Add an autostart file Openbox style for Raspberry Pi

When using Raspberry as a headless server, eventually I will need to run some commands or apps at start up.

Although there are various ways to get the task done (one is My crontab guide here: Crontab post), I have found a way that I think very flexible and robust.

The method is to create an autostart.sh script storing commands, then run the script at boot by adding it to /etc/rc.local file.

This way you can add as many commands as you want to the autostart.sh script and only focus to maintain this file. It also can run commands that need sudo at startup without a password.

1. Add an autostart.sh script

Create a autostart file /home/pi/autostart.sh with the similar content below (please adapt it to your need):

nano ~/autostart.sh

Add content:

#!/bin/sh
(sleep 3s && sudo motion)
cd /
cd /home/pi/tflite1/
sudo -u pi /usr/bin/python3 TFLite_detection_webcam_person.py --modeldir=Sample_TFLite_model/
cd /

• cd commands are for navigating to the directory containing the script. This is particularly useful when running python module.

• sudo -u pi are for instructing that a specific user should run the command.

You can add many commands at you want and if you want to delay their running, put the sleep 3s (as many seconds as you want, I just use 3 here) above it.

2. Edit rc.local file

Note: Please keep in mind that all commands put in this file are run with root power at startup. So it can run the sudo command without a password.

#!/bin/sh
sudo nano /etc/rc.local

Add this line to the end of the file but above the exit 0 line. At the end because you do not want to interfere with the default starting programs sequence.

/home/pi/autostart.sh