Tails Autostart

What is it?

Automatically start scripts/applications on tails bootup

Why make this?

There could be a need for several scripts to run each time Tails boots up, so this is a mechanism for doing so.

How do I install it on Tails?

Make sure you have dotfiles feature turned on in your persistence configuration.

Download and unpack asset files:

cd ~/Downloads
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dutu/tails-autostart/master/assets/tails-autostart.tar.gz
tar -xzvf tails-autostart.tar.gz

Run the installation script:

cd tails-autostart
chmod +x install_tails_autostart.sh
sudo ./install_tails_autostart.sh

Done.

How do I use it?

add any scripts to /live/persistence/TailsData_unlocked/dotfiles/.config/autostart/amnesia.d to execute them on startup as amnesia
add any scripts to /live/persistence/TailsData_unlocked/dotfiles/.config/autostart/root.d to execute them on startup as root

How does it work?

run_dir_scripts.sh runs all the scripts ending in .sh in a particular directory. This way, we use the same script to run amnesia.d scripts and root.d scripts.

startup_mods.sh runs run_dir_scripts.sh for each user (root and amnesia). running as root is done using pkexec (gui for sudo prompt).

Finally, using Gnome's autostart feature, Tails-autostart.desktop is run each time Gnome starts up. This Tails-autostart.desktop runs /live/persistence/TailsData_unlocked/tails-autostart/startup_mods.sh

So on startup, gnome runs:

graph LR;
  A(Tails-autostart.desktop)-->B(startup_mods.sh);
  B(startup_mods.sh)-->C(pkexec run_dir_scripts.sh);
  B(startup_mods.sh)-->D(run_dir_scripts.sh);
  C(pkexec run_dir_scripts.sh)-->E(root.d/*.sh);
  D(run_dir_scripts.sh)-->F(amnesia/*.sh);

Note: startup_mods.sh now checks for .sh script files in .config/autostart/root.d. If no files are found, pkexec is not executed. This is to avoid unnecessary prompt to enter admin password after Gnome starts up.

How do I remove it from Tails?

Remove Tails-autostart files:

rm /live/persistence/TailsData_unlocked/dotfiles/.config/autostart/Tails-autostart.desktop
rm -fr /live/persistence/TailsData_unlocked/dotfiles/.config/autostart/Tails-autostart

Note: Scripts in autostart/amnesia.d and autostart/root.d intended to run on startup will remain in place. However, with the removal of Tails autostart, they will no longer be triggered at Tails startup.