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I want to run this command every time I log in (or every time I start up, if that doesn't work): xmodmap -e 'keysym Delete = Menu' -e 'keysym Menu = Delete'

I've tried many things. I put the command in System > Preferences > Startup Applications. I put it in a .sh file, marked it chmod +x and put that file in System > Preferences > Startup Applications. I put the script in /etc/init.d. I put the commands in ~/.profile. Nothing seems to work.

Finally, I put this in my ~/.profile:

touch test1
xmodmap -e 'keysym Delete = Menu' -e 'keysym Menu = Delete'
touch test2

Both test1 and test2 get created, but the keys are still not remapped. If I just copy/paste the command and run it manually, it works fine. But it won't run on login. Any ideas?

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3
  • don't post the same question on multiple Stack Exchange sites (unless the question is on-topic on both sites and you've waited a long time and not had any good answer on the first site; but then include a link to the original question).
    – Gilles 'SO- stop being evil'
    Sep 6, 2010 at 21:32
  • @Gilles: Is that the official policy? It seems like if it is on-topic on both sites, then both sites can benefit from it. But if this has already been discussed and decided, I will be careful in the future.
    – Matthew
    Sep 18, 2010 at 19:48
  • I thought there was an official FAQ entry about this, but I can't find it. I've asked on meta.
    – Gilles 'SO- stop being evil'
    Sep 19, 2010 at 13:19

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
6

Put it in ~/.Xmodmap. Some distro look for ~/.Xmodmap instead of ~/.xmodmaprc. It works for me on Fedora 16.

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1
  • This is the best solution on debian
    – unloco
    Mar 4, 2018 at 17:40
5

Depending on your distribution the ~/.xsession file is executed (a shell script) when logging into X. And/or the ~/.Xmodmap file is sourced by an xmodmap process.

The ~/.profile file is only executed by a login shell (with or without X), thus it is not the right place

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1

Put it in ~/.xsessionrc and make sure that /etc/X11/Xsession.options contains allow-user-xsession.

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