{"id":3609,"date":"2025-10-17T17:50:33","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T12:20:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/?p=3609"},"modified":"2025-10-24T17:31:55","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T12:01:55","slug":"linux-motds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/linux-motds\/","title":{"rendered":"Linux MOTDs: A Deep Dive"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It all began when I spun up an AWS t4g.small burstable instance<\/strong> for a side project. Nothing unusual just another day in the cloud. But the moment I connected through SSH<\/strong>, something caught my eye.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The system greeted me with a temperature reading of -273.1\u00b0C<\/strong>. Wait\u2026 what? That\u2019s 0 Kelvin,<\/strong> the point where atomic motion completely <\/em>stops. In other words, absolute zero<\/strong> , a state that\u2019s theoretically impossible for anything to operate in. For comparison, the coldest natural temperature ever recorded on Earth was -89.2\u00b0C<\/strong> in Antarctica (1983)<\/strong>. Even in controlled lab experiments, researchers at MIT<\/strong> have only managed to get close <\/em>to 0 K using advanced laser-cooling techniques.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So how on Earth was my server \u201crunning\u201d at absolute zero<\/strong> and responding just fine? Clearly, something wasn\u2019t right. Turns out, that mysterious number wasn\u2019t an actual reading at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

# sshing in to the server<\/mark>\nssh -i mysshkey.pem ubuntu@public_ip<\/mark><\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
MOTD of Ubuntu t4g.small Instance<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
It was a bogus placeholder<\/strong>, quietly sitting inside the system\u2019s Message of the Day (MOTD)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that discovery sent me down a rabbit hole into the world of Linux MOTDs, dynamic system messages, and a bit of digital detective work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Backstory – From Unix Terminal to Basically All Cloud Servers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The answer goes back to the early days of Unix, long before the cloud, containers, or even the graphical desktop existed. Back then, system administrators logged into shared mainframes<\/strong> through text-only terminals. When users connected, they were often greeted by a short \u201cMessage of the Day<\/strong>\u201d posted by the sysadmin. The MOTD was where admins shared important announcements like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2192 Scheduled maintenance windows<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2192 New software update and many more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
As Linux evolved and spread across personal computers, servers, and eventually the cloud, the MOTD quietly came along for the ride. What was once a simple noticeboard for sysadmins became a built-in tradition,<\/strong> one that still greets you every time you log in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today, in the age of cloud, MOTD has found a new role. It\u2019s no longer just for messages, it\u2019s a tiny dashboard<\/strong>, capable of showing system health<\/strong>, instance metadata<\/strong>, or even deployment info<\/strong>. Ubuntu, for example, takes it further with dynamic MOTDs<\/strong> that change every time you log in, generated by small scripts under \/etc\/update-motd.d\/<\/mark><\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that \u201c-273.1\u00b0C\u201d message I saw wasn\u2019t some ghost in the machine, it was a hint that my MOTD was dynamically generated<\/strong>, and something in the chain had gone wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that\u2019s when I decided to explore how this little greeting message actually works behind the scenes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How MOTD Works in Ubuntu<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Traditionally, MOTD was just a static text file located at <\/code>\/etc\/motd<\/code>.<\/mark> But on modern Ubuntu has moved from static to dynamic MOTDs. Modern Ubuntu versions (like 22.04+) generate MOTDs dynamically using small executable scripts stored in \/etc\/update-motd.d\/.<\/mark><\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
List of Executable MOTDs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
The higher the number, the later the scripts run, it follows to run the scripts in ascending numeric order, so 00-<\/code> executes first and 99-<\/code> last.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Each of these scripts run every time you log in via ssh or a TTY session. Their output is combined to form the final MOTD message you see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  • 50-landscape-sysinfo \u2192 Shows system info (CPU, load, memory)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • 90-updates-available \u2192 Displays pending updates<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Now after getting how MOTDs worked, I was eager to experiment with custom scripts and see how they would turn out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Experimenting With Different Scripts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    I started with a simple script the goal was to display key instance details like the Instance ID<\/strong>, Availability Zone<\/strong>, Uptime<\/strong>, Memory usage<\/strong>, and Disk usage<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To try it out, created a new file called 99-custom<\/strong> in the \/etc\/update-motd.d\/<\/code> directory and wrote the following script, added a few fun symbols to make it more expressive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    sudo nano \/etc\/update-motd.d\/99-custom<\/mark><\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
    #!\/bin\/bash\n\n<\/mark>if command -v ec2metadata &> \/dev\/null; then\n    echo \"\ud83c\udf0d Instance ID: $(ec2metadata --instance-id)\"\n    echo \"\ud83d\udccd Availability Zone: $(ec2metadata --availability-zone)\"\nfi\n\necho \"\ud83d\udca1 Uptime: $(uptime -p)\"\necho \"\ud83e\udde0 Memory: $(free -h | awk '\/Mem:\/ {print $3 \" \/ \" $2}')\"\necho \"\ud83d\udcbe Disk: $(df -h \/ | awk 'NR==2 {print $3 \" \/ \" $2}')\"<\/mark><\/code><\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
    Now it was time to run the script. To do that, I first gave the file executable permissions and then tested it individually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    sudo chmod +x \/etc\/update-motd.d\/99-custom<\/mark><\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
    bash \/etc\/update-motd.d\/99-custom<\/mark><\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
    The output turned out just as I imagined clean, colorful, and pretty cool to look at.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Now it was time to try something a little fancy with the script. For that, installed Figlet<\/strong> and Lolca<\/strong>t in the system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    figlet draws big ASCII banners, lolcat colorizes text in rainbow gradient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    sudo apt update<\/mark>\nsudo apt install figlet lolcat -y<\/mark>\nsudo nano \/etc\/update-motd.d\/99-custom<\/mark><\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
    #!\/bin\/bash\n\n<\/mark>RED=\"\\e[31m\"; GREEN=\"\\e[32m\"; YELLOW=\"\\e[33m\"; BLUE=\"\\e[34m\"\nMAGENTA=\"\\e[35m\"; CYAN=\"\\e[36m\"; BOLD=\"\\e[1m\"; RESET=\"\\e[0m\"<\/mark>\n\n#  it displays the hostname in banner using figlet and lolcat<\/mark>\nif command -v figlet &> \/dev\/null && command -v lolcat &> \/dev\/null; then\n    figlet \"$(hostname)\" | lolcat\nelse\n    echo -e \"${CYAN}${BOLD}$(hostname)${RESET}\"\nfi\n\necho -e \"${CYAN}\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501${RESET}\"<\/mark>\n\n# displays the instance features<\/mark>\nif command -v ec2metadata &> \/dev\/null; then\n    echo -e \"\u2601\ufe0f  ${BOLD}Instance ID:${RESET} $(ec2metadata --instance-id)\"\n    echo -e \"\ud83d\udccd ${BOLD}Availability Zone:${RESET} $(ec2metadata --availability-zone)\"\nfi<\/mark>\n\n# displays the system info<\/mark>\nuptime_info=$(uptime -p)\nmem_usage=$(free -h | awk '\/Mem:\/ {print $3 \" \/ \" $2}')\ndisk_usage=$(df -h \/ | awk 'NR==2 {print $3 \" \/ \" $2}')\nload_avg=$(uptime | awk -F'load average:' '{print $2}' | xargs)\nkernel_version=$(uname -r)\n\necho -e \"\ud83d\udd52 ${BOLD}Uptime:${RESET} $uptime_info\"\necho -e \"\ud83e\udde0 ${BOLD}Memory:${RESET} $mem_usage\"\necho -e \"\ud83d\udcbe ${BOLD}Disk:${RESET} $disk_usage\"\necho -e \"\u2699\ufe0f  ${BOLD}Kernel:${RESET} $kernel_version\"\necho -e \"\ud83d\udd25 ${BOLD}Load Avg:${RESET} $load_avg\"<\/mark>\n<\/mark>\n# displays the weather<\/mark>\nif command -v curl &> \/dev\/null; then\n    weather=$(curl -s \"wttr.in?format=1\")\n    if [[ -n \"$weather\" ]]; then\n        echo -e \"\ud83c\udf24\ufe0f  ${BOLD}Weather:${RESET} $weather\"\n    fi\nfi\n\n# displays user info<\/mark>\ncurrent_user=$(whoami)\nlogin_ip=$(who | awk '{print $5}' | head -n 1 | tr -d '()')\nlogin_time=$(who -u | awk '{print $3, $4}' | head -n 1)\necho -e \"\ud83d\udc64 ${BOLD}User:${RESET} $current_user\"\necho -e \"\ud83d\udd17 ${BOLD}Login From:${RESET} ${login_ip:-N\/A} at ${login_time:-N\/A}\"\n\n# displays a random quote<\/mark>\n\nquotes=(\n    \"Keep it simple, automate everything.\"\n    \"Cloud is just someone else's computer \u2601\ufe0f\"\n    \"In God we trust, all others bring data.\"\n    \"There is no cloud without coffee \u2615\"\n    \"DevOps: Because downtime isn\u2019t an option.\"\n)\nrand_quote=${quotes[$RANDOM % ${#quotes[@]}]}\necho -e \"\ud83d\udcac ${MAGENTA}${rand_quote}${RESET}\"\n\necho -e \"${CYAN}\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501\u2501${RESET}\"\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
    The output showed up as a banner, giving the MOTD a bold and vibrant look.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    But this wasn\u2019t the only custom script that will run at login, all the other default MOTD scripts were still executing too. And that meant the haunting -273.1\u00b0C<\/code> message will still be appearing every time I ssh the server. So, my little battle to delete or edit that impossible temperature reading began here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My Failed Attempt to Change The Temperature:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    I started by looking into the \/etc\/update-motd.d\/<\/code> folder to figure out where the MOTD was fetching the temperature, turns out that all the system-related information is handled inside the 50-landscape-sysinfo<\/strong> script, so opened it with cat<\/code>, but surprisingly, there was no temperature code there<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    After a bit of digging, I discovered that the temperature was actually fetched using the bin<\/code>. Following the trail, I was directed to check \/usr\/bin\/landscape-sysinfo.<\/code> That, in turn, led to \/usr\/bin\/python3\/ dist-packages\/landscape\/sysinfo.<\/code> Inside, a bunch of Python scripts were found and buried among them was temperature.py<\/code><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    The code further led to landscape.lib.sysstats<\/code>, and from there it calls get_thermal_zones<\/code>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    From the code, it looks like it first checks if there is a sensor available. If a sensor exists, it fetches the actual data from there. Otherwise, on a cloud VM where there is no access to system-level hardware data, it returns a placeholder bogus value called temp1_input<\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    When I tried changing it, 101 Linux Basics came to mind, the part about kernel space and user space. Files inside \/sys\/class\/hwmon\/<\/strong> can\u2019t be modified directly since the kernel protects them from user-level changes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
    On a cloud VM, there\u2019s no access to physical hardware sensors<\/strong>, so system files like \/sys\/class\/hwmon\/ <\/code>just return placeholder values<\/strong>. That\u2019s why temperatures like -273.1\u00b0C<\/code> appear it\u2019s the kernel\u2019s way of saying the data isn\u2019t available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    These files are read-only placeholders<\/strong>, so attempting to write just gives a \u201cpermission denied\u201d error. That safeguard ensures stability even if something tries to mess with kernel data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    The Tricky Solution:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    On Ubuntu cloud VMs, the default 50-landscape-sysinfo<\/code> script prints system information, including a bogus -273.1\u00b0C<\/code> because cloud instances don\u2019t have access to real hardware sensors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I figured out two ways to get rid of this bogus temperature value, the first method was simple but effective, by removing the execute permission of the 50-landscape-sysinfo<\/code> script so it wouldn\u2019t run at all, preventing it from printing the impossible -273.1\u00b0C<\/code>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The second method was to directly edited the script to override the temperature. By adding a check to see if a hardware sensor exists, make  it print a safe value or a friendly message whenever the VM had no real sensor data. This way, the script still showed all the useful system information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wrapping Up<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    MOTDs may look harmless, but on Linux, they can actually pose security concerns<\/strong>. Each script in \/etc\/update-motd.d\/<\/code> is executable<\/strong>, meaning any malicious or poorly written script could run commands as your user (or even root if misconfigured). That\u2019s why it\u2019s important to only customize or override scripts you trust<\/strong>, and never blindly copy scripts from unverified sources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Despite this, MOTDs are incredibly useful for quick system insights<\/strong>, showing load, memory, disk usage, cloud metadata, or custom banners all at login. By safely overriding scripts like 50-landscape-sysinfo<\/code>, you can fix quirks (like the bogus -273.1\u00b0C<\/code>) and make your MOTD both informative and safe<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Happy Exploring!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    <\/p>\n\n\n\n
    <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
    I spun up an AWS instance, but the system greeted me at -273.1\u00b0C. This impossible temperature wasn’t a hardware failure but a quirk in the Linux MOTD. Here’s a deep dive into what happened and how dynamic MOTDs work on Ubuntu servers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":263547075,"featured_media":3670,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","_import_markdown_pro_load_document_selector":0,"_import_markdown_pro_submit_text_textarea":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1464],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tech-deep-dives"],"yoast_head":"\nLinux MOTDs: A Deep Dive<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Why does my Linux MOTD show -273.1\u00b0C? A deep dive into Ubuntu's dynamic message system and fixing placeholder sensor data.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/linux-motds\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Linux MOTDs: A Deep Dive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Why does my Linux MOTD show -273.1\u00b0C? 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