5.1.3  Immutable configuration file entries

As we have seen, it is quite easy to generate lockdown profiles with the graphical 

Kiosk Admin Tool, but what does this program really do behind the scenes? 

Starting with KDE 3, configuration entries can be marked immutable, and once 

such a value has been read its value cannot be changed any more via KConfig or 

user entries in $KDEHOME (normally $HOME/.kde).

Entries can be marked immutable on an entry by entry, group, or file basis by 

adding a [$i] at the right places (see Example 5 3). If KDE does not have write 

access to the user's configuration files they will automatically be considered 

immutable and the user will be warned about that fact. If you do not like this 

behavior, add a warn_unwritable_config=false to the KDE Action Restrictions 

section in /etc/kderc (or kdeglobals on the global, profile, or user level) to disable 

this warning for all applications. As we already mentioned, non writable user 

configuration files are not a foolproof lock down mechanism since the user can 

potentially rename these files and add new ones according to his taste. Consider 

the file system mechanisms an add on to the much more sophisticated KDE 

Kiosk framework.

Example 5 3   Immutable entries by the [$i] magic

[ScreenSaver]

Enabled[$i]=true

[Desktop0][$i]

Wallpaper=/usr/share/backgrounds/images/default.png

WallpaperMode=Scaled

[$i]

[Applet_1]

ConfigFile=kminipagerappletrc

DesktopFile=minipagerapplet.desktop

FreeSpace=0

WidthForHeightHint=92

5.1.4  Action restrictions

Using the Kiosk Admin Tool, we already encountered action restrictions that are 

configured on a profile level in the kdeglobals file in the KDE Action Restrictions 

section. For our ITSO profile take a look at Example 5 4 to see what kind of 

entries have been generated

Example 5 4   Action restrictions in /etc/kde profile/itso/share/config/kdeglobals

[KDE Action Restrictions][$i]

action/kdesktop_rmb=false

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Linux Client Migration Cookbook   A Practical Planning and Implementation Guide for Migrating to Desktop