Auto start a script

[RaTTuS]

for Jessie | systemd see viewtopic.php?f=29&t=7192&p=828947#p828947

if you want to start a script off when your RPi boots up there are various ways but here is one that is very useful.
1) make sure your script runs [this is always useful ]
2) edit /etc/inittab with your favourite root mode editor [I use sudo vi /etc/inittab YMMV]
2a) find the line

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1:2345:respawn:/sbin/getty 115200 tty1

and replace it with

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1:2345:respawn:/bin/login -f USERNAME tty1 </dev/tty1 >/dev/tty1 2>&1

where USERNAME is the name of your login user

...what this does is an autologin on tty1 [the 1st terminal]

then edit .bashrc on that user
and right at the end put something like :-

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if [ $(tty) == /dev/tty1 ]; then
   ./script
fi

where script is the script you want to run.

so what happens is when the RPi is booted the 1st terminal will run your script - other terminals will want a login and if you login with your normal user will not auto run your script
if your script exits then you will be left at a command prompt, if you exit it will run again

[grumpyoldgit]

Thanks for that; looks great. Just the sort of thing that people want to do. Candidate for Magpi3?

[kernelcode]

I put stuff in /etc/rc.local if I want it to run on boot - it will run with root privileges (I think you could use sudo to stop that), and will run before login.
The advantage in my mind is that you aren't leaving a logged-in terminal (though maybe you could automatically log out with your method too?)

[Joe Schmoe]

It's funny how that goes - one man's meat is another man's poison.

The *benefit* of doing it this way is that it runs visibly, meaning that you can see it running right there in the virtual console - and this is critical if it is interactive.

It is also true that when you put it into the /etc/rc* sequence, if it fails, it gums up your booting process (and this can be fatal). You have to be careful what you put there. Human frailty and all that...

[kernelcode]

It is also true that when you put it into the /etc/rc* sequence, if it fails, it gums up your booting process (and this can be fatal). You have to be careful what you put there. Human frailty and all that...

I didn't know this - why is that and what kind of issues are we talking about?

[RaTTuS]

rc.local is good for starting extra services
doing it this way will give you an output to the display [and is what I need] and also the ability to stop the script drop to a terminal and restart it with ease .

[Joe Schmoe]

rc.local is good for starting extra services
doing it this way will give you an output to the display [and is what I need] and also the ability to stop the script drop to a terminal and restart it with ease .

You're getting it. Good show.

[bredman]

These are two solutions for two very different things.

Add something to /etc/rc.local if you want it to execute every time the RPi is booted or rebooted.

Add something to ~/.bashrc if you want it to execute every time a specific user logs in.

On a RPi, you could argue that they are almost the same if there is likely to ever be only one user. It really depends on whether you want the command to be executed before or after the user enters his username/password.

@kernelcode
Putting something into /etc/rc.local adds it to the boot sequence. The word "sequence" is important, if your code gets stuck then the boot sequence cannot proceed. The same with ~/.bashrc, if you put a faulty command in here you may not be able to login.

Note that the RPi may have a file on the FAT partition named /boot/boot.rc which performs the same function as /etc/rc.local. This is safer because you can edit this partition from any computer.

[paulsmithenator]

What's the difference between .bash_profile and .bashrc?

[SuperTaranta]

Curious if this would work for commands?
So for instance running quake on login.
would remove the ./script and place sudo /home/user/quake3/ioquake.arm?
Is there a way to make it run once? so like it runs, but when you quit it, it doesn't attempt to again?

As well as Curious about the answer to the post above me as well

[RaTTuS]

What's the difference between .bash_profile and .bashrc?

.bashrc is for non login shells and
.bash_profile is for login shells

so if you login then you .bashrc is run
if you open another terminal then .bash_profile is run

IIRC
man pages and google may help on this

Curious if this would work for commands?
So for instance running quake on login.
would remove the ./script and place sudo /home/user/quake3/ioquake.arm?
Is there a way to make it run once? so like it runs, but when you quit it, it doesn't attempt to again?
As well as Curious about the answer to the post above me as well

yes - though with sudo it will still ask for a password
if you do it how I described in the 1st post after the ./script has run then you will be left at the command prompt
if you then
exit
then it will re-log you and re-run ./script

[SuperTaranta]

What's the difference between .bash_profile and .bashrc?

.bashrc is for non login shells and
.bash_profile is for login shells

so if you login then you .bashrc is run
if you open another terminal then .bash_profile is run

IIRC
man pages and google may help on this

Curious if this would work for commands?
So for instance running quake on login.
would remove the ./script and place sudo /home/user/quake3/ioquake.arm?
Is there a way to make it run once? so like it runs, but when you quit it, it doesn't attempt to again?
As well as Curious about the answer to the post above me as well

yes - though with sudo it will still ask for a password
if you do it how I described in the 1st post after the ./script has run then you will be left at the command prompt
if you then
exit
then it will re-log you and re-run ./script

Alright , thanks for the reply man.

[DetlevSchm]

.bashrc is for non login shells and
.bash_profile is for login shells

so if you login then you .bashrc is run
if you open another terminal then .bash_profile is run

You swapped the file names, it should read:

So, if you login, then your .bash_profile is run.
If you open another terminal, then .bashrc is run.

No harm done .

[heldny]

if i post my script at rc.local, the autoboot is ok.
the problem is that i use an audio library in the script.

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os.system('mpg123 mysound.mp3 &')

the raspberry don't play mysound.mp3 with the autoboot. where i can put my script that the script goes on after the library is up?

[RaTTuS]

full paths to everything

[heldny]

in rc.local:

sudo python /home/pi/prog.py &

or where full path?

[RaTTuS]

in rc.local
you do not need
sudo
as it is run as root anyway
but the
os.system('mpg123 mysound.mp3 &')
may need to point mysound.mp3 to the full path of that

[TheITGuy]

if you want to start a script off when your RPi boots up there are various ways but here is one that is very useful.
1) make sure your script runs [this is always useful ;-p]
2)edit /etc/inittab with your favourite root mode editor [I use sudo vi /etc/inittab YMMV]
2a) find the line
1:2345:respawn:/sbin/getty 115200 tty1
and replace it with
1:2345:respawn:/bin/login -f USERNAME tty1 </dev/tty1 >/dev/tty1 2>&1
where username is the name of your login user
...what this does is an autologin on tty1 [the 1st terminal]
then edit .bashrc on that user
and right at the end put something like :-
if [ $(tty) == /dev/tty1 ]; then
./script
fi

where script is the script you want to run.

so what happens is when the RPi is booted the 1st terminal will run your script - other terminals will want a login and if you login with your normal user will not auto run your script
if your script exits then you will be left at a command prompt, if you exit it will run again

Excellent Post!!
I've got a question hopefully someone can answer. I'm trying to set up a timelapse script to execute on bootup. I've finally got "raspiLapseCam.py" working, now I just need it to start upon boot up since this will be in an isolated location, plug & go setup.

This part states modifying the .bashrc,, and adding the following line.
if [ $(tty) == /dev/tty1 ]; then
./script

I just wanted to clarify the syntax before committing to this process.
I'm going to enter the following for this statement.
if [ $(tty) == /dev/tty1 ]; /usr/local/bin/raspiLapseCam.py

Is this correct???

Thanks for your time.

[RaTTuS]

umm possibly I have to say I always
do
if [ ... ] ; then
command
fi

in bash scripts but IIRC the single line option is fine...

[TheITGuy]

umm possibly I have to say I always
do
if [ ... ] ; then
command
fi

in bash scripts but IIRC the single line option is fine...

So my syntax would be the following;
if [ $(tty) == /dev/tty1 ]; then /usr/local/bin/raspiLapseCam.py
fi

Have a good evening
Thanks RaTTuS

[RaTTuS]

If you have a script that you want to run on boot up the it's pretty easy in Jessie via systemd
assuming that you have created your script correctly i.e.
the first line has the interpreter stated :-
#!//bin/sh
or python or perl or whatever full path please
and has the correct modes i.e.
chmod 755 scriptname
i.e.
nano Ping

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#!/bin/sh
ping -c 50 www.google.com

chmod 755 Ping
./Ping #see that it works

now we create the service
sudo nano /lib/systemd/system/ping.service

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[Unit]
Description=Ping auto test

[Service]
ExecStart=/home/pi/Ping

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

then you can see its status like

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sudo systemctl status ping.service

enable it like

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sudo systemctl enable ping.service

run it like

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sudo systemctl start ping.service

you will not see anything on the screen this is to be expected
but if you

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sudo systemctl status ping.service

you can see it running
also you can see that it is running via

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ps axOT

this script will run when you reboot the machine when it enters the multi-user part of the boot

for my next trick I'll start up a script on a spare virtual terminal that can accept input see
viewtopic.php?f=29&t=7192&start=25#p898424

[Joe Schmoe]

for my next trick I'll start up a script on a spare virtual terminal that can accept input

But that's the whole point. That's what we want to do - run it on a VC.

All the stuff before that - in your post - is just noise, because it is essentially doing it the 20th Century way.

I know this sounds harsh, but you have to be aware of how people read. Their attention span dwindles fast after the first few sentences. Most people won't even notice that the substantive part of your post is in the last sentence.

[tadd]

then you can see its status like

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sudo systemctl status ping.service

enable it like

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sudo systemctl enable ping.service

run it like

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sudo systemctl start ping.service

you will not see anything on the screen this is to be expected
but if you

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sudo systemctl status ping.service

you can see it running

This works! Yeah. is there a concise and relevant text about the writing of a .service file that we can reference? I'm specifically interested in Raspberry PI JESSIE compatible operation. One feature I'm immediately looking for is the ability to respawn the executable if it quits.

Thanks for any help!
Tadd

[RaTTuS]

yeah the systemd tutorial stuff
if you have
Restart=always
in the [Service] section then it will restart

the next one will be a bit more involving - as it has to do a lot more but I'm not in a position to post it right now as I have some win10 PC issues I'm dealing with.

[tadd]

yeah the systemd tutorial stuff ;)
.

Thanks.
I also found this document
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Systemd

Tadd