Starting Graphical Apps at Startup

General Help
1

Hey there!

Does anybody have a simple way to start Graphical Applications at startup in the background?

I want to start ProtonVPN at startup in the background without any user action. I tried using the default "Startup Applications" app but I had no luck, because I don't know how to start ProtonVPN with a command.

I tried typing protonvpn in the terminal (just like you can use firefox) to open a graphical app from the terminal.

Does anybody know how to open ProtonVPN from the terminal at startup AND make it run in the background when it does?

Edit
Thanks to anybody who puts thought in to my stupid question. If I'm too picky I at least just want ProtonVPN to start at startup. Thanks in advance.

2

The executable file's name might not be protonvpn. I don't use Proton so can't confirm exactly what to do, but you should be able to find it fairly easily:

  1. While the GUI is open, try looking in System Monitor or btop for "proton"
  2. Copy any file paths listed for running programs that look promising
  3. Quit the app and try the paths in a terminal to confirm which one launches the VPN as you want
  4. Set the appropriate command to run on startup
1 Like
3

I asked ProtonVPN this very question months ago and they linked me to these steps:

https://help.gnome.org/users/gnome-help/stable/shell-apps-auto-start.html.en

Note that GNOME Tweaks isn't installed by default on Zorin, but it's available from the software store. I just tested this method and it works, but if you want ProtonVPN to also connect at boot, you'll need to configure the ProtonVPN client as well. Under settings, put something in this box, and you'll be good to go:

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