update-motd(8)

📦 version 3.12build1, in ubuntu jammy, ubuntu noble, ubuntu questing, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

✨ update-motd — the glow-up your login banner deserves ✨

okay bestie, welcome to update-motd, part of the System Manager's Manual. it's a tiny little program with main character energy and exactly one job: refresh your Message-of-the-Day right now, and yell it at stdout. let's get into it 💅

🎀 NAME 🎀

update-motd — immediately update the dynamic MOTD and print it to stdout

no cap, that's the whole personality. 🌸

🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

update-motd [--show-only]

that's it. that's the whole vibe. one optional flag, zero drama. ✨

💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

so, context, because iykyk: the PAM MOTD module updates the Message-of-the-Day automatically whenever somebody logs in. it just does that, unprompted, like a friend who always knows when to text. 🫶

But sometimes the system administrator wants to update the MOTD immediately, or on demand, and not wait around for a login to trigger it. relatable honestly.

so this simple program does the exact same actions that PAM handles on login — and then prints the new MOTD to stdout. same moves, same choreography, just when you want it. 🔥

⚠️ heads up bestie: only the system administrator can typically write to the MOTD, so this utility should be executed as the root user. don't try to sneak in, it's giving locked-door energy. 💀

the program also accepts the --show-only option, which means it does not update anything — it just shows the MOTD. and this is the slay part: regular users can use this option to see the dynamically generated MOTD even when the root user did not generate it in advance. everyone gets to peek. 👑

the show-motd package contains the /etc/profile.d/update-motd.sh snipped to show MOTD in interactive shells when the PAM MOTD module did not show it on login. cute little backup plan, honestly. 💜

for best practices and additional information, please see update-motd(5). yes, there's a whole sequel. go read it. 📖

🍓 FILES 🍓

the sacred texts, the holy trio, the girlies:

  • /etc/motd
  • /var/run/motd
  • /etc/update-motd.d

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

👑 AUTHOR 👑

this manpage and the update-motd framework was written by Dustin Kirkland <dustin.kirkland@gmail.com> for Ubuntu systems (but may be used by others). iconic behaviour, honestly. 🌟

permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU General Public License, Version 3 published by the Free Software Foundation. 🫶

on Debian systems, the complete text of the GNU General Public License can be found in /usr/share/common-licenses/GPL.

and that's the whole page, bestie 💖 this was update-motd from the System Manager's Manual, dated 6 December 2019. go forth, update that MOTD, and slay ✨🎀🦋

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