Network and remote management

How the photo booth deals with the internet and the local network: whether it deliberately works offline, whether it reports to a web server, whether it can be operated remotely and which devices on the same network can reach it. Which way suits when is described in Keeping an eye from afar.

Online/offline mode#

Puts the booth deliberately into offline operation. The area lists what is then not offered — cloud upload, mail sending, web album QR codes and the AI portraits. The latter need a provider on the internet: in offline mode neither the style selection nor the tile of the AI mode appears, and a running session delivers the picture without a style instead of running into a wait.

When the network drops in the middle of the party, there is no time to look for the area. The same switch therefore sits at the bottom of the admin menu, below "Save automatically", and takes effect immediately. Anyone who does not want to open the admin area at all finds it in the booth's quick settings menu as well.

Remote management#

The booth reports its state to a web server and accepts commands from there.

A graphic at the top shows the saved state: whether the photo booth reports, how often and where to. The web server is chosen with two cards, the reporting interval also by quick selection.

Reported are the state and load of the machine, counters, enabled features and errors that occurred — no pictures.

To the self-hosted web server the photo booth also reports which event is loaded. Sessions, prints and AI portraits appear there under the right event, even after a switch at the photo booth, and the event's page shows the counter reading the photo booth keeps for it. This needs the self-hosted web server from version 1.10.0.

Remote access and remote support build on remote management. They are in the next menu item.

Remote access & remote support#

Two ways to operate the photo booth from elsewhere: the interface in a browser (remote access) or the entire Windows desktop through a remote support program (remote support). Both run through remote management (admin area "Network & Remote Management" > "Remote access & remote support").

Two cards at the top show the state of both routes; a click leads to the block. Under "Remote access to the interface" a list ticks off what remote access already has. A click on an open item leads to where it is set. A ring shows the remaining time of an open session, with its address below.

Remote access to the interface#

The photobooth interface can be opened remotely in a browser — even when the booth sits in a restaurant's Wi-Fi or behind a mobile router. Neither a VPN nor port forwarding is needed.

This helps when something has to be adjusted during an event without driving there: swapping a layout, checking the printer, resetting a counter.

Requirement#

Remote access is not set up on the photobooth but where it reports its state: in the management portal or in the backend of your own web server. A dedicated address is created there for each device. The software picks it up the next time it reports in.

Without remote management switched on, no remote access comes about. Only the main switch "Allow remote access" stays on the photo booth. Without it no connection can be opened.

In everyday use#

The connection is not open permanently. It is opened one session at a time and closes by itself after the configured time — four hours by default. It can be opened on the photobooth or remotely; the badge in the section header shows while something is open.

When opening remotely, allow for one reporting interval: the software only picks the command up the next time it reports in.

Remote support for this computer#

Remote support transmits the entire Windows desktop through a separate program such as TeamViewer or AnyDesk. Someone has to be on site for this or the program has to keep running. The field "Remote support program" holds what the "start remote support" command from the portal opens. Without an entry the photo booth rejects the command with a message.

For the interface alone, remote access is enough — it works without an extra program.

Access from the network#

Once the photo booth is on a network, every other device there reaches it through its address in a browser — a tablet, a phone, the laptop at the next table. This section decides what those devices are allowed to use (admin area "Access from the network").

A picture at the top shows which areas a device on the network reaches and whether it needs the PIN: green open, orange operating interface or admin area without PIN, red PIN required but none stored. Picture and area cards follow the ticks even before saving.

Out of the box only the gallery for external devices gets through from the network. The operating interface and the admin area stay reserved for the photo booth screen until they are released here.

The four areas#

The gallery has no switch of its own in this section — it is switched on and off where it belongs (admin area "Gallery" > "External gallery: access & connection"). All that appears here is how it currently stands.

The top-up station shows only the page for topping up credit — for a tablet at the entrance, see Setting up pay-per-use.

The addresses#

Below the switches stand the complete addresses under which the photo booth is currently reachable — with IP address and port, ready to be typed into the browser of the other device. They appear for a blocked area as well, so it is clear what to enter once it is released.

Several addresses mean the computer has several network cards — usually LAN and Wi-Fi. The right one comes from the network the other device is on.

With the encrypted connection switched on (admin area "Gallery" > "External gallery: access & connection" > "Encrypted connection"), each area also shows an https address with its own port. Only over that one does the tablet offer the device's share menu.

Each area has a card with its main address written out in full. Released areas also have a QR code: scanned with the tablet or phone, it opens the address without typing it. Addresses of further network cards are under "More addresses", which expands.

The photo booth port#

The number after the colon in the address is the port. It is 8000 by default. If another program on the same computer occupies that number, the photo booth does not start — it never even reaches its own screen. For that case the number can be changed in the "Photo booth port" field. Allowed values are 1024 to 65535.

The change takes effect after the next start of the software. While the photo booth is still running on the old number, a note below the field says so. After that the new number applies everywhere: in the addresses above, for devices on the network, for the gallery on an external device and for the slideshow on a second monitor.

The Windows firewall is not an issue here: its permission is granted for the program at first start, not for a single port number — it then applies to every port the photo booth uses. Only a hand-made rule for port 8000, or the permission of another firewall, would have to be adjusted.

When the port is in use at startup#

The admin area is no help in that case: it is part of the photo booth and only reachable once it runs. So the software asks during startup instead. If the port is in use, it looks for a free number nearby and offers it in a dialog:

• Yes — the photo booth starts on the new number right away and remembers it. Nothing else is needed; the admin area then shows the new number in the field.
• No — startup is cancelled, with the familiar notice about the occupied port.

The network PIN#

A released area can additionally be put behind a PIN. The "Require PIN" box sits at each of the three areas separately — so the gallery stays open for guests while the operating interface sits behind it.

The network PIN is separate from the admin PIN. Handing it to the attendant does not hand over the admin access: behind the network PIN the admin area still asks for its own.

Four to twelve digits. As long as none is stored the boxes have no effect — a barrier without a key would be a lock nobody can open again.

A device calling up a protected area gets an input mask in the language set on the photo booth and is then unlocked for twelve hours. After a restart of the photo booth it asks again; likewise as soon as the PIN is changed or removed.

After five wrong entries in a row the prompt pauses for a minute, and twice as long on every further attempt. Counting happens per device.

When to release#

Releasing the operating interface makes sense when a second screen is to operate the booth — a tablet at the attendant's place, for instance. Releasing the admin area pays off when things are adjusted from a laptop during the event, without standing in front of the booth.

After five wrong PIN entries in a row the login pauses for a minute, and twice as long on every further attempt. Counting happens per device; the correct PIN resets the counter.

What a blocked device sees#

Calling up something blocked from another device brings up a page in the language set on the photo booth — not an error message that looks like a defect. It names the area concerned and the way to release it step by step: menu path and switch, matching the part that was called up, plus the note that release happens on the photo booth's own screen and not from the other device.

None of this changes anything on the photo booth screen itself, and remote access through the portal still leads into the admin area.

Browser cache#

"Content caching" (on by default) lets browsers keep the files of the interface. On the next visit they only ask whether the files are still current. This saves data and builds the pages faster — on a tablet with the gallery as well as with remote access. After an update the new version still arrives immediately.

Status webhook#

The photo booth reports its status at regular intervals to your own server - as JSON with the same values the remote management portal shows. This lets you show the status on your own website or feed it into your own systems, even without remote management.

Everything about it: Status webhook — structure of the report, checking the signature and ready-made examples in PHP and Node.js.