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In Windows we can add applications/batch scripts to open automatically on startup. Is there something similar in Ubuntu, or Linux in general?

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    Thank you both kiloseven and wilf I am not able to mark both as Answers. I marked 1.
    – mantlex
    Jan 2, 2014 at 21:52
  • My answer wasn't very good :D - I upvoted @kiloseven's anyway.
    – Wilf
    Jan 2, 2014 at 22:21
  • possible duplicate: How do I start applications automatically on login?
    – kiri
    Jan 2, 2014 at 22:23
  • Since the user mentioned Linux in general, I don't think the link above is the universal answer they wanted.
    – K7AAY
    Jan 2, 2014 at 22:26

2 Answers 2

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Here's the universal, multi-distro solution.

Create a script (don't forget to start with the shabang!) and place that script in

/etc/xdg/autostart

After rebooting, the script will launch, and you can also find it in Startup Applications (see the last screenshot in this link for an illustration).

This complies with the XDG Autostart Specification and works with any compliant distro of Linux.

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To setup tasks to run on login, use gnome-session-properties. This means you can add programs to run when you login to user account on your machine.

You can configure it like this - just add the command you want to run in the command box: config

Very long answer on that here

To get things to run when the computer boots, use rc.local:

You can edit it with sudo nano /etc/rc.local, or gksudo gedit /etc/rc.local.

Makes sure it has this line at the start of the file:

 #!/bin/sh -e

Below that, you can place commands that will run as root when you start the computer.

Also make sure it has this line at the end:

exit 0

More on that here

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