With KDE 4, Autostart and KCron are now both integrated into System Settings. To start either one, simply click on the K menu and then click System Settings. Next, click the “advanced” tab. Under the Advanced User Settings section, you should see Autostart, and under the System section, make sure that you see Task Scheduler. On my Kubuntu system, Task Scheduler was not installed, so I had to start kpackagekit and install the kcron package.
Running applications at KDE startup
To run an application at KDE startup, follow these simple steps: That is all it takes. You can remove the check from the Enable box anytime you do not want KDE to start with that application. To run a script on or before KDE startup, follow these simple steps:
Running periodic tasks
Most Unix-like operating systems have a feature that allows the user to run scripts and services on a schedule. For example, if you want a log file to be purged at midnight every night, you can schedule a script to do that. Scheduled tasks are called “cron jobs” because they are handled by a program called Cron, and the schedule is controlled in a configuration file called crontab. In a previous article, MTE taught you how to schedule cron jobs in GNOME. Now, you will learn how to do it in KDE. To schedule a task in KDE, follow these simple steps: You can also use the Task Scheduler to setup environment variables. In the example image, I have setup one to force KDE into realizing that the system is connected to two monitors (KDE_MULTIHEAD=true). That is all it takes. With two simple graphical tools, you now have the power to run applications, commands, and scripts whenever and as often as you want.
