Running Commands Automatically at Startup

It sounds like you’re on the right track wanting to avoid rc.local for running your script at startup. Ubuntu 16.10 uses systemd, which is a modern way to manage services and startup tasks. Here are a couple of routes you can take:

Option 1: Creating a Systemd Service

Setting up a systemd service is a pretty solid choice. You can create a service file to run your script automatically. Here’s a simple way to do it:

# Create a new service file
sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/my-script.service

    

Then, you can add the following content to the file (adjust the ExecStart line to point to your script):

[Unit]
Description=My startup script

[Service]
ExecStart=/path/to/your/script.sh
User=yourusername
Type=simple
Restart=on-failure

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

    

Replace /path/to/your/script.sh with the actual path to your script and yourusername with your username.

After creating the service file, you’ll need to enable and start it:

# Enable the service to run at startup
sudo systemctl enable my-script.service

# Start the service now (optional)
sudo systemctl start my-script.service

    

One thing to keep in mind is the User field; this ensures your script runs with the right permissions. It would help if you also considered what dependencies your script needs, as you might need to add After= directives in the [Unit] section to ensure it runs after those services.

Option 2: Using Cron with @reboot

If you’re looking for something a bit simpler, using cron with @reboot is also a valid option. You can edit your cron jobs like this:

# Edit your crontab
crontab -e

    

Then, add a line like:

@reboot /path/to/your/script.sh

    

Just make sure your script is executable with chmod +x /path/to/your/script.sh. However, be aware that cron jobs may not have the same environment variables as your usual shell, so if your script depends on certain environment settings, this might cause issues.

Which Should You Choose?

If your script needs certain services or network to be up before running, go with the systemd service route. It’s more robust and allows you to define dependencies easily. If your script is more standalone and doesn’t need to worry about other services, cron should work just fine.

Also, keep in mind that if you’re using a desktop environment, some graphical applications may not start correctly with cron since it doesn’t start in the user’s graphical session. You might need to set the display variable appropriately in your script if that’s the case.

Hope this helps you get your script running at startup without any headaches!