#1 2020-04-15 16:42:53

shadowfirebird

Member

From: Manchester, UK

Registered: 2015-10-25

Posts: 18

My Debian menu does not update automatically [SOLVED]

Not sure what I've done wrong here or if something has changed for Stretch?

What I've done:

* installed the menu and menu-xdg packages
* Added `<file>/var/lib/openbox/debian-menu.xml</file>` to rc.xml
* added `<menu id="/Debian" />` to menu.xml

I can see the Debian menu, but it doesn't automatically update when I install things.  It does update if I run `sudo update-menus` and then do an openbox reconfigure.

On my laptop (running Jessie) it works fine.  (But I don't remember how I got it working...)

Update: I'm an idiot.

The process is working, I just have to reconfigure Openbox after an install.  Not enough sleep, too much work.  Apologies.

But: I learned how this process works and how to debug it.  See below.  I hope that helps someone.

Last edited by shadowfirebird (2020-04-16 07:34:12)

damo

....moderator....

Registered: 2015-08-20

Posts: 6,734

Re: My Debian menu does not update automatically [SOLVED]

What happens if you copy debian-menu.xml to .menu, and set that path in rc.xml?

See manpages for more info.

Last edited by damo (2020-04-15 20:48:17)

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shadowfirebird

Member

From: Manchester, UK

Registered: 2015-10-25

Posts: 18

Re: My Debian menu does not update automatically [SOLVED]

What happens if you copy debian-menu.xml to .menu, and set that path in rc.xml?

Sorry, no.  With that change in place I don't even get an update if I run update-menus.

ohnonot

...again

Registered: 2015-09-29

Posts: 5,592

Re: My Debian menu does not update automatically [SOLVED]

I remember trying this a long time ago and it was beyond tricky.
Try the frist three results at the very least: https://duckduckgo.com/html?q=openbox%20debian%20menu

shadowfirebird

Member

From: Manchester, UK

Registered: 2015-10-25

Posts: 18

Re: My Debian menu does not update automatically [SOLVED]

Apologies, I think this might have been a wild goose chase.

I've been learning things, so for those in a similar spot, the first thing to check is whether the Debian menu is being generated when you install something. 

* If you turn on "show in terminal" in synaptic, or use `apt-get` instead, you should see something like "running menu generation" in the output.

* This process runs the scripts in /etc/menu-methods.  There should be a script there called "openbox"; that's the one you care about. 

* the openbox script should be writing `/var/lib/openbox.debian-menu.xml`, at least on Debian Jessie and Stretch; it says at the top of the script.  You can check this is working by looking at the datestamp of debian-menu.xml, or looking in the contents. 

Anyway, this actually appears to be working in my case. So it was just fatigue numbing my brain last night.  I didn't have to run update-menus after all, just reconfigure my openbox menu.  Sorry.  But now I know how to debug that process, so, not entirely time wasted.