How to start GUI application with upstart?

Create a file $HOME/.config/upstart/myGuiStart.conf

Content:

start on desktop-start
stop on desktop-end

respawn

exec firefox

or another example with a delay:

start on desktop-start
stop on desktop-end

respawn

script
    sleep 30
    firefox 
end script

description of respawn:

 respawn
         A service or task with this stanza will be automatically started
         if it should stop abnormally.  All reasons for a service stopping,
         except the stop(8) command itself, are considered abnormal.  Tasks
         may exit with a zero exit status to prevent being respawned.

More info:

http://ifdeflinux.blogspot.de/2013/04/upstart-user-sessions-in-ubuntu-raring.html

http://upstart.ubuntu.com/

Respawn bug? -> https://askubuntu.com/a/62461/265974

The problem you are facing is that when upstart (or systemd, or the scripts in /etc/rc.d/) are run, there is normally no graphic service ("the X server") running.

Moreover, the availability of the graphic subsystem in Unix is strictly bond to the concept that a user has done a graphic login, and just this user has the right to use the graphic environment. It is customary NOT to start a graphic subsytem for root --- and the upstart scripts are run by root.

To automatically start a graphic application at the start of the system, my approach would be:

create a user for this purpose. Set it up so that its session will autostart.
set up a startup application for this user with the program you want; choose "startup application" in the dash:

for restarting the application when it exits/crashes, you can simply embed it in a script:

     #!/bin/bash
     #
     while true; do 
          /full/path/to/start_myapp.sh    # NO background (&)!
          # if we land here it exited
          sleep 5
     done

If you use this script, it is really important that the command start_myapp.sh should not launch the application in background. Otherwise, more complex strategies are required to auto-restart...

Notice that you can use your normal user in parallel too; just choose "switch user" from the panel (adapt to your flavor of Ubuntu) and you will have another graphical login screen; you can switch back-an-forth using CTRL-ALT-F7 and CTRL-ALT-F8...

How to start GUI application with upstart?

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