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MOTD: Modifying the Console Opening Message

Don't like your console opening message? I'll show you how to change it. The file is located at:

/etc/motd

There are plenty of small utilities that can create drawings and other interesting displays:

Cowsay

Allows you to put text in a small drawing (by default a cow, but other drawings are available):

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sudo apt-get install cowsay

Example:

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echo Serveur Toto|cowsay -f eyes
ls /usr/share/cowsay/cows

Boxes

Allows you to place text in small drawings (mainly for adding comments in code lines):

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sudo apt-get install boxes

Example:

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echo Acces on this server is stricly restricted | boxes -d peek

Lets you use colorized Linux banners:

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sudo apt-get install linuxlogo

Example:

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linux_logo

FIGlet

Allows you to write text in ASCII art form:

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sudo apt-get install figlet

Example:

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figlet -f small Access Restricted
showfigfonts|more

Disabling MOTD in SSH

If you no longer want any messages when booting via SSH, this command is enough:

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touch ~/.hushlogin