ChromeOS and ChromeOS Flex provide a secure, stable, and highly manageable platform for deploying digital signage at scale. By using the Google Workspace Admin Console, you can remotely install and configure the OnSign app across multiple devices, through an easy and centrally managed setup.

For added security, ChromeOS supports Kiosk Mode, which allows OnSign to run in full-screen mode while preventing users from exiting the application or accessing other parts of the operating system. 

This makes it an ideal solution for unattended or public-facing displays.

OnSign is implemented as a PWA app, meaning it is compatible and can be fully managed by all recent ChromeOS devices.

In this tutorial, we’ll guide you through the steps to install and run OnSign on ChromeOS and ChromeOS Flex devices using the Admin Console.

Organizational Units

Now that you're logged into your Google Admin Console, the first step is to configure what’s called an Organizational Unit (OU). An OU is essentially a group that lets you apply policy settings to all devices assigned to it.

If all your devices will use the same installation and configuration settings, a single Organizational Unit is likely sufficient. However, if different sets of devices require different policies, you can create multiple hierarchical Organizational Units to better organize and manage your network.

Setting Up OnSign in the Google Admin Console

Now let’s configure the rules required for OnSign to be automatically installed and run in Kiosk Mode. Note this setup only needs to be done once, as any new device added to the Organizational Unit will automatically follow the same configuration.

1. Sign in using an administrator account to Google Admin (https://admin.google.com/). 
2. Go to Menu Devices → Chrome → Apps & extensions → Kiosks
3. Go to Add and select Add by URL.
4. Enter https://chromeos.onsign.com and then Save.
5. Click the newly added “OnSign Chrome OS Player” from the list. This will open a panel on the right side of the screen.
6. Make sure the following settings are correctly set:
   1. Installation Policy: Installed
   2. Allow App to Manage Power: Enabled
   3. Web app can run offline: Enabled
7. Click “Add Extension” → “Add from a custom URL” under the Extensions section
8. Click “From the Chrome Web Store” dropdown menu, and select “From a custom URL”
9. Enter “nhfheignagcldfgfjbcmkhidblkjpnfo” (without quotes) in the Extension ID field
10. Enter https://chromeos.onsign.com/extension/updates.xml in the URL field
11. Close the side panel
12. At the top of the list beside “Auto-launch app”, select “OnSign Chrome OS Player”

Additional Settings

While OnSign installation policies are already in place, additional settings are required to ensure OnSign has access to all ChromeOS recourses and settings:

1. Go to  Devices → Chrome → Click the “Device Settings” tab
2. Scroll down and set the
   • “Enterprise Hardware Platform API” to : Allow managed extensions to use the Enterprise Hardware Platform API
3. Scroll down once again and search for “AC Kiosk power settings” and set:
   • "Action on idle" to → Do nothing
   • "Screen dim timeout (in minutes)" to → 0
   • "Screen off timeout (in minutes)" to → 0

Device sleep mode (Optional)

This works analogous to OnSign Working Hours feature and can be used instead of the "Turn Screen Black" option. It will define a recurring weekly schedule for managed ChromeOS devices to automatically enter sleep mode and wake up at specific times.

The device will go to sleep at the start of the scheduled interval and wake up at the end of the interval. It is only supported on devices running ChromeOS version 125 or higher.

Before you set this policy, the "Action on idle" setting for "Battery Kiosk power settings" and "AC Kiosk power settings" must be set to "Do nothing".
 

More info on ChromeOS