A systemd service geared toward Raspberry Pi boards that provides an email notification once the board has booted. This is primarily used to verify that a headless board has booted.
- Easy to install/remove
- Email notification when the board has been booted
- Configurable INI file
Follow the steps below for installing the boot-notify service.
- Clone the repo
git clone https://github.com/dkager3/boot-notify.git
- Go into the new boot-notify directory and run the install script as root
cd boot-notify
sudo ./install.sh
- Update the BotSettings.ini file in boot-notify/src/ to set the bot email login/password as well as the recipient's email address. See the INI section for more details on the INI file (how to modify and configure email).
- Next the device is booted, an email will be sent to the one listed in BotSettings.ini.
To remove the boot-notify service, simply run the remove.sh script.
sudo ./remove.sh
The boot-notify service can be disabled without uninstalling it. To temporarily stop the service from emailing when the board boots up, run:
sudo systemctl disable boot-notify
To re-enable the service again, simply run:
sudo systemctl enable boot-notify
The boot-notify service contains serveral pieces:
- Template files
- Python scripts
- INI Configuration File
In boot-notify/template/, there are two template files:
- BotSettings.ini.template, and
- boot-notify.service.template
These files are ultimately used by the install.sh script to generate boot-notify/src/BotSettings.ini and /etc/systemd/system/boot-notify.service. The reason for having these template files is that both rely on paths that may be specific to each system.
Example: boot-notify.service needs to know the absolute path to the notify.py script. This path is entirely dependent on where the user clones this repo. The install.sh script gets this information and "fills in the blanks" within the template files.
The brains behind this service resides within boot-notify/src/boot-notify.py. This python script is what actually sends the email when run. The email, logging, and config facilities within boot-notify/src/BootNotifyModules are all referenced by boot-notify.py.
When boot-notify.service is invoked by systemd, it calls boot-notify.py, but only after a network connection has been established.
| Field | Default Value | Description |
|---|---|---|
| device | RPi Zero | Type of device, used in the email |
| name | Node 1 | Name of the device, used in the email |
| log_to_console | 1 | 1 - Logs printed to console; 0 - No logs printed to console |
| log_to_file | 1 | 1 - Logs saved in log file; 0 - No logs saved in log file |
| log_max_len | 80 | Maximum characters for log message |
| log_file_name | run.log | Log file name |
| log_folder_path | <path> | Path to log file folder, set automatically during installation |
| bot_email_login | <Bot Email Here> | Replace this with the email address you're using to send the notification emails from |
| bot_email_password | <Bot Password Here> | Replace this with the password for the email you're using to send the notification emails from |
| recipient_email | <Recipient Email Here> | Replace this with the email address you want notifications to go to |
By default, the INI has the device listed as "RPi Zero" and "Node 1". Feel free to change these to represent what device/name you'd like to use in your notifications.
After installation, you can modify the INI by editing boot-notify/src/BotSettings.ini. Simply update any of the values you'd like, but be careful! The Python script (boot-notify.py) expects certain data types/format from the INI and could misbehave if you enter something that doesn't make sense. Don't fret, you can always change the INI back to its original state by uninstalling and reinstalling the service.
Some lines are commented out. You can uncomment them by removing the semicolon at the front of the line, then edit the placeholder value stuck there. For instance:
[bot_settings.email]
;bot_email_login = <Bot Email Here>
;bot_email_paswd = <Bot Password Here>
;recipient_email = <Recipient Email Here>
Can be edited to something like this:
[bot_settings.email]
bot_email_login = some.email@gmail.com
bot_email_paswd = 136465465165
recipient_email = janedoe@example.com
Note: By default, BotSettings.ini will always be assigned boot-notify/logs as the default directory for logging. After the install script has run, feel free to change this path to whatever you like, just as long as it's an absolute path.
In order for the boot-notify service to work, the INI needs to be configured with an email login, password, and email address of the recipient. A separate Gmail account is required. Once you make an account, you need to get an app password to use to login with the service.
Modify the [bot_settings.email] section of the INI to give the required details (bot_email_login, bot_email_paswd, and recipient_email).