrite). If no tag is specified (see BasicAuthTag above), then only credentials with no tag specified in the JSON file will be imported.

Hints for Using Command Line Arguments

Any parameters that require values should have an equal sign (=) after it, followed by the value (e.g., param=value).
Values with spaces in them should be placed inside double quotation marks (e.g., param="some value").
All parameters will affect non-silent mode.
If requesting an electronic license with an optional expire date, then all three expire values are required (day, month, year).
Valid values for LicModel are Lite and 0 (for Lite), Basic and 1 (for Basic), and Full and 3 (for Full).
If a request for an electronic license fails, then the exit code will have the 1 bit set.
If a request for a remote settings file fails, then the exit code will have the 2 bit set.
Parameters for KioWare Server groups should have multiple groups separated by a comma with no space.
When running the command line arguments, use the start /wait "" command to wait for the KioWare installer to exit (see example below).
Example (start/wait command):
start /wait "" "KioWareClientSetup.exe" Silent=1 "InstallDir=C:\KWTest" "UserName=kw1" "UserPassword=kw1" "UserDomain=MIG" SetUserKioShell=1 InstKbdFlt=1 "KwsKioskName=TEST Kiosk" "KwsUnitName=Some unit"
Example (electronic licensing):
Arguments can be passed to the installer or Config Tool.
"KioWareClientSetup.exe" LicType=0 LicTrans=999999999 LicAuth=654321 LicModel=2 LicYear=2016 LicMonth=7 LicDay=20 GetLicense=1
"KioWare Client Config.exe" LicType=0 LicTrans=999999999 LicAuth=123456 LicModel=3 LicYear=2016 LicMonth=5 LicDay=12 GetLicense=1

When I try to install KioWare, I get a .NET error.	Be sure that you have .NET 4.5.0 or higher installed. KioWare can only be installed if .NET 4.5.x is already on your kiosk or computer.
When I try to install KioWare with a new user account, I get a 2245 error about my password being too short.	Check that the password you entered meets the password security requirements for the Group Policy applied to the computer or kiosk (e.g., must be 8 characters and contain letters, numbers, and special characters).