/etc/motd

| linux | ubuntu |

I have been using Linux for many years, but only recently found out about /etc/motd. When you SSH into a server, it displays a message that varies depending on your Linux distribution. For instance, a stock Debian installation looks like this:

The programs included with the Debian GNU/Linux system are free software;
the exact distribution terms for each program are described in the
individual files in /usr/share/doc/*/copyright.

Debian GNU/Linux comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY, to the extent
permitted by applicable law.
Last login: Wed Sep 14 23:38:34 2016
user@hostname:~#

I never thought to look at where this message comes from, but apparently it lives in /etc/motd. I believe this stands for "message of the day". This means that you can have this message say anything that you would like by editing the contents of /etc/motd. For example, you can use this Text to ASCII generator to put the hostname of your server in stunning ASCII text and make it look like this: 
Levs-MacBook-Pro:~ levlaz$  ssh dev.levops.net
     _            _                                        _
  __| | _____   _| | _____   _____  _ __  ___   _ __   ___| |_
 / _` |/ _ \ \ / / |/ _ \ \ / / _ \| '_ \/ __| | '_ \ / _ \ __|
| (_| |  __/\ V /| |  __/\ V / (_) | |_) \__ \_| | | |  __/ |_
 \__,_|\___| \_(_)_|\___| \_/ \___/| .__/|___(_)_| |_|\___|\__|
                                   |_|

dev:~#

This is pretty neat! You can also do some fancy things like Ubuntu does and make this message change depending on various events such as security updates being available or a server restart being required. You can explore the scripts that Ubuntu uses in the /etc/update-motd.d/directory on a standard install.

Thank you for reading! Share your thoughts with me on bluesky, mastodon, or via email.

Check out some more stuff to read down below.

Most popular posts this month

Recent Favorite Blog Posts

This is a collection of the last 8 posts that I bookmarked.

Articles from blogs I follow around the net

Pluralistic: America and "national capitalism" (18 Feb 2025)

Today's links America and "national capitalism": How the EU should respond to Trumpism. Hey look at this: Delights to delectate. Object permanence: 2005, 2010, 2015 Upcoming appearances: Where to find me. Recent appearances: Where I've bee…

via Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow February 18, 2025

My Life in Weeks by Gina Trapani

OMG. Life perspective through UI. I freaking love it. Check out My Life in Weeks by Gina Trapani

via Blog – Brad Frost February 18, 2025

Argentinian president Javier Milei promotes memecoin that then crashes 95% in apparent $100 million+ rug pull

A tweet from Argentina's president Javier Milei promoted a memecoin called Libra, which he described as a "private project [that] will [be] dedicated to encouraging the growth of the Argentine economy by funding small Argenti…

via Web3 is Going Just Great February 18, 2025

Generated by openring