Right-Click to Launch Custom Scripts with Nautilus : Ubuntu (6.06.1 / 6.10)

You might remember my previous post about how to actually use the Create Document option on your desktops right-click menu. Today I’ll go over how to create custom scripts to launch from that same panel. This can go for any frequently used program, custom scripts that you’ve written, etc. This tutorial is rated E for everyone! 😉

First of all let me have you navigate to

~/.gnome2/nautilus-scripts/

Currently this folder is probably empty (if it isn’t you’ve probably already accomplished the purpose of this tutorial). This simple, seemingly insignificant folder can house any program or script you’d like to run. Below are a couple of examples of applications or scripts you could add to your nautilus right-click menu.

gedit Terminal

#!/bin/sh
gnome-terminal

Saving this file with these contents will allow you to launch a terminal in your current directory. (ie; if you launch it from the Desktop it will open a terminal in your home folder. If you launch it from within ~/.gnome2/nautilus-scripts/ it will open a terminal in that same folder.)

You will also need to set any script that you create as executable. You do that, after creating the file, by running the following command:

chmod +x [filename]

Enjoy and, as usual, enjoy your rise to world domination!

Update: There are also a few pre-made script packages that you can install for a few commonly used things. Search via Synaptic or on the command line for:

sudo aptitude search nautilus-script

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