How to set up and enable startup commands in Linux

Example#

Suppose I want my Linux device to automatically run two commands at startup:

cd /test
nohup python3 -m http.server 6666

❗tips: Why use nohup? Because nohup is a silent command that does not output to the terminal, the log will be stored in the /test/nohup.out file.

Operation#

.sh File#

Create a file named test.sh, enter the following combined code:

#!/bin/bash

(cd /test && nohup python3 -m http.server 6666) &

Here, use the && operator to ensure that the nohup command is only executed after the cd command is successfully executed. The & symbol is used to run the nohup python3 -m http.server 6666 command in the background.

.service File#

Create a file named test.service in the /etc/systemd/system directory, type:

[Unit]
Description=HTTP Server

[Service]
ExecStart=/test/test.sh
Restart=always

[Install]
WantedBy=default.target

Use the following commands to enable and start the service:

sudo systemctl enable test.service
sudo systemctl start test.service

Done, the nohup python3 -m http.server 6666 command will automatically run when Linux starts.

Stop the service:

sudo systemctl stop http_server.service

Disable the service:

sudo systemctl disable http_server.service