Desktop Launcher Execute Bash Script In Terminal from URL

Question

My setup is I have a website (www.example.com) that I have uploaded bash scripts to www.example.com/location/of/bash/script.txt

I now would like a Desktop Launcher (.desktop) file that I can use to open the terminal, then proceed to run the script from the website. So far I have created a .desktop file that can open the terminal but not successfully run the script from the URL.

My command within the .desktop file is

gnome-terminal --execute bash -c "http:www.example.com/location/of/bash/script.txt" ; bash

When I click the .desktop file it opens, tries to run the script and gives the error 'no such file or directory' any help on this is much appreciated.

Answer 1

Also simple and dangerous:

Make your desktop file look like this:

[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Encoding=UTF-8
Name=Sample Application Name
Comment=A sample application
Exec=sh -c 'curl -s http://www.example.com/path/to/script.sh | bash'
Icon=application.png
Terminal=true

This will spawn a sub-shell, run 'curl' to read out the file, and then pipe it into bash.

Answer 2

I suggest you put together a script that does everything in 2 steps: download the original script , and then execute it locally.

Something like this :

#!/bin/bash

#download , save as /tmp/script
wget -O /tmp/script.sh www.example.com/location/of/bash/script.txt
#give executable permissions
chmod +x /tmp/script.sh
# run it
gnome-terminal --execute bash -c "/tmp/script.sh; bash"

Answer 3

Simple and dangerous. Dangerous? Yes, see below …

wget -q -O - http://www.example.com/location/of/bash/runhello | bash

or with

bash <(curl -s http://www.example.com/location/of/bash/runhello)

or another combination of wget/curl and bash.

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Warning:

Perhaps it's a nice idea for your own scripts, but not for other people's:

Check the content of the script before executing and never run a script in the way bash <(curl -s URL) or wget -q -O - URL | bash.