Automatically run command at boot

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1

Hi guys,
so I want to automatically run a command at boot, but I want OSMC to wait with the command until everything is done. like you already are in OSMC and the internet connection has been established.
I want to run the command pppd pty "pptp IP_OF_SERVER --nolaunchpppd" file /etc/ppp/options.pptp user USERNAME password PASSWORD at boot, like I said, after everything is done.

I’m not a linux guru, and I tried putting it in /etc/rc.local
this is how my /etc/rc.local looks like:

#!/bin/sh -e
#
# rc.local
#
# This script is executed at the end of each multiuser runlevel.
# Make sure that the script will "exit 0" on success or any other
# value on error.
#
# In order to enable or disable this script just change the execution
# bits.
#
# By default this script does nothing.
pppd pty "pptp IP_OF_SERVER --nolaunchpppd" file /etc/ppp/options.pptp user USERNAME password PASSWORD
exit 0

I have tested the command, and by itself, it works

2

I’m not a linux guru either.

What I would do is add the command as a cron job with a delay. So, access crontab with sudo crontab -e. At the end of the file add the line:
@reboot sleep 60 && your_command
This command runs 60 seconds after every reboot. Hopefully 60 seconds is long enough to have the internet connection established, if not just increase it further.

3

Thanks for your reply, unfortunately I get this error:
sudo: crontab: command not found

4

Install crontab via App store

5

I’ve installed crontab, but it does not seem to run the cronjobs.
running ps ax | grep cron shows:
235 ? Ss 0:00 /usr/sbin/cron -f

the file that sudo nano crontab -e shows up looks like this:

# m h dom mon dov command
@reboot sleep 120 && sudo pppd pty "pptp SERVER_IP --nolaunchpppd" file /etc/ppp/options.pptp user USERNAME password PASSWORD
6

If you run crontab -e as root (which you are by using sudo) then you are editing root’s crontab. As such you do not need to put sudo in your crontab entry.

It should be:

sudo crontab -e

not sudo nano crontab -e, by the way.

Also always provide the full path to your executable in crontab files - for example:

@reboot sleep 120 && /path/to/pppd pty "pptp SERVER_IP --nolaunchpppd" file /etc/ppp/options.pptp user USERNAME password PASSWORD

7

ah, so thats why it would work.
tho I’ve got it working now thanks to some real heavy googling and trial-error.

I put the command in /etc/init.d/start-vpn which looks like this:

#!/bin/bash
echo "Starting the VPN Connection, hang on tight!"
sudo pppd pty "pptp SERVER_IP --nolaunchpppd" file /etc/ppp/options.pptp user USERNAME password PASSWORD

and then call the script in /etc/rc.local:

/etc/init.d/start-vpn
exit 0

then to keep the VPN as alive as I can, I run a cronjob every 10 minutes:
*/10 * * * * /home/check-vpn

where /home/check-vpn contains this script:

EXIST=`ip route show SERVERIP | wc -l`
if [ $EXIST -eq 0 ]
then
    /etc/init.d/start-vpn
fi

Thanks guys for your help :slightly_smiling: