lubuntu how to execute 2 commands in .desktop file?

Question

I have created a .desktop file in /etc/xdg/autostart which runs the command

Exec= disper -d LVDS,VGA-0 -r auto -e -t right

Now I want to add a second command to run after the first command. How do I do this ?

Create a bash script, run multiple commands in it and run the bash script from your .desktop? — Louis Matthijssen, May 05 '14 at 23:30

score 21 · Answer 1 · answered Jun 02 '16 at 15:10

21

Apart from calling an external bash script there is this option:

Exec=sh -c "disper -d LVDS,VGA-0 -r auto -e -t right; echo Running other command; echo ...and an other one"

answered Jun 02 '16 at 15:10

algol

311

I am using this variation to remedy some conky issues: Exec=sh -c "gnome-terminal & killall -SIGUSR1 conky" – Tfb9 Oct 25 '16 at 23:32
can any of the commands set an environment variable such as LD_LIBRARY_PATH? – Brian Wiley Dec 19 '20 at 05:05

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered May 06 '14 at 02:35

The easiest way is to wrap it all up in a script. For example:

#!/bin/bash

disper -d LVDS,VGA-0 -r auto -e -t right
second_command_here

Save it somewhere, such as ~/bin/my_wrapper_script.sh, and make it executable. Then change the Exec line of your .desktop file to point to it:

Exec=/home/my_username/my_wrapper_script.sh

score 2 · Answer 3 · edited May 06 '14 at 02:32

According to this source:

The Exec key must contain a command line. A command line consists of an executable program optionally followed by one or more arguments.

My understanding of the above being that the Exec key supports a single command and that command can only contain 1 executable followed by arguments for the executable.

My tests to combine commands:

firefox && gedit
firefox & gedit
firefox ; gedit

resulted in the second executable being read as an argument which seems to confirm the text.

lubuntu how to execute 2 commands in .desktop file?

3 Answers3

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