[solved] how to restart xfce4-terminal from a script?

h.wurst · 2024-10-16 05:45:27

Hello ToZ,

i use Arch Linux with XFCE4 and i want to keep my "/home/USER/.bash_history" file short (with a preselected amount of entries).

So i wrote a simple script, which:
1. kills the running instances of xfce4-terminal
2. copies the content of a textfile to "/home/USER/.bash_history"
3. restarts xfce4-terminal

#!/bin/sh

killall xfce4-terminal
cat /home/USER/infos/system-save/bash_history_orig > /home/USER/.bash_history 
/usr/bin/xfce4-terminal

Unfortunately, point 3 does not work, xfce4-terminal does not restart.
I have tried to restart with "xfce4-terminal" and "/usr/bin/xfce4-terminal".
When i use "xfce4-terminal &" for point 3, it starts another instance of the terminal.

What am i doing wrong?

Last edited by h.wurst (2024-10-20 08:33:21)

ToZ · 2024-10-16 13:09:00

How are you running this script? From within xfce4-terminal? Because that will kill the terminal and any child processes.

h.wurst · 2024-10-16 15:31:52

ToZ wrote:

How are you running this script? From within xfce4-terminal? Because that will kill the terminal and any child processes.

Yes, i run it from the terminal. Do you have an idea how to achieve the rewriting of the "bash_history" file and continue using the terminal?

ToZ · 2024-10-17 01:29:39

h.wurst wrote:

Do you have an idea how to achieve the rewriting of the "bash_history" file and continue using the terminal?

To clear the current history:

history -c

To import a history file:

history -r HISTORYFILE

h.wurst · 2024-10-17 03:07:14

Thank you, these work in the terminal, but not as a script.

#!/bin/sh
history -c && history -r /home/USER/infos/system-save/bash_history_orig

Does not work.

Last edited by h.wurst (2024-10-17 03:16:22)

ToZ · 2024-10-17 13:45:28

Try this.

First make sure your bash_history_orig file is not writeable so bash doesn't add to it:

chmod a-w /home/USER/infos/system-save/bash_history_orig

Then the script:

#!/bin/sh
pkill xfce4-terminal
HISTFILE=/home/USER/infos/system-save/bash_history_orig xfce4-terminal -e bash

And finally, run the script with "nohup":

nohup MYSCRIPT.sh

h.wurst · 2024-10-18 05:19:08

ToZ wrote:

Try this.
First make sure your bash_history_orig file is not writeable so bash doesn't add to it:
chmod a-w /home/USER/infos/system-save/bash_history_orig
Then the script:
#!/bin/sh
pkill xfce4-terminal
HISTFILE=/home/USER/infos/system-save/bash_history_orig xfce4-terminal -e bash
And finally, run the script with "nohup":
nohup MYSCRIPT.sh

This script does not empty/shorten the file "/home/USER/.bash_history" the unwanted entries remain in the file.
This script produces for each instance a file named "/home/USER/nohup.out" which contains some error messages.

ToZ · 2024-10-18 10:34:11

This script does not empty/shorten the file "/home/USER/.bash_history" the unwanted entries remain in the file.

It won't - it is redirecting that bash session to use another history file - the back up one. If you want /home/USER/.bash_history to also be cleared, add a:

> /home/USER/.bash_history

...after the pkill command.

This script produces for each instance a file named "/home/USER/nohup.out" which contains some error messages.

What are the error messages? You can redirect the nohup.out file to /dev/null if you don't want it to be created:

nohup MYSCRIPT.sh > /dev/null

h.wurst · 2024-10-19 06:14:08

i think i will have to read a little bit more on the bash history and do some experiments.

THANK YOU for running this support forum smile

Are you really doing all this alone or is ToZ a group of people?

Last edited by h.wurst (2024-10-20 08:23:48)

ToZ · 2024-10-19 10:37:44

h.wurst wrote:

Are you really doing all this alone or is ToZ are group of people?

There are others who contribute regularly as well. Everyone's contributions are appreciated.

h.wurst · 2024-10-20 08:32:49

ToZ wrote:

To clear the current history:
history -c
To import a history file:
history -r HISTORYFILE

Thank you for this hint, it is a much better solution (than my idea was) for this problem.

Last edited by h.wurst (2024-10-20 08:44:31)

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#1 2024-10-16 05:45:27

[solved] how to restart xfce4-terminal from a script?

#2 2024-10-16 13:09:00

Re: [solved] how to restart xfce4-terminal from a script?

#3 2024-10-16 15:31:52

Re: [solved] how to restart xfce4-terminal from a script?

#4 2024-10-17 01:29:39

Re: [solved] how to restart xfce4-terminal from a script?

#5 2024-10-17 03:07:14

Re: [solved] how to restart xfce4-terminal from a script?

#6 2024-10-17 13:45:28

Re: [solved] how to restart xfce4-terminal from a script?

#7 2024-10-18 05:19:08

Re: [solved] how to restart xfce4-terminal from a script?

#8 2024-10-18 10:34:11

Re: [solved] how to restart xfce4-terminal from a script?

#9 2024-10-19 06:14:08

Re: [solved] how to restart xfce4-terminal from a script?

#10 2024-10-19 10:37:44

Re: [solved] how to restart xfce4-terminal from a script?

#11 2024-10-20 08:32:49

Re: [solved] how to restart xfce4-terminal from a script?

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