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I am trying to get my Raspberry Pi to open a terminal and run a Python script when it boots up. I have followed the instructions of some guides and have so far been unsuccessful.

My steps

I have made a Python file called testfile.py located in /home/pi/Documents/testfile.py

The contents are as follows:

print('hello')
input('press any key to exit')

I have added a file called testfile.desktop to /home/pi/.config/autostart/testfile.desktop.

The contents are as follows:

[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Name=testfile
Hidden=false
NoDisplay=false
Terminal=true
X-GNOME-Autostart-enabled=true
Exec=/usr/bin/python3 /home/pi/Documents/testfile.py

When I double click this file, the terminal opens and the Python script runs as expected, but when I reboot the Raspberry Pi the script doesn't run.

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2 Answers 2

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4

I duplicated what you did using an up-to-date Raspbian Buster in a Pi 4 B. (I wish all questions were as clear and complete as yours!)

Double-clicking the file on my machine brought up the thonny IDE. (Note: The 'any' key doesn't work because input() needs an enter to complete.) On reboot, I observed the same result you did. However, installing xterm and changing the Exec line to

Exec=xterm -hold -e '/usr/bin/python3 /home/pi/Documents/testfile.py'

causes an xterm window to open and the Python program to run. I was following these debugging instructions.

So, there is some interaction I don't understand between autostart, Python, and terminal. Perhaps you could try a Python program that leaves some evidence in the file system, such as writing a tiny output file.

Edit: See this answer which appears to be more useful than mine.

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  • 1
    That seems to have done it. I was following the same guide you linked, but didn't catch the xterm installation part (should have added that to the original question).
    – Achmed
    Mar 22, 2020 at 16:17
  • 1
    If you discover why it doesn't work without xterm, please let everyone know.
    – Bob Brown
    Mar 22, 2020 at 16:25
  • 2
    Found an alterative way using x-terminal-emulator instead of xterm. (raspberrypi.stackexchange.com/questions/27581/…). still not sure why normal exec doesn't work and i can't find a way of getting to the logs of the startup.
    – en_lorithai
    Mar 22, 2020 at 16:45
2

Create a file: 

nano /etc/systemd/system/startupbrowser.service

Put all lines below there: 

[Unit]
Description=testfile service

[Service]
ExecStart=/usr/bin/python /home/pi/Documents/testfile.py
StandardOutput=syslog
StandardError=syslog
Restart=on-failure

User=root
Group=root
SyslogIdentifier=testfile

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Save the file and reload the daemon: 

sudo systemctl daemon-reload

Test that is your code is running: 

sudo service testfile start

Check the log by:

journalctl -f -u testfile.service

It will give you the real-time log of your python code to troubleshoot what's going on.

If everything was good as you intended, run this command to enable is as a startup service: 

sudo systemctl enable testfile.service
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  • 2
    This will run the python script as a sevice, which is interesting, but will it show the terminal and the outputs of the script?
    – Achmed
    Mar 22, 2020 at 16:18
  • 1
    @Achmed Yes, easily. The answer has updated, check it again.
    – M. Rostami
    Mar 22, 2020 at 22:01
  • ("```lang-none" for the second block?)
    – Peter Mortensen
    Mar 23, 2020 at 4:13
  • @PeterMortensen Thank you. I have changed the second part but I think that was not distinguished.
    – M. Rostami
    Mar 23, 2020 at 12:27

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