Avoid gnome-terminal close after script execution?

Question

I created a bash script that opens several gnome-terminals, connect to classroom computers via ssh and run a script.

How can I avoid that the gnome-terminal closes after the script is finished? Note that I also want to be able to enter further commands in the terminal.

Here is an example of my code:

gnome-terminal -e "ssh root@<ip> cd /tmp && ls"

Answer 1

Let gnome-terminal run bash and tell bash to run your commands and then start a new bash:

$ gnome-terminal -- bash -c "echo foo; echo bar; exec bash"

explanation:

gnome terminal runs bash ...

$ gnome-terminal -- bash -c "echo foo; echo bar; exec bash"
                    ^^^^

which runs your commands ...

$ gnome-terminal -- bash -c "echo foo; echo bar; exec bash"
                             ^^^^^^^^  ^^^^^^^^

and then reexecutes bash.

$ gnome-terminal -- bash -c "echo foo; echo bar; exec bash"
                                                 ^^^^^^^^^

gnome terminal will not close if something is still running. in this case the second bash is still running. this makes gnome terminal not close and you can interact with bash inside gnome terminal as normal.

if the commands are many or complex you can put them in a script:

$ gnome-terminal -- bash -c "./scripttorun; exec bash"

                             ^^^^^^^^^^^^^

advantage: you have the script ready to be run manualy outside of this gnome-terminal construct.

---

alternative:

you can also reexecute bash in the script directly

Prepare scripttobash:

#!/bin/sh
echo foo
echo bar
exec bash

Then run:

$ gnome-terminal -- ./scripttobash

the advantage is the gnome terminal command became quite simple.

the disadvantage is that the script now always runs a second bash. which means you cannot run the script independently. well actually you can but the second bash might cause confusion.

---

alternative:

use --rcfile to run a custom startup configuration containing your commands.

example somercfile:

source ~/.bashrc
echo foo
echo bar

Then run:

$ gnome-terminal -- bash --rcfile somercfile

bash will stay open afterwards. but i am not entirely sure about other side effects this might have.

---

for completeness:

there is an option to keep gnome terminal open after executing the command. but you will not be able to interact anymore. just read the output.

1. go to preferences (hamburger button -> preferences)
2. go to profiles (i recommend to create a new profile for this case)
3. go to command tab
4. set "when command exits" to "hold the terminal open"

if you created a new profile you can use it like this:

gnome-terminal --profile=holdopen -- ./scripttorun

---

closing words:

Every method has it's quirks. You must choose, but choose wisely.

I like the first solution. it does not need extra files or profiles. and the command says what it does: run commands then run bash again.

All that said, since you used ssh in your example, you might want to take a look at pssh (parallel ssh). here an article: https://www.cyberciti.biz/cloud-computing/how-to-use-pssh-parallel-ssh-program-on-linux-unix/

Answer 2

I really like the bash --rcfile method

I just source ~/.bashrc then add the commands I want to the new startrc.sh

now my automated start.sh work environment is complete... for now 😼

Answer 3

As of January 2020, the -e option in gnome-terminal still runs properly but throws out the following warning:

For -e:

# Option “-e” is deprecated and might be removed in a later version of gnome-terminal.

# Use “-- ” to terminate the options and put the command line to execute after it.

Based on that information above, I confirmed that you can run the following two commands without receiving any warning messages:

$ gnome-terminal -- "./scripttobash"

$ gnome-terminal -- "./genericscripttobash \"echo foo\" \"echo bar\""

I hope this helps anyone else presently having this issue :)

Answer 4

The ideal solution would be to ask for a user input with echo "Press any key".

But if double-click in Nautis or Nemo and select run in a terminal, it doesn't seem to work.

In case of Ubuntu a shell designed for fast start-up and execution with only standard features is used, named dash I believe. Because of this the shebang is the very first line to start with to enable proper use of bash features. Normally this would be: #!/bin/bash or similar. In Ubuntu I learned this should be: #!/usr/bin/env bash.

Many workarounds exist to keep hold of the screen before the interpreter sees a syntax error in a bash command.

The solution in Ubuntu that worked for me:

#!/usr/bin/env bash

your code

echo Press a key...
read -n1

Answer 5

Run with -ic instead -i to make terminal close bash proccess when you close your terminal gui:

gnome-terminal -e "bash -ic \"echo foo; echo bar; exec bash\""

Answer 6

If running a bash script just add gedit afile to the end of the script and that will hold gnome-terminal open. "afile" could be a build log which it was in my case.

Did not try just using gedit alone but, that would properly work too.

Answer 7

Finally this one works for me:

gnome-terminal --working-directory=WORK_DIR -x bash -c "COMMAND; bash"

Answer 8

• Stack Overflow answer: the terminal closes when the command run inside it has finished, so you need to write a command that doesn't terminate immediately. For example, to leave the terminal window open until you press Enter in it:

  gnome-terminal -e "ssh host 'cd /tmp && ls'; read line"
  

• Super User answer: Create a profile in which the preference “Title and Command/When command exits” is set to “Hold the terminal open”. Invoke gnome-terminal with the --window-with-profile or --tab-with-profile option to specify the terminal name.

Answer 9

Use nohup command.

nohup gnome-terminal -e "ssh root@ cd /tmp && ls"

Hope this will help you.