How do I get redshift to start with my computer?

Question

I have installed Redshift on my computer and it works fine with the command gtk-redshift.

However, it would not start up automatically when using the same command in startup applications.

How do I set it to automatically start?

Answer 1

There is a known bug #868904 that stops Redshift starting automatically in 11.10 due to geoclue conflicts on startup.

See Comment #17 on the bug report for a possible solution of setting the location permanently on start up.

1) Use http://itouchmap.com/latlong.html or any other service to find your latitude/longitude

2) Adjust the startup command of redshift to: gtk-redshift -l <latitude>:<longitude>

Example of latitude/longitude of Amsterdam for redshift: gtk-redshift -l 52.37:4.9

It is reportedly fixed in the package 1.7-1ubuntu2 but the Launchpad homepage for the project lists only 1.7-0ubuntu1 built 35 weeks ago.

You could try downloading direct from their website to see if it fixes the issue with a later version.

Answer 2

Create a file named redshift.conf in ~/.config and add your co-ordinates to it. It should end up looking something like this:

[redshift]
location-provider=manual
[manual]
lat=55.0
lon=12.0

Answer 3

I would suggest two ways:

1. Using crontab
2. Using upstart

CRONTAB

Crontab is a program that is running all the time. It has a list with programs and scripts and the exact dates or intervals that they should run. Crontab is used a lot by system administrators for making backups and automating tasks.

To see the list with the programs you can type

crontab -l

To edit the list type

crontab -e

Add this line in the end, to boot redshift whenever computer starts up

@reboot export DISPLAY=:0.0 && /usr/bin/redshift -l 56.20:16.35

where 56.20:16.35 is the LATITUDE:LONGITUTE of your location. Save and reboot.

UPSTART

Upstart is a program that amongst other things, looks in specific folders at bootup for scripts to be run. So we can just add our program in there to have it run in every booutup. Upstart is more low-level than crontab and you need root privileges.

To add redshift you simply have to edit /etc/rc.local file. Add the path to redshift before the exit in the file or else it won't run. You can find the path by typing whereis redshift. The file should look similar to this:

#!/bin/sh -e
pcscd
#
# rc.local
#
# This script is executed at the end of each multiuser runlevel.
# Make sure that the script will "exit 0" on success or any other
# value on error.
#
# In order to enable or disable this script just change the execution
# bits.
#
# By default this script does nothing.

/usr/bin/redshift

exit 0

Save and reboot.

Answer 4

Connect your computer to internet and run gtk-redshift in Terminal.

The output will be:

maez@maez:~$ gtk-redshift
Trying location provider `geoclue'...
Started Geoclue provider `Geoclue Master'.
Using provider `geoclue'.

** (process:3541): WARNING **: Could not get location, 3 retries left.

According to the geoclue provider we're at: 18.98, 72.83
Using method `randr'.

Once you get your Latitude and Longitude from above, Go ahead and Edit autostart config file for Redshift, which is found in "~/.config/autostart/"

maez@maez:~$ cd .config/autostart/
maez@maez:~/.config/autostart$ gedit redshift-gtk.desktop

In gedit window add "-l 18.98:72.83" next to "Exec=redshift-gtk"

[Desktop Entry]
Comment=Color temperature adjustment tool
StartupNotify=true
Exec=redshift-gtk -l 18.98:72.83
Terminal=false
GenericName=Color temperature adjustment
Version=1.0
Categories=Utility;
Hidden=false
Icon=redshift
Type=Application
X-GNOME-Autostart-enabled=true
Name=Redshift

where 18.98:72.83 is your LATITUDE:LONGITUTE

Save this file and Reboot.

Answer 5

Antoher workaround (comment #53) is to install geoclue-hostip.

Even though on my setup (Ubuntu 13.04) the manual position workaround works, and I prefer it anyway because it allows me to indicate the location more precisely.

Answer 6

Quite an old question, but for those who might stumble upon it, a possible solution may simply be by removing geoclue and --if it doesn't already exist-- installing geoclue-2.0

Something like: apt remove geoclue && apt install geoclue-2.0

Logout and log back in to see the changes.

p.s. if the colors are not telling, you can check whether redshift is running using the ps command. e.g. ps aux | grep redshift

Answer 7

Another way to do it:

1. create a config file, e.g. /etc/redshift.conf

   [redshift]
   location-provider=manual
   
   [manual]
   lat=xx.xxx
   lon=yy.yyy
   

2. create a script that calls this file, e.g. /usr/local/bin/redshift.sh (chmod 755 afterwards)

   redshift -c  /etc/redshift.conf &
   

3. call this whenever the display manager starts. For LightDM, this would be a file at /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf.d/90-redshift.conf:

   [Seat:*]
   display-setup-script=/usr/local/bin/redshift.sh
   

Answer 8

Another one way is to set up startup command for redshift with manually specified lon:lat like:

redshift-gtk -l xx:yy

where xx - latitude, yy - longitude

Startup Application Screen:

Tested on Ubuntu 14.04LTS

Answer 9

Create the file ~/.xprofile with the following content:

#!/bin/sh
sleep 10 && redshift -PO 4200 &

The xprofile is executed at the beginning of the X user session, after you log in to the graphical shell (Unity or Gnome).

The command redshift -PO 4200 sets the temperature to 4200K.

You can test the script by logging out and then logging in.