Celeb Glow
updates | April 02, 2026

Where is motd on modern Ubuntu systems?

There is another question which covers some suggestions for changing the motd on modern ubuntu systems which do not have /etc/motd.

However, the other question does not ask (or tell) where the current Ubuntu MOTD is being stored. Where is it?

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1 Answer

Traditionally , Unix motd would live in /etc/motd directory.RHEL still does that. Ubuntu on the other hand places login messages in /etc/update-motd.d/ directory.

$ ls /etc/update-motd.d/
00-header* 90-updates-available* 98-fsck-at-reboot*
10-help-text* 91-release-upgrade* 98-reboot-required*

Each of these scripts is responsible for dynamically assembling the whole message and provide specific parts.

It is still , however, possible to create a custom message in /etc/motd and place it into /etc/motd . File itself doesn't exist, but you just have to create it.

Here's how I tested it:

$ sudo sh -c 'echo "THIS IS A TEST" >> /etc/motd'
[sudo] password for xieerqi: 
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