MOTD.TAIL(5) Debian Administrator's Manual MOTD.TAIL(5)
NAME
motd.tail - Template for building the system message of the day
DESCRIPTION
On Debian systems, the system message of the day is rebuilt at each startup, in order to display an accurate information. /etc/motd.tail is
the file to edit permanent changes to the message of the day.
OVERVIEW
The initiation script /etc/init.d/bootmisc.sh prepends a line containing information about the system to /etc/motd.tail and stores the
resulting file in /var/run/motd. /etc/motd is a symbolic link to /var/run/motd. This is done to prevent changes to /etc as the system can
not assume /etc to be writable.
Changes to /etc/motd effectively end up in a file under /var/run which will be regenerated upon reboot.
A symbolic link to a different file, such as /etc/motd.static disables this behaviour.
FILES
/etc/init.d/bootmisc.sh
The initiation script which builds /var/run/motd
/etc/motd
Symbolic link to the system message of the day at /var/run/motd
/etc/motd.tail
Template for building the system message of the day
/var/run/motd
System message of the day file rebuilt at each computer start
SEE ALSO
login(1), issue(5), motd(5).
Debian 2007-04-28 MOTD.TAIL(5)
