Troubleshooting

Checking what version of iOS/iPadOS App Portal is being pushed out (15.3+)

What

How do I know what version of App Portal (Kiosk) is being pushed out to iOS/iPadOS devices?

When/Why

After a FileWave upgrade, there likely will be a new version of the iOS/iPadsOS IPA pushed out through the automatic upgrade process. Because this process is a bit invisible, verifying what the server believes is the version it is pushing out is sometimes necessary.

How

In FileWave Central, go to Assistants -> Manage Administrators and then pick your user account, though depending on permissions, you may want to use fwadmin. Grab the base64 token seen below in the image, including the = at the end of it.

image.png

Now you can ask the server. Replace ezk5ODxxxmE0OyyyyyyyOX0= below with your token, and replace support2.filewave.net with your server's DNS name.  

Here is a command you can run in Terminal.app on a macOS system or any system that has curl installed:

curl -H "Authorization: ezk5ODxxxmE0OyyyyyyyOX0=" https://support2.filewave.net/filewave/api/kiosk/internal/kiosk-status

Here is a PowerShell example of the same command:

# Define the URL to make the request
$url = "https://support2.filewave.net/filewave/api/kiosk/internal/kiosk-status"

# Define the headers, including the Authorization token
$headers = @{
    "Authorization" = "ezk5ODxxxmE0OyyyyyyyOX0="
}

# Use Invoke-WebRequest to make the GET request with headers
$response = Invoke-WebRequest -Uri $url -Headers $headers -Method Get

# Output the content of the response
$response.Content

The output of the command will be something like below. 

{"installed":{"ipa_url":"https://fw-kiosk-v2-ipas.filewave.cloud/15.3.1/App_Portal_15.3.1.ipa","ipa_md5":"81628b83dad72e274ef93ea031db1484","build_date":"2024-03-27T20:08:49.192563Z","bundle_version":"15.3.1"},"latest":{"ipa_url":"https://fw-kiosk-v2-ipas.filewave.cloud/15.3.1/App_Portal_15.3.1.ipa","ipa_md5":"81628b83dad72e274ef93ea031db1484","build_date":"2024-03-27T20:08:49.192563Z","bundle_version":"15.3.1"},"available_versions":["15.3.1"]}%

Related Content

Removing pre-15.3 Kiosk Customizations (macOS/Windows)

Prior to FileWave 15.3 you had a method of customizing the Kiosk that is not used in 15.3 and beyond. Some of the customizations will be ignored with 15.3, but there are things you'll want to potentially remove and you may want to stop pushing out customizations that are no longer enforced. This article is a paired down version of the old article and simply contains information on what customizations you might have had in the past so you can look to potentially remove the files/edits. 

The look of the FileWave desktop Kiosk was customized using Qt Style Sheets. You would have had to create a file named fwGUI.qss and deploy it to clients in the right location. Several icons were also customizable by placing your custom icon in the right place with the right file name. All of this can be deployed via a Fileset.

Check out Setting the Primary Color, Name and Logo in Kiosk/App Portal (15.3+) and Applications Preventing Reboot (macOS/Windows) for the things that can be customized in FileWave 15.3 and beyond.

Deploy

fwGUI.qss -- You would have created a Fileset containing the fwGUI.qss and the icons, then associate it to the desired clients. The directory where these files was placed depends on the operating system. In 15.3 and beyond you don't want to push the qss file or icons out as they will have no effect on the Kiosk.

macOS
/usr/local/sbin/FileWave.app/Contents/Resources/fwGUI.app/Contents/custom
Windows
C:\Program Files\FileWave\custom (might be "Program Files (x86)", depending on the platform)

The changes will only be visible in the desktop Kiosk after the user logs out and logs in again.

Menu Bar/System Tray Settings

settings.ini -- contained generic kiosk ui settings. Especially important is that if hide_system_tray = false that you will end up with 2 icons for the Kiosk where one is the old Kiosk if you are on FileWave 15.3.

Example
window_title = "Your New Window Title"
show_top_downloads = true
hide_system_tray = false

Customizable icons

You might have included icon files that you used to replace them in Kiosk before 15.3. These icons will not appear in 15.3 or newer.

File name Description Example Pixel Size
action_back.png Icon for the "Back" action in the Software Installation dialog DesktopKiosk-back.png 48x48
action_forward.png Icon for the "Forward" action in the Software Installation dialog DesktopKiosk-fwd.png 48x48
background_icon.png Icon used for the watermark (FileWave icon) 512x512
rating_star_half.png Icon for half a rating star DesktopKiosk-star_half.png 40x40
rating_star_off.png Icon for a rating star that is off DesktopKiosk-star_off.png 40x40
rating_star_on.png Icon for a rating star that is on DesktopKiosk-star_on.png 40x40
tray_icon.png System tray icon. If missing, the background_icon.png is used. (FileWave icon) 16x16
warning.png Warning icon, displayed when a fileset has problems (e.g. missing VPP user) DesktopKiosk-error_red-cir_status.png 64x64

Related Content



Kiosk with macOS in a VM: Enabling Metal support

Description

The FileWave Kiosk requires Metal support when it runs in macOS. VMware does not enable Metal support for macOS VMs by default. You can add the VMX settings below for testing, but treat this as a workaround: the VM may become unstable and the host Mac may kernel panic.

Use cautiously

Without Metal support, the Kiosk will not open and the user logs may show messages like these:

2024-05-13 10:40:15.324 FileWave Kiosk[1241:5674] Could not acquire Metal device.
2024-05-13 10:40:25.936 FileWave Kiosk[1241:5674] Unable to create FlutterView; no MTLDevice or MTLCommandQueue available.

Configuration

Shut down the VM before editing its configuration. Do not edit the file while the VM is running or paused.

Open the folder that contains the VM and find its .vmx file. For example, if the VM folder is named macOS 12.vmwarevm, the VMX file may be named macOS 12.vmx:

/Users/sholden/Documents/Virtual\ Machines/macOS\ 12.vmwarevm/macOS\ 12.vmx

Add these two lines:

appleGPU0.present = "TRUE"
svga.present = "FALSE"

Start the VM after saving the file. To undo the change, shut down the VM again and remove the same two entries.

You may also need to define the display size in the same file. This example uses 1920 x 1080:

appleGPU0.screenWidth="1920"
appleGPU0.screenHeight="1080"

This workaround may let the Kiosk launch in a VMware test VM, but in practice the VM often crashed or became unusable. Because the host Mac may also kernel panic, avoid this configuration unless the test requires it. Remove the entries when the test is complete.

Resolve FileWave Kiosk SSL and Manifest Validation Errors (15.3+)

What

FileWave Kiosk installation can fail on macOS or Windows with a manifest validation error followed by an SSL error. The example below was first documented with Kiosk 15.3.1.

When/Why

This usually means the device cannot reach or trust the Kiosk package host. Common causes include a content filter that classifies the host as unknown, a proxy or firewall block, or SSL inspection that changes the certificate chain.

"InstallApplication	command error		2024-04-22T07:36:38	2024-04-22T07:36:38				Could not validate manifest..An SSL error has occurred and a secure connection to the server cannot be made.	com.filewave.ios.app.kiosk2	"

How

Check the network path used by the affected device:

  1. Check the proxy, firewall, and content filter: Confirm that they allow the Kiosk package host and do not replace its certificate with an untrusted chain.

  2. Allow the required URLs: Add the following entries to the appropriate allowlist:

    • https://fw-kiosk-v2-ipas.filewave.cloud/
    • *.filewave.cloud

    The exact rule depends on your network security product. Apply the change to the same network path used by the affected devices.

  3. Retry the installation: After the network rule is active, send the installation again and check the device command history.

# Example command to verify if the URL is accessible from your network
curl -Iv https://fw-kiosk-v2-ipas.filewave.cloud/

Run the command from the same network path as an affected device when possible. If the host is reachable but certificate validation still fails, inspect SSL/TLS interception and the device's trusted certificate chain.

Digging Deeper

The combined log message points to a network or trust failure while the device validates the Kiosk manifest. Fix reachability and certificate trust first, then retry the Kiosk command.