Autostart Configuration

This article describes how to configure an application to start automatically at boot on the Rhino Pi IQ9N Ubuntu system.

Method Comparison

Method	Use Case	Characteristics
systemd service	Background services, long-running programs	Supports automatic restart and log management; the recommended approach
crontab	Simple scripts	Simple to configure, but not suitable for long-running services
rc.local	One-shot startup scripts	Must be created manually and given executable permissions

Using systemd (Recommended)

1. Create the service file:

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/myapp.service

2. Write the following content:

[Unit]
Description=My Application
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=aidlux
WorkingDirectory=/home/aidlux/myapp
ExecStart=/home/aidlux/myapp/run.sh
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=5

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

3. Reload the configuration and enable the service:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable myapp.service
sudo systemctl start myapp.service

4. Check the service status and logs:

sudo systemctl status myapp.service
journalctl -u myapp.service -f

Using crontab

The cron service is enabled by default on the IQ9N. Edit the current user's scheduled tasks:

crontab -e

Add a task to the file, for example to run a script once at boot:

@reboot /home/aidlux/myapp/run.sh

View the currently configured tasks:

crontab -l

crontab is suitable for running simple scripts or scheduled tasks; long-running services should still use the systemd approach.

Using rc.local

The system already includes rc-local.service. This service is of type static, so systemctl enable is neither needed nor possible; when /etc/rc.local exists and has executable permissions, systemd runs it automatically at boot.

1. Create /etc/rc.local:

sudo nano /etc/rc.local

2. Write the following content:

#!/bin/sh
/home/aidlux/myapp/run.sh &
exit 0

3. Give it executable permissions:

sudo chmod +x /etc/rc.local

4. Reboot for the configuration to take effect. You can also verify without rebooting:

sudo systemctl start rc-local
sudo systemctl status rc-local

FAQ

• The service did not start: use journalctl -u <service name> to check the failure reason.
• The script has no executable permission: run chmod +x <script path>.
• Wrong path: ExecStart must use an absolute path.
• rc.local does not take effect: confirm that /etc/rc.local exists and has executable permissions (ls -l /etc/rc.local), then reboot the system after granting permissions.