Setting Up a Sign-up Server for Full-Screen Kiosk Mode

An Internet sign-up server (ISS) is a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) server that automates the task of adding new customers to an Internet service provider's (ISP) customer database. The ISS collects information from each new customer, adds the information to the ISP's customer database, and then passes a configuration packet back to the customer's desktop computer. The configuration packet contains information that is used to configure the customer's Internet browser for subsequent connection to the ISP's services.

For an illustration of the sign-up process, see ISP Sign-up Process.

This document provides information that an experienced Internet server administrator can use to implement an ISS. It assumes that you are already familiar with HTTP, Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), and Common Gateway Interface (CGI) processing.

The ISS adds a new customer to the ISP's database in three steps:

1. Establishes an HTTP connection with a customer's desktop computer.
2. Collects sign-up information from the customer.
3. Handles the customer's acceptance or refusal of the ISP's services.