Run a script on login using ~/.bash_login

Question

I need to run a script when I login and logout in my Ubuntu.

I tried to put the script in my ~/.bash_login but it didn't work.

Is there a better location where I can run my script?

My script is located in /home/gsd/script/login.sh and it's executable.

edit:

my script runs when i type: /home/gsd/script/login.sh and it set with +x

now, i only have: touch /home/gsd/test.txt in the ~/.bash_login to test.

the file test.txt is never created

edit 2:

gsd@laptop:~$ ll ~/.bash*
-rw------- 1 gsd gsd 38639 2012-01-25 17:25 .bash_history
-rw-r--r-- 1 gsd gsd    29 2012-01-25 15:22 .bash_login
-rw-r--r-- 1 gsd gsd   220 2011-11-03 19:22 .bash_logout
-rw-r--r-- 1 gsd gsd  3136 2011-11-04 08:00 .bashrc

does .bash_login has the right permissions? what does ls -l .bash_login returns? — santiagozky, Jan 25 '12 at 14:48
By login/logout into Ubuntu, do you mean "logging in/out to the Unity/GNOME session from the graphical login manager"? — Riccardo Murri, Jan 25 '12 at 19:14
It is not necessary to chmod +x .bash_login (set the executable bit on .bash_login). The Bash manual is a bit confusing in this area, but Bash does not eXecute .bash_login like a shell script. It does read the file and then executes the commands within it (You can do something similar by running source ~/.bash_login). — Stefan Lasiewski, Jan 25 '12 at 19:31
@GinoSullivan : Can you provide the contents of your ~/.bash_login? Run a few tests: Run /home/gsd/script/login.sh by hand, does it do what you expect? Test the .bash_login with the command source ~/.bash_login, does this do what you expect? — Stefan Lasiewski, Jan 25 '12 at 19:33
@StefanLasiewski do i have to do: source ~/.bash_login everytime i login? — Gino Sullivan, Jan 25 '12 at 19:58
@Gino: No, just do that as a manual sanity check to make sure that .bash_login is doing what you expect it to do. — Stefan Lasiewski, Jan 25 '12 at 20:02
How are you logging in to Ubuntu? SSH? Rebooting, then starting a terminal? — Stefan Lasiewski, Jan 26 '12 at 18:03

score 30 · Answer 1 · edited Mar 20 '17 at 10:04

If .bash_profile exists, then Bash will not read .bash_login (or .profile). This annoying feature is described in some versions of the Bash manual, but not all.

.bash_profile and .bash_loginare analogous, so I recommend you put your commands in .bash_profile, because it's is commonly used and .bash_login is relatively unknown. Also consider putting your commands in .bashrc instead of .bash_profile. The manual describes difference between "interactive non-login shell" and "interactive login shell", so be sure to read that section.

The GNU Bash Reference Manual version 4.1: Bash Startup Files says:

looks for ~/.bash_profile, ~/.bash_login, and ~/.profile, in that order, and reads and executes commands from the first one that exists and is readable.

Also see this question on superuser, and this Bash howto (Don't be deterred by the freeunix.dyndns.org:8088 address--- it's still a good quality manual and I have used it for years).

Update, since you say you don't have a .bash_profile.

It sounds like you are not using what's called a "interactive non-login shell" (See the Bash manual for a detailed description).

To test this, add something like the following each file: .bashrc, .bash_profile and .bash_login.

echo "DEBUG: I am .bashrc"

echo "DEBUG: I am .bash_profile"

Then log out and log in again. When you log in, I bet you will only see the phrase "DEBUG: I am .bashrc" but not "I am .bash_profile". If so, it means you are a "interactive non-login shell", which simply means that Bash will call .bashrc but not .bash_profile. For information why these dotfiles are the way they are, see @Andrejs Cainikovs's post below and http://mywiki.wooledge.org/DotFiles

This answer solves the problem, I think it's worth accepting it. — Marius Butuc, Mar 26 '12 at 17:23
Also note that these bash files are only run when logging into a shell (through Terminal, ssh, etc.), not when logging into the GUI! — mivk, Oct 18 '12 at 08:19
None of mentioned scripts runs when I'm logging in except first time after system boot. — humkins, Dec 09 '13 at 08:07
@mivk : that's not always the case. .bashrc just ran for me logging in via GUI, but .bash_login did not. — 7yl4r, Mar 13 '17 at 14:01

score 9 · Answer 2 · edited May 14 '16 at 08:52

9

Login shells, regardless of if they are interactive or non-interactive read and execute the .profile

Interactive shells read and execute .bashrc.

Often you will see that /etc/profile sources .bashrc - thus all settings made in .bashrc will also take effect in a login shell regardless of whether it is interactive or non-interactive.

The order of execution of the initialization scripts for a shell is dependent on if the shell is interactive or non-interactive and not related to if it is a login script or not.

When bash is invoked as an interactive login shell it reads and executes commands from the /etc/profile. Then Bash will then try in order to execute ONLY the first file exists and is readable of the following:

.bash_profile
.bash_login
.profile

If one of these files is found but can not be read, it will cause an error. There is no error if any are NOT found.

This same process is followed when a non-interactive login shell is invoked with the --login option.

edited May 14 '16 at 08:52

Jonathan Cross

194

answered Apr 07 '16 at 14:39

jwilleke

191

1

AFAIK, .profile file is read and executed only when the user logs in using the graphical interface. Otherwise it is not read. – RajaRaviVarma Jul 05 '17 at 21:05
@RajaRaviVarma I just tested (Ubuntu 16.04) and ~/.profile definitely is read in non-graphical login shells (I tested by switching to another terminal via Ctrl+Alt+F2 and logging in there). – waldyrious Nov 07 '17 at 18:58
I agree with @RajaRaviVarma - I'm logging into an Ubuntu 16.04 VM over SSH and .profile is not read, only .bashrc – jamesc Jul 13 '18 at 12:28

score 1 · Answer 3 · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:23

Bash only looks for .bash_login or .profile files if it is executed as interactive login shell. When it is executed as interactive non-login shell it reads .bashrc.
Commonly it is the second case, i.e when you run gnome-terminal bash is run as non-login shell.

This clearly states that if you are booting into Gnome, .bash_login will not be executed. But if you lower runlevel to boot directly to bash, the same file will be executed upon succesfull login.
I assume .bash_login will be executed in case of remote SSH connections as well.

Partially ripped from here.

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Jan 25 '12 at 18:58

Make sure the script you want to run is executable. Run chmod +x scriptname to do that. Also make sure the script starts with the correct shebang (#!/bin/bash for shell scripts). Lastly, use all full paths when executing it, e.g., /usr/bin/echo instead of echo just incase the environment that your script will execute in is not identical to the one you are used to.

Run a script on login using ~/.bash_login

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