How to shut down Ubuntu after 2 hours of being idle?

Solution 1:

This is probably the best solution. No need for screensaver tweaking and running.

Install sudo apt-get install xprintidle

Put this script into autostart:

#!/bin/bash

idletime=$((1000*60*60*2)) # 2 hours in milliseconds

while true; do
    idle=`xprintidle`
    echo $idle
    if (( $idle > $idletime )); then
        #sudo shutdown -P now
        dbus-send --system --print-reply --dest=org.freedesktop.login1 /org/freedesktop/login1 "org.freedesktop.login1.Manager.PowerOff" boolean:true
    fi
    sleep 1
done

The comments and @Jobin 's answer did lead me to investigate myself again and I actually found a unfinished script with xprinttime but without any loop in the script. Probably not finished this because my linux/bash knowlege was not good at the time. I also did put the script I had in rc.local or something like that triggered the shutdown on boot. Thanks to @Jobin for the reminder how to add startup apps in XFCE, I already knew this but ... and credits for the dbus thing, never saw that, better then shutdown since it not requires root.

Solution 2:

This is an old question but I thought I would answer it with what works for me in Ubuntu 21.04. You can set an IdleAction in your systemd/logind.conf file.

Edit the file using:

sudo nano /etc/systemd/logind.conf

and add:

IdleAction=poweroff
IdleActionSec=120min

I have tested it with IdleActionSec=1min and the machine shuts down as expected.

Solution 3:

After having looked at a number of options for shutting down after a certain time of inactivity, it seems that xautolock is the easiest way. All credits to Sparhawk for mentioning about xautolock.

Thanks to Sneetsher for pointing out to xscreensaver. Using xscreensaver, I could manually specify what to do after a certain amount of time of inactivity. To use xscreensaver, you need to install it using:

sudo apt-get install xscreensaver

or install it from the software center and then run it once using:

xscreensaver-demo

or type "xscreensaver" on the dash and open "Screensaver".

This will create a ~/.xscreensaver file. Open it and search for the line:

programs:                                                                     \

and add:

dbus-send --system --print-reply --dest=org.freedesktop.login1 /org/freedesktop/login1 "org.freedesktop.login1.Manager.PowerOff" boolean:true \n\

just below the

programs:                                                                     \

line.

You can specify the time after which shutdown should be triggered by changing the line starting with timout. Modify it to

timeout:        2:00:00

to shutdown after two hours.

Have a look at my .xscreensaver file here.

This should poweroff your machine after two hours of inactivity or whatever time you specify in the script.

Notes:

• Have a look at this question to see how to add xscreensaver on boot.

• I tried using complex shutdown, but the bug here seems to affect me so could not happen. Otherwise, a graphical application would have been available for this.

• This could be achieved using xautolock, however, as redanimalwar pointed, out a timout greater than 1 hour is not possible without modifying its source code and recompiling.

Solution 4:

This is my simplified script, this requires that you install the "xprintidle" package and modify the shutdown command so that is possible to run without sudo/password.

sudo chmod u+s /sbin/shutdown
sudo apt-get install xprintidle

Script

#!/bin/bash
idletime=$((15*60*1000)) # 15 min in milliseconds
idle=0

while [ $idle -lt $idletime ];do
    idle=`xprintidle`
    sleep 1
done
shutdown -P now