im-launch in Ubuntu startup
I found this im-launch startup entry after installing Ubuntu 19.10 which executes sh -c ‘if ! [ -e «/usr/bin/ibus-daemon» ] && [ «x$XDG_SESSION_TYPE» = «xwayland» ] ; then exec env IM_CONFIG_CHECK_ENV=1 im-launch true; fi’ I want to know the purpose of this entry and what would happend if i disabled it ?
- startup
- startup-applications
asked Nov 29, 2019 at 14:57
882 3 3 gold badges 8 8 silver badges 20 20 bronze badges
4 Answers 4
-e check the file /usr/bin/ibus-daemon exists or not? exist means true does not exist means false.
! wants to confirm above value is false if above value is true, it will not execute anything.
[ «x$XDG_SESSION_TYPE» = «xwayland» ] this can have either one of below values based on how you choose to login at the login screen. which session you will choose x11 or wayland.
«xx11» = «xwayland» «xwayland» = «xwayland»
example output of $XDG_SESSION_TYPE
administrator@pratap:~$ echo $XDG_SESSION_TYPE x11 administrator@pratap:~$ echo $XDG_SESSION_TYPE wayland administrator@pratap:~$ if the first expression is false and x$XDG_SESSION_TYPE = xwayland then exec the command env IM_CONFIG_CHECK_ENV=1 im-launch true
if the first expression is true or x$XDG_SESSION_TYPE is not equal to xwayland then don’t do anything.
! EXPRESSION EXPRESSION is false -e FILE FILE exists
you can read more about what this command does then exec env IM_CONFIG_CHECK_ENV=1 im-launch true;
see man env & man im-launch
By default in Ubuntu 19.10 /usr/bin/ibus-daemon exists. so the command will not be executed.
env IM_CONFIG_CHECK_ENV=1 im-launch true when there is the file /usr/bin/ibus-daemon and my session is x11
here is something about IM
when there is no file /usr/bin/ibus-daemon and my session is wayland
here is the thing which is different from above, which means the env is applied and then a chain reaction followed.
so, if you disable or enable this from startup list nothing happens unless no existence of this file /usr/bin/ibus-daemon and your session is wayland conditions are met.
597 1 1 gold badge 5 5 silver badges 20 20 bronze badges
answered Nov 29, 2019 at 15:23
22.1k 8 8 gold badges 60 60 silver badges 122 122 bronze badges
Thank you . I appreciate your detailed answer for my doubt . People like you makes askubuntu.com awesome .
Nov 30, 2019 at 9:21
Well, I can underdstand the syntax of the command — but in simple words: what does it do in the end? What is im-launch ?
Apr 24, 2020 at 6:56
I know how to use manpages. But man im-launch does not enlighten me. It seems very low level. Why does Ubuntu put this into my user-space start programs?
Apr 24, 2020 at 6:59
its kind of thing related to multi languages, keyboard layouts.. specially some kind of chinees, japanees.. etc.
Apr 24, 2020 at 7:01
I agree with foobar. I left being puzzled, I had to spend 25 minutes of reading the comment again and again till I get the aha! moment. It is a good, detailed answer, but not a beginner-wise. Thanks anyway for the effort.
Jan 31, 2021 at 22:57
I was doing some research on how to configure Ubuntu to make it more performant and ended up here, which is interesting.
My im-launch startup entry:
sh -c 'if [ "x$XDG_SESSION_TYPE" = "xwayland" ] ; then exec env IM_CONFIG_CHECK_ENV=1 im-launch true; fi' As answer was detailed by @UnKNOWn but @foobar’s comment was my situation, so I took a deep dive.
Breaking The Command Down:
sh is a command language interpreter that executes commands read from a command line string, the standard input, or a specified file.
exec command in Linux is used to execute a command from the bash itself.
if CONDITION true THEN execute COMMAND
im-launch command is used to start a input method framework server daemon such a ibus-daemon, set up the appropriate environment variables for the client programs,and execute SESSION-PROGRAM such as x-session-manager.
ibus-daemon is a daemon program for ibus and it is also a start up program for users to activate ibus daemon, engines and panel.
daemon is a computer program that runs as a background process, rather than being under the direct control of an interactive user.
ibus is an intelligent input bus.
bus is simply a set of wires connecting multiple modules (processor, memory, IO devices).
The exec
Then my question was why do exec env when we are already execution the command from sh .
The exec command replaces the current shell process with the specified command. Normally, when you run a command a new process is spawned (forked), the exec command does not spawn a new process. Instead, the current process is overlaid with the new command. In other words the exec command is executed in place of the current shell without creating a new process.
Use of env — If you want to modify the environment for a program before executing the main program, you’d often write an script and at the end of it start the main program. But there is no need for the script to stay in memory at that time. So, exec is used in these cases so that, the main program can replace the mother script.
- What are possible use of exec command?
- https://stackoverflow.com/questions/18351198/what-are-the-uses-of-the-exec-command-in-shell-scripts
- https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/265405/meaning-of-exec-env-command
Thread: What is im-launch ?
Gee! These Aren’t Roasted! 
Join Date May 2010 Location USA Beans 128 —> Beans 128
What is im-launch ?
I have been using Xubuntu for years and installed 19.10 yesterday.
I noticed a new autostart setting called «im-launch». It executes the following command:
sh -c 'if ! [ -e "/usr/bin/ibus-daemon" ] && [ "x$XDG_SESSION_TYPE" = "xwayland" ] ; then exec env IM_CONFIG_CHECK_ENV=1 im-launch true; fi'
What is this for? What will happen if I disable it?
October 18th, 2019 #2
Hooked on Manjaro 
Join Date Feb 2010 Location In My Food Forest Beans 9,318 —> Beans 9,318
Re: What is im-launch ?
Here’s the manpage for it. http://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/. -launch.1.html
Cheers & Beers, uRock
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
- Site Areas
- Settings
- Private Messages
- Subscriptions
- Who’s Online
- Search Forums
- Forums Home
- Forums
- The Ubuntu Forum Community
- Ubuntu Official Flavours Support
- New to Ubuntu
- General Help
- Installation & Upgrades
- Hardware
- Desktop Environments
- Networking & Wireless
- Multimedia Software
- Ubuntu Specialised Support
- Ubuntu Development Version
- Security
- Virtualisation
- Ubuntu Servers, Cloud and Juju
- Server Platforms
- Ubuntu Cloud and Juju
- Gaming & Leisure
- Emulators
- Wine
- Development & Programming
- Packaging and Compiling Programs
- Development CD/DVD Image Testing
- Ubuntu Application Development
- Ubuntu Dev Link Forum
- Programming Talk
- Repositories & Backports
- Ubuntu Backports
- Bug Reports / Support
- Ubuntu Backports
- System76 Support
- Apple Hardware Users
- Ubuntu Community Discussions
- Ubuntu, Linux and OS Chat
- Recurring Discussions
- Full Circle Magazine
- The Cafe
- Cafe Games
- Market
- Mobile Technology Discussions (CLOSED)
- Announcements & News
- Weekly Newsletter
- Membership Applications
- The Fridge Discussions
- Forum Council Agenda
- Forum Feedback & Help
- Request a LoCo forum
- Resolution Centre
- Ubuntu, Linux and OS Chat
- Other Discussion and Support
- Other OS Support and Projects
- Other Operating Systems
- Ubuntu/Debian BASED
- Debian
- MINT
- Arch and derivatives
- Fedora/RedHat and derivatives
- Mandriva/Mageia
- Slackware and derivatives
- openSUSE and SUSE Linux Enterprise
- Mac OSX
- PCLinuxOS
- Gentoo and derivatives
- Windows
- BSD
- Any Other OS
- Other Operating Systems
- Assistive Technology & Accessibility
- Art & Design
- Education & Science
- Documentation and Community Wiki Discussions
- Tutorials
- Outdated Tutorials & Tips
- Ubuntu Women
- Ubuntu LoCo Team Forums
- Americas LoCo Teams
- Argentina Team
- Software
- Hardware
- Comunidad
- Arizona Team — US
- Arkansas Team — US
- Brazil Team
- California Team — US
- Canada Team
- Centroamerica Team
- Chile Team
- Comunidad
- Hardware
- Software
- Instalaci�n y Actualizaci�n
- Colombia Team — Colombia
- Georgia Team — US
- Illinois Team
- Indiana — US
- Kentucky Team — US
- Maine Team — US
- Minnesota Team — US
- Mississippi Team — US
- Nebraska Team — US
- New Mexico Team — US
- New York — US
- North Carolina Team — US
- Ohio Team — US
- Oklahoma Team — US
- Oregon Team — US
- Pennsylvania Team — US
- Peru Team
- Texas Team — US
- Uruguay Team
- Utah Team — US
- Virginia Team — US
- West Virginia Team — US
- Argentina Team
- Asia and Oceania LoCo Teams
- Australia Team
- Bangladesh Team
- Hong Kong Team
- Myanmar Team
- Philippine Team
- Singapore Team
- Europe, Middle East, and African (EMEA) LoCo Teams
- Albania Team
- Catalan Team
- Portugal Team
- Egypt Team
- Georgia Team
- Ireland Team — Ireland
- Kenyan Team — Kenya
- Kurdish Team — Kurdistan
- Lebanon Team
- Morocco Team
- Saudi Arabia Team
- Sudan Team
- Tunisia Team
- Other Forums & Teams
- LoCo Archive
- Afghanistan Team
- Alabama Team — US
- Alaska Team — US
- Algerian Team
- Andhra Pradesh Team — India
- Austria Team
- Bangalore Team
- Bolivia Team
- Cameroon Team
- Colorado Team — US
- Connecticut Team
- Costa Rica Team
- Delhi Team
- Ecuador Team
- El Salvador Team
- Florida Team — US
- Galician LoCo Team
- Greek team
- Hawaii Team — US
- Honduras Team
- Idaho Team — US
- Iowa Team — US
- Jordan Team
- Kansas Team — US
- Libya Team
- Louisiana Team — US
- Maryland Team — US
- Massachusetts Team
- Michigan Team — US
- Missouri Team — US
- Montana Team — US
- Namibia Team
- Nevada Team — US
- New Hampshire Team — US
- New Jersey Team — US
- Northeastern Team — US
- Panama Team
- Paraguay Team
- Qatar Team
- Quebec Team
- Rhode Island Team — US
- Senegal Team
- South Carolina Team — US
- South Dakota Team — US
- Switzerland Team
- Tamil Team — India
- Tennessee Team — US
- Trinidad & Tobago Team
- Uganda Team
- United Kingdom Team
- US LoCo Teams
- Venezuela Team
- Wales Team
- Washington DC Team — US
- Washington State Team — US
- Wisconsin Team
- Yemen Team
- Za Team — South Africa
- Zimbabwe Team
- Americas LoCo Teams
- Other OS Support and Projects
- Ubuntu Official Flavours Support
« Previous Thread | Next Thread »
Bookmarks
Bookmarks
Posting Permissions
- You may not post new threads
- You may not post replies
- You may not post attachments
- You may not edit your posts
Im launch ubuntu что это
Provided by: im-config_0.24-1ubuntu4_all
NAME
im-launch - launch input method end execute session program
SYNOPSIS
im-launch SESSION-PROGRAM
DESCRIPTION
The im-launch command is used to start a input method framework server daemon such as ibus-daemon, set up the appropriate environment variables for the client programs, and execute SESSION-PROGRAM such as x-session-manager. This command is usually not invoked from the console of a normal user but is normally invoked by the /etc/X11/Xsession.d/70im-config_launch.
TROUBLESHOOT
If you have any problem, see the first part of ~/.xsession-errors and look for the cause. If you are running im-config while Debian (sid) system is undergoing a major library transition, you may need to manually set up ~/.xinputrc with adjusted library version number etc. Please file a bug report to the im-config package using reportbug(1) describing your resolution experience.
SEE ALSO
im-config(8), /usr/share/doc/im-config/README.Debian.gz
AUTHOR
This manual page was written by Aron Xu aron@debian.org>, and Osamu Aoki osamu@debian.org> for the Debian GNU/Linux system (but may be used by others). IM-LAUNCH(1)
© 2019 Canonical Ltd. Ubuntu and Canonical are registered trademarks of Canonical Ltd.
Linux Mint Forums
SOLVED lm20.1 reinstall: what is im-launch in system settings: startup
Questions about Grub, UEFI,the liveCD and the installer
Forum rules
Before you post read how to get help. Topics in this forum are automatically closed 6 months after creation.
3 posts • Page 1 of 1
sadhu Level 5
Posts: 848 Joined: Fri Nov 22, 2013 9:48 am Location: Sri Lanka Contact:
SOLVED lm20.1 reinstall: what is im-launch in system settings: startup
Post by sadhu » Tue Mar 16, 2021 1:06 pm
I’ve never seen this before.
What is it for? (I read man im-launch but haven’t the foggiest notion what an «input method framework server daemon» is.) What are im-launch’s pros and cons?
I’ve disabled it for now, because if were really REALLY important I figure it wouldn’t be here in the user settings but would be started automatically.
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 3 times in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
sabbe sattā bhavantu sukhitattā. LM 20.3-64 Cinn 5.2.7, Mobo: ASUSTeK STRIX B250G GAMING v, Dual core Pntm G4560, Intel Gfx. Laptop:ASUS, Core i3, 4G RAM Intel Gfx
Welcome Level 6
Posts: 1026 Joined: Wed Aug 19, 2020 11:38 am
Re: lm20.1 reinstall: what is im-launch in system settings: startup
Post by Welcome » Tue Mar 16, 2021 1:29 pm
The actual command is.
sh -c 'if [ "x$XDG_SESSION_TYPE" = "xwayland" ] ; then exec env IM_CONFIG_CHECK_ENV=1 im-launch true; fi'Looking at im-launch with man:
IM-LAUNCH(1) General Commands Manual IM-LAUNCH(1)
NAME
im-launch — launch input method and execute session program
SYNOPSIS
im-launch SESSION-PROGRAM
DESCRIPTION
The im-launch command is used to start a input method framework server daemon such as ibus-daemon, set up the appropriate environment variables for the client programs, and execute SESSION-PROGRAM such as x-session-manager.
This command is usually not invoked from the console of a normal user but is normally invoked by the /etc/X11/Xsession.d/70im-config_launch.
Further, there’s a good break-down of the usage of this command in this link:
https://askubuntu.com/questions/1192517 . tu-startup
I’ve used IME (Input Method Editors) for Japanese, Korean and Chinese. I believe this is related to support for those input methods.
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ibus
http://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/xen . mon.1.html
«input method framework server daemon»
an input method is a tool to use a simple keyboard to enter complex characters
a framework is a platform for developing software applications. It provides a foundation on which software developers can build programs for a specific platform.
a server provides a function or a service.
a daemon is a computer program that runs as a background process, rather than being under the direct control of an interactive user.
im-launch:
Pros — If you’re using an input method for specific languages (see list), and you’re using Wayland, you’ll want this.
Cons — Not needed by anyone else.
ibus-pinyin — Provides pinyin.
ibus-sunpinyin — Provides sunpinyin.
ibus-m17n — Provides amharic, arabic, armenian, assamese, athapascan languages, belarusian, bengali, burmese, central khmer, chamic languages, chinese, cree, croatian, czech, danish, divehi, dhivehi, maldivian, esperanto, french, georgian, ancient greek (to 1453), modern greek (1453-), gujarati, hebrew, hindi, inuktitut, japanese, kannada, kashmiri, kazakh, korean, lao, malayalam, marathi, nepali, ojibwa, oriya, panjabi, punjabi, persian, pushto, pashto, russian, sanskrit, serbian, sichuan yi, nuosu, siksika, sindhi, sinhala, sinhalese, slovak, swedish, tai languages, tamil, telugu, thai, tibetan, uighur, uyghur, urdu, uzbek, vietnamese, as well as yiddish.
So what is wayland?
Wayland is a communication protocol that specifies the communication between a display server and its clients.
Wayland is a new protocol that enables 3D compositors to be used as primary display servers, instead of running the 3D compositor as an extension under the (2D) X.org display server.
Or, in layman’s terms, it assumes you’re using a 3D desktop from the start, instead of bolting on 3D capabilities to an 2D framework.
Here’s some references:
@sadhu — sabbe sattā bhavantu sukhitattā.
Born & seeking birth: May all beings be happy at heart. One would not do even the slightest thing that others who are wise would speak against.