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Running An App On Startup
Having an application start, automatically, on startup is something akin to black magic – even in Windows XP. It’s not exactly obvious, but dragging or copying an application (or shortcut to it) to the Start > Startup folder is how it’s done.
Kubuntu
Like everything else in KDE, you can alter the startup applications by going into System Settings. The first option on the left of the window is ‘Autostart’, and it’s here you add an application/script to your startup.
The Service Manager option on the left is for enabling/disabling actual KDE services such as bluetooth, power management, audio mixing and such like.
Lastly, Session Management deals with how KDE will react when you choose to shut down the machine. Should it log out, restart the PC, or shut down the PC by default?
Gnome-Shell
In Gnome-Shell it’s also very simple to add a program to the list of programs which should start when you boot the OS. In Applications > System Tools > Preferences > Startup Applications, you can add a program.
Click the Add button. Then, in the new window (Add Startup Program), give your program a name, browse for the file to start, and, if you like, you can also give some comment about it. Click Add again and the item will appear in the list as can be seen in the picture. After adding a program to the list, you can even select if you want it to start during the next boot, tick the box in front of the item, or, if not, untick the box. The item will remain in the list but it can be de-activated.
If you want to know what to put into the “Command” box, then have a look at the shortcut which is made for the program in the main menu. Copy-Paste the path and program name into the field and at next boot your program is running.
That’s all there is to tell about autostart in the Gnome-Shell interface of Ubuntu. It’s not much but it just shows how easy it is to use this OS.
Lubuntu
We have finally reached a topic for which the process in Lubuntu is the epitome of “simple and lightweight”…and totally NOT at all intuitive! That “revelation” is in the context of MS Windows users migrating to Lubuntu, and in that context this statement is (IMHO) true.
I’ll admit it right now: there is no GUI application to add a program to the startup list. Also, you’ll need to be “root” (a.k.a. administrator) to alter this list. And, being Linux, there are many ways to accomplish this very simple task. All that said, I am going to present one way to accomplish this task; you may then alter it to your liking. Now that the requisite “confessions” are on the table, let’s see how incredibly easy it is to add startup applications to Lubuntu.
Here’s a summary of what you’re going to do: • You are going to edit the “autostart” file that keeps the list of applications you want to start automatically when you start your system. • This is a system file, so you will need to be “root” to edit this file.
Yes, that’s all you need to do. Let’s get started: • Using the file manager, navigate to /etc/xdg/lxsession/lubuntu • Typically, you will see two files in this directory: · autostart · desktop.conf • From the main menu in the File Manager, select Tools > Open current folder as root · You will prompted for your password; enter your password and press Enter or click OK. · A new window will open giving you root access to these files. • Double-click the autostart file; it will open in a text editor
You will likely see a few lines of text in this file; leave them alone. These are applications that are already in the list to “autostart” when you log in to Lubuntu; you are going to add your desired applications to this list.
To add an application(s) to the list of programs to autostart, simply add the “launch name” (i.e. the name the system uses to launch the program) of a program you want to run when you start Lubuntu, preceded by an “@” symbol. For example, if you want AbiWord to automatically start when you log in to Lubuntu, simply add this line to the end of the existing list (if any) in the autostart file:
@abiword
Save the file. That’s it - you’re done! The next time you log into Lubuntu, AbiWord will start and be waiting for you to use.
You can add as many applications as you want to this list to autostart. Likewise, if you no longer want an application to autostart, simply remove it from this list.
Xubuntu
In Xubuntu, having an application autostart when you log in is pretty straight-forward. You go to the Settings Manager and scroll down to the “System” section where you will want to open the icon called “Session and Startup.”
Session and Startup allows you to customize the Xfce splash screen, and other behavior related to logging in, and includes a tab for “Application Autostart” which you will want to select. Inside this tab you’ll see a long list of predefined applications that you can choose to enable or disable upon log in.
If the application you wish to autostart is not in the list, you can click the “Add” button to define this information yourself. The fields you define are similar to what you would fill out for customizing your launch in Gnome-Shell, but in a different order. You can also select any application already in the list and select “Edit” to see how that is configured – if you’re looking for tips on setting something up. If you ever wish to stop auto-starting an application, you can unselect the checkbox next to it in this menu and that will disable it; you can also fully remove the definition with the “Remove” button.