.desktop launcher files not working

English Install/Boot/Login
1

Hi All

Spent many days and looking at multiple forums and still cannot get .desktop files to work properly (either creating them manually or by using the Applications - Main Menu - New Item option). OpenSUSE 13.2 Gnome 3.14.1

I have tried putting the .desktop file in both Home-Desktop and in /usr/share/applications etc and both behave the same. I have altered the contents of the .desktop file many times including or removing sudo, adding sudo sh, su -1, sudo -u root, ./pathname, putting the path in quotes or not etc

[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Name=Tomcat_Start
Exec=sudo sh /usr/local/apps/apache-tomcat-5.5.31/bin/startup.sh
Terminal=true
Type=Application
StartupNotify=true

Adding the icon line etc makes no difference.

I can run this command from any terminal, logged in as any user, and it works properly.
sudo /usr/local/apps/apache-tomcat-5.5.31/bin/startup.sh

I know it is an old version of Tomcat but I require this for the application I am running.

Both the .sh and the .desktop files are executable by any user, but when I click the short-cut icon it prompts for a password and then (once a password has been entered) disappears without starting the .sh and without any messages (the terminal closes so I cannot see what failed and there are no log files to show me). The .sh already contains #!/bin/sh and my JRE_HOME and JAVA_Home are set in setenv.sh (and echo properly).

Any assistance appreciated (if I could force the terminal to stay open that would help).

Regards
Active

2

You need to start the command in a new thread so add a & at the end of the line

3

Thanks gogalthorp but I have tried -

sudo /usr/local/apps/apache-tomcat-5.5.31/bin/startup.sh &

sudo /usr/local/apps/apache-tomcat-5.5.31/bin/startup.sh&

sudo ‘/usr/local/apps/apache-tomcat-5.5.31/bin/startup.sh’&

sudo ‘/usr/local/apps/apache-tomcat-5.5.31/bin/startup.sh’ &

I am obviously missing something.

Regards
Active

4

Hi
Use xdg-su;


Exec=/usr/bin/xdg-su -c /usr/local/apps/apache-tomcat-5.5.31/bin/startup.sh

It will ask for the root password though…

What user are you running tomcat as?

5

Thanks again, though this produces the same effect as before (after entering the password the window disappears and Tomcat hasn’t started).

Using root for this particular application.

Regards
Active

6

Hi
So, what does startup.sh contain? Or can the actual /sbin/ binary be started direct?

7

Hi

I think if there were any issues with startup.sh and shutdown.sh then these commands would not work in terminal -

sudo /usr/local/apps/apache-tomcat-5.5.31/bin/startup.sh

sudo /usr/local/apps/apache-tomcat-5.5.31/bin/shutdown.sh

and (directly in the /usr/local/apps/apache-tomcat-5.5.31/bin folder)

./startup.sh
./shutdown.sh

Regards
Active

8

On Thu 23 Jul 2015 03:26:02 PM CDT, activenewbie wrote:

Hi

I think if there were any issues with startup.sh and shutdown.sh then
these commands would not work in terminal -

Code:

sudo /usr/local/apps/apache-tomcat-5.5.31/bin/startup.sh

Code:

sudo /usr/local/apps/apache-tomcat-5.5.31/bin/shutdown.sh

and (directly in the /usr/local/apps/apache-tomcat-5.5.31/bin folder)

…/startup.sh
…/shutdown.sh

Regards
Active

Hi,
Without installing it’s hard to see what it’s calling and doing, hence
the request :wink:

I’m leaning towards some sort of environment issue with the desktop
file…

In your home directory bin directory create a file called say
mytomcatstart and make it executable.


#!/usr/bin/sh
cd /usr/local/apps/apache-tomcat-5.5.31/bin && exec ./startup.sh $*

Then create a desktop file pointing at that and see if that helps.

Else might have to look at a systemd service file.

–
Cheers Malcolm °¿° LFCS, SUSE Knowledge Partner (Linux Counter #276890)
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 GNOME 3.10.1 Kernel
3.12.43-52.6-default If you find this post helpful and are logged into
the web interface, please show your appreciation and click on the star
below… Thanks!

9

Hi Malcolm

I eventually managed to copy 2 desktop files from a system running 11.4 (with the same install paths, applications etc) and both those desktop files failed to run on 13.2.

I also noticed a dangling symbolic link message (to a folder in usr/local/apps) on 13.2 wheras on 11.4 there is no issue with the same link.

There’s somethig very odd with 13.2 but currently I am out of time so had to revert to command lines for the time being (awkward for the end customer but at least this functions).

I will come back if I find time in the future. Thanks again forum members for all your help.

Regards
Active