AddingProgramToSessionStartup

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There are two ways to get Ubuntu to load applications automatically each time you start up:

 1. Save your session when you log off, and the applications will be restarted when you sign back on.
 1. Configure Ubuntu to run an application every time you sign on.

== Session Preferences Dialogue ==
||<tablestyle="float:right;">attachment:Screenshot-Sessions.png||

Each time you logon to Ubuntu you are creating a "session." To customize your session, you have to modify the session settings. To do this go to:

 * '''System > Preferences > Sessions'''

Ubuntu opens a dialog box that allows you to configure your session settings. In Ubuntu 5.10 (Breezy Badger) there are three tabs: "Session Options", "Current Sessions" and "Startup Programs".

== Session Options ==

This tab allows you to create mutliple custom sessions, each with its own settings. If you only need one setup, you can use the session named "Default"

 * "Show splash screen on login"
 * "Ask on logout" -- if checked, you will be asked each time you log out whether you want to save the current configuration.
 * "Automatically save changes to session" -- If checked, Ubuntu will save your session at each logout and restore the same configuration when you login again. This can have unwanted side effects like restarting the program that you cannot get out of, so consider carefully what you want to achieve.

== Current Session ==

This tab shows the processes that are currently running.

== Startup Applications ==

This tab allows you to specify any applications that you want to run each time you begin a session, as well as the priority or ordering of these startup applications. An example of such an application would be the network-manager applet (nm-applet), which allows easier access to wireless networks.

To add an applications click the "Add" button and type in the command you would use on the command line to run the application (see below). Then set the priority by adjusting the 'Order' field. Lower numbers load first, higher numbers later.

== How to find the appropriate startup command ==

To determine the text for the startup command, you can check the 'Basic' tab of the properties for the application's icon.

As an example consider the Evolution mail client. Imagine you want to load Evolution every time you start up. Instead of clicking on the "Evolution Mail" icon in the title bar each time you start up, you can add the appropriate command to the Startup Sessions tab.

Find the icon for Evolution in the title bar at the top of the screen. Right click on it, and select 'Properties'. This will bring up the 'Launcher Properties' dialog box. The 'Basic' tab lists the appropriate command under the 'Command' field; in this case the appropriate text is:
{{{
evolution --component=mail
}}}
Select the text in the Command field and copy it using control-c.

Now we want to add this to our startup applications.

 * Go to System > Preferences > Sessions
 * Select the "Startup Programs" tab
 * Click add
 * In the "Startup command" box, paste the command you copied with control-v (see above)
 * Click OK (You should see your new command)
 * Click Close

Test by logging on and off.

== If the application you want to add doesn't have an icon in the menu bar ==

First, locate the application in the menu structure -- ''do not select it to run'', right mouse click to get the ''context menu'' and select "Add this launcher to panel."

This will place an icon for the application on the panel at the top of the desktop. Now you can follow the steps above to find and copy the appropriate command.

If you wish to remove the icon from your panel after you have done this you simply right click and select 'Remove from panel'.

== To stop an application from running at startup ==

If you no longer want the application to start up when you logon:

 * Go to System > Preferences > Sessions
 * Select the "Startup Programs" tab
 * Select the application you want to remove
 * Click Delete
 * Click Close

== Modifying program run options ==

Now you may wish to modify the way an application works at startup. This is possible through command line options, there are parts to the command line:
{{{
evolution --component=mail
}}}
The first part "evolution" is the command that is running.

The second part "--component=mail" is called an option. You can modify the way evolution starts up by changing this option. The real trick is to findout what the command line supports. You might try [http://www.google.com Google] to search for these options. You can test these out on a command line:

 * '''Applications > Accessories > Terminal'''

And try out variations first. Once you have it right then you can change the settings in startup.

Good luck...

== Moving applications to a workspace on startup and other advanced options ==

Using the way described above, all the applications start in one workspace, maximized and so on. If you wished for example to start an application in workspace 2 minimized, you would have to do it manually - unless you install devilspie - detailed howto can be found on the forums: [http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=75749t]

== Comments ==

This is a very handy way to start [http://gdesklets.gnomedesktop.org/ gdesklet], Firestarter (firewall) or other applications automatically. Some applications will actually add themselves to your Startup Programs tab after you configure them for the first time.
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CategoryDocumentation
#REFRESH 0 http://help.ubuntu.com/community/AddingProgramToSessionStartup

AddingProgramToSessionStartup (last edited 2008-08-06 16:32:59 by localhost)