Want to auto start programs for all user profiles in Ubuntu? This post is going to show you the easiest way to do it. If configured correctly, everytime a user signs into Ubuntu the program will automatically launch and open, even for newly created users.
Windows and maybe Mac OS X have the same features. To automatically startup applications in Windows, you can use regedit –> run or create a shortcut of the program in the startup folder. More is @ https://www.liberiangeek.net/2013/01/how-to-automatically-start-programs-in-windows-8/
What if you want to do the same in Ubuntu – automatically start up applications for users? There are two ways to do it. You can set it up for per-user profile, where the programs only open up for select users who are setup for it and other users won’t be affected.
Or set it up system-wide so all users are affected. This blog post is going to show you how to set it up system-wide so that all users are affected.
Before you start, learn this. By default, programs executable desktop icons are stored in the location below.
/usr/share/applications/
And they end with .desktop file extension. Almost all program will have their desktop executable in that location. So the auto startup a particular program which has its .desktop executable in /usr/share/applications, just create a symbolic link in the location below to automatically start it everytime a user signs in.
/etc/xdg/autostart/
For example, I just installed TeamViewer which also has its .desktop extension in there. If I want TeamViewer to startup everytime I sign in, I will run the commands below which creates a symbolic link of its .desktop for TeamViewer in /etc/xdg/autostart/.
sudo ln -s /usr/share/applications/teamviewer-teamviewer8.desktop /etc/xdg/autostart/
That’s it! Restart your computer and the programs you configured should start up automatically when you sign in.
To start up per-user profile, read this post @ https://www.liberiangeek.net/2010/09/automatically-start-programs-services-login-ubuntu-10-10-maverick-meerkat/
In Ubuntu 13.04, you must open Dash and search for Startup Applications.
Enjoy!
