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Ken
Asked: 2018-04-14 19:58:08 +0800 CST

How to create a menu item in KDE that executes a terminal command?

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I have been trying to accomplish this task for years and every time I try it, I fail miserably and simply give up completely after Googling it and trying for hours. This time though, I decided to seek help from you!

Logically speaking, It should be a very straightforward simple task as follows:

Step 1: Right-click on the menu button, then go to "Edit Applications".

enter image description here

Step 2: Click on "Add new item", assign a menu entry name then create your launcher or command.

No matter how many variations of commands I try, it is never working out. I tried to launch the Konsole terminal then execute the command, but the Konsole is not holding still and closing automatically even after issuing the right flag to keep it running.

konsole -e anaconda-navigator --noclose

enter image description here

Specifying the command directly also does not work out and simply renders nothing on the screen.

anaconda-navigator

enter image description here

I wonder why it has to be very hard like that. Your help will be greatly appreciated!

My System Information - For Reference:

enter image description here

kde command-line kubuntu 17.10 anaconda

3 Answers

  1. According to the --help option the -e should be the last part of the line:

    -e <cmd>                  Command to execute. This option will catch all following arguments, so use it as the last option.

    So, to run the command to keep it open, it would then be:

    konsole --noclose -e anaconda-navigator

    Hope this helps!

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  2. Here is how I was able to do it, using the example of command 

    fortune | cowsay

    1. Open a text editor and type 

      #!/bin/bash
fortune | cowsay

    2. Save file as cow.sh ( or any name you wish and note location path)

    3. Open KDE Menu Editor ( note to use proper path to your cow.sh )

      Command:

      konsole --noclose -e /home/username/Documents/cow.sh

    4. click save and test it!

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  3. anaconda-navigator should run without any additional parameters.

    Ensure the path to anaconda is in ~/.bachrc i.e. 

    export PATH="/home/<user>/path/to/anaconda3/bin:$PATH"

    Ensure conda is updated: (this next command will fail, but it will give you the correct command for updating your system.)

    conda update

    Otherwise, a plasma config file might require deletion/recreation. Try renaming one or both of the following files (Warning: Desktop settings will be set back to default!):

    • ~/.config/plasmashellrc
    • ~/.config/plasma-org.kde.plasma.desktop-appletsrc

    Then restart plasma:

    killall plasmashell && plasmashell &
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