A small shell script to manage /etc/motd.

Install bin/update-motd somewhere on your $PATH.

Create /etc/update-motd.d/ and put the scripts to generate the MOTD in it. Ensure they are executable. If packaging this program, /usr/share/update-motd.d/ can be used as a fallback path for system defaults.

On systems with runit and snooze (like Void Linux), the service in runit/ can be used. Otherwise, a cronjob, systemd timer, or similar method for running update-motd periodically works.

See here for an example package template for motdd.

Two examples of scripts are provided:

A simple MOTD.

A showy MOTD. Requires:

• lolcat
• figlet
• curl
• docker (optional)
• xbps (optional)