HOW-TO:Autostart Kodi for Linux

2015-08-20T18:56:13Z

Mackmeck:

{{mininav| [[Linux]] }}
<section begin="intro" />How to automatically start up in Kodi using various Linux distributions.<section end="intro" />

__TOC__
== Upstart init script ==
Create a '''<code>/etc/init/kodi.conf</code>''' with following contents.
<source lang="xml">
# kodi-upstart
# starts Kodi on startup by using xinit.
# by default runs as kodi, to change edit below.
env USER=kodi

description "Kodi-barebones-upstart-script"
author "Matt Filetto"

start on (filesystem and stopped udevtrigger)
stop on runlevel [016]

# tell upstart to respawn the process if abnormal exit
respawn

script
exec su -c "xinit /usr/bin/kodi-standalone -- -nocursor :0" $USER
end script
</source><br />

{{note|<code> -- -nocursor</code> option '''kills all X cursor''' on Kodi startup and does not interfere with mouse use/operation}}

You may have to edit '''<code>/etc/X11/Xwrapper.config</code>''' and replace the last line that says:

<source lang="xml">
allowed_users=console
</source>

to

<source lang="xml">
allowed_users=anybody
</source><br />

Kodi will now auto-start on boot and restart/respawn if killed or crashed.

== Modify the inittab ==

This was tested on Arch Linux.

To automatically start xbmc on your system, do the following:

First you need to make some changes to <code>/etc/inittab</code>. Comment out (add a #) to this line:

<pre>
id:3:initdefault
</pre>

to

<pre>
#id:3:initdefault
</pre>

and uncomment

<pre>
id:5:initdefault
</pre>

Then add this line to the bottom:

<pre>
x:5:wait:login -f <YOUR_XBMC_USERNAME> </dev/tty7 &>/dev/tty7
</pre>

Using wait instead of respawn means that you can exit out of xbmc into the console.

* NOTE*: This is a security hole as it autologins a dedicated xbmc user without asking for a password!

Now that we have the user logged in we need it to auto start XBMC.
In <code>~/.xinitrc</code> add the following to the end of the file
(after removing/commenting any other exec lines that start a windowmanager):

<pre>
exec ck-launch-session xbmc
</pre>

Add this line to your <code>~/.bash_profile</code>

<pre>
[[ $(tty) = "/dev/tty7" ]] && exec startx </dev/null &>/dev/null
</pre>

And create a hushlogin file to suppress login messages.

<pre>
touch ~/.hushlogin
</pre>

Lastly, for the magic sauce that makes this work, add dbus to your daemons in <code>/etc/rc.conf</code>.

<pre>
DAEMONS=(... dbus ...)
</pre>

You're finished. Next time you reboot you should be greeted with XBMC.

== Add a new init script ==

This method works well under Debian. The current configuration is a HTPC running Debian Squeeze, with no window manager installed. The main goal here is to start an Xserver only for Kodi. It allows also to specify which user will start / own the Kodi process. This method will '''not work''' if you have a window manager installed (however, it should not be hard to modify the script to suit your needs)

* Create a new script under '''/etc/init.d/'''. Call it '''kodi'''
* Change the rights, in order to allow it to be executable.
<pre># chmod a+x /etc/init.d/kodi</pre>
* copy the code under in the file. Modify the variables to suit your configuration:
<pre>#! /bin/sh

### BEGIN INIT INFO
# Provides: kodi
# Required-Start: $all
# Required-Stop: $all
# Default-Start: 2 3 4 5
# Default-Stop: 0 1 6
# Short-Description: starts instance of Kodi
# Description: starts instance of Kodi using start-stop-daemon and xinit
### END INIT INFO

############### EDIT ME ##################

# path to xinit exec
DAEMON=/usr/bin/xinit

# startup args
DAEMON_OPTS=" /usr/local/bin/kodi-standalone -- :0"

# script name
NAME=kodi

# app name
DESC=Kodi

# user
RUN_AS=kodi

# Path of the PID file
PID_FILE=/var/run/kodi.pid

############### END EDIT ME ##################

test -x $DAEMON || exit 0

set -e

case "$1" in
start)
echo "Starting $DESC"
start-stop-daemon --start -c $RUN_AS --background --pidfile $PID_FILE --make-pidfile --exec $DAEMON -- $DAEMON_OPTS
;;
stop)
echo "Stopping $DESC"
start-stop-daemon --stop --pidfile $PID_FILE
;;

restart|force-reload)
echo "Restarting $DESC"
start-stop-daemon --stop --pidfile $PID_FILE
sleep 5
start-stop-daemon --start -c $RUN_AS --background --pidfile $PID_FILE --make-pidfile --exec $DAEMON -- $DAEMON_OPTS
;;
*)
N=/etc/init.d/$NAME
echo "Usage: $N {start|stop|restart|force-reload}" >&2
exit 1
;;
esac

exit 0</pre>
* Test the script by trying to start / stop Kodi with it.
<pre># /etc/init.d/kodi start
........
# /etc/init.d/kodi stop</pre>
* If all is ok, you can add the script to your configuration, by issuing a "update-rc.d"
<pre># update-rc.d kodi defaults</pre>
* If Kodi does not start, you may need to allow X to start from non-consoles. Under Debian/Ubuntu, run:
<pre># dpkg-reconfigure x11-common</pre>
and choose "Anyone".
* You can now reboot the server, Kodi should be started just after the boot sequence.

== Add a new systemd script ==

This method is for systems that use systemd as init system as current versions of Ubuntu do. Like the init script method, this setup is for systems that boot into text mode with no window manager on bootup.

* create a new service file under '''/etc/systemd/system''', call it '''kodi.service''' and copy the following code into the file:
<pre>[Unit]
Description = Kodi Media Center

# if you don't need the MySQL DB backend, this should be sufficient
After = systemd-user-sessions.service network.target sound.target

# if you need the MySQL DB backend, use this block instead of the previous
# After = systemd-user-sessions.service network.target sound.target mysql.service
# Wants = mysql.service

[Service]
User = kodi
Group = kodi
Type = simple
#PAMName = login # you might want to try this one, did not work on all systems
ExecStart = /usr/bin/xinit /usr/bin/dbus-launch --exit-with-session /usr/bin/kodi-standalone -- :0 -nolisten tcp vt7
Restart = on-abort
RestartSec = 5

[Install]
WantedBy = multi-user.target
</pre>

* modify the variables (user, group, paths...) to match your configuration. Save the file.
* try to start (and stop) Kodi to make sure the script is working properly
<pre># systemctl start kodi
........
# systemctl stop kodi</pre>
* if you do not experience any issues, make Kodi start automatically
<pre># systemctl enable kodi</pre>
* reboot and you're done

[[Category:Linux]]
[[Category:How-to]]
[[Category:Manual]]

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HOW-TO:Autostart Kodi for Linux