{"id":80,"date":"2025-06-06T12:53:23","date_gmt":"2025-06-06T11:53:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.mkcloudai.com\/?p=80"},"modified":"2025-06-06T12:53:23","modified_gmt":"2025-06-06T11:53:23","slug":"%f0%9f%9a%80-creating-a-dynamic-motd-dashboard-for-ubuntu-ec2-with-logs-aws-metadata-alerts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.mkcloudai.com\/?p=80","title":{"rendered":"\ud83d\ude80 Creating a Dynamic MOTD Dashboard for Ubuntu EC2 with Logs, AWS Metadata & Alerts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\ud83e\udded Introduction<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When you SSH into your Linux server, you\u2019re greeted with a simple Message of the Day (MOTD). But what if it could show real-time disk alerts<\/strong>, AWS metadata<\/strong>, failed services<\/strong>, and log summaries<\/strong> right away?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this blog, I\u2019ll show how I progressively customized \/etc\/update-motd.d\/<\/code> to build a DevOps-style MOTD dashboard<\/strong> for my Ubuntu EC2 instance running MKCloudAI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

\ud83e\ude9c Step 1: Start Simple \u2014 Basic Banner & Uptime<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\ud83e\uddf1 Goal<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Display a welcome message and key server details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\ud83d\udcc4 Script: 99-custom<\/code><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
#!\/bin\/bash

echo \"\"
echo \"\u2554\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2557\"
echo \"\u2551   \ud83d\ude80 Welcome to MKCloudAI Server     \u2551\"
echo \"\u2560\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2563\"
echo \"\u2551 \ud83d\udd12 Secured Ubuntu Server - DevOps    \u2551\"
echo \"\u2551 \ud83d\udd52 Uptime: $(uptime -p)              \u2551\"
echo \"\u2551 \ud83d\udca1 Tip: Keep your system updated!    \u2551\"
echo \"\u255a\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u2550\u255d\"
echo \"\"
echo \"\ud83c\udf10 Hostname: $(hostname)\"
echo \"\ud83d\udd52 Uptime: $(uptime -p)\"
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
\n
\ud83d\udd27 Place this file in \/etc\/update-motd.d\/99-custom<\/code> and make it executable with chmod +x<\/code>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\ud83e\ude9c Step 2: Add Disk and Memory Usage<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\ud83d\udcbe Disk + \ud83e\udde0 RAM<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
echo \"\ud83d\udcbe Disk Usage: $(df -h \/ | awk 'NR==2 {print $5 \" used\"}')\"
echo \"\ud83e\udde0 Memory Usage: $(free -m | awk '\/Mem:\/ {printf(\"%.1f%% used\\n\", $3\/$2*100)}')\"
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Now it starts to feel useful \u2014 I can spot memory or disk issues the moment I log in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\ud83e\ude9c Step 3: Add \ud83d\udea8 Disk Usage Alert<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\ud83d\udea8 Goal<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Trigger a warning if disk usage exceeds 80%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
disk_usage=$(df \/ | awk 'NR==2 {gsub(\"%\",\"\",$5); print $5}')
if [ \"$disk_usage\" -ge 80 ]; then
    echo \"\ud83d\udea8 ALERT: Root disk usage is above 80% ($disk_usage%)\"
fi
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Now I don\u2019t need to manually run df -h<\/code> \u2014 it warns me instantly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\ud83e\ude9c Step 4: Add \u2601\ufe0f AWS EC2 Metadata<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\u2601\ufe0f Add Instance Info Using Instance Metadata Service<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
meta_base=\"http:\/\/169.254.169.254\/latest\/meta-data\"
instance_id=$(curl -s ${meta_base}\/instance-id)
instance_type=$(curl -s ${meta_base}\/instance-type)
region=$(curl -s ${meta_base}\/placement\/availability-zone | sed 's\/[a-z]$\/\/')

echo \"\u2601\ufe0f AWS Instance ID: $instance_id\"
echo \"\u2601\ufe0f AWS Type: $instance_type | Region: $region\"
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
\n
This helps identify which EC2 instance I\u2019m on, especially when working across multiple environments.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\ud83e\ude9c Step 5: Add \u274c Failed System Services<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
failed_services=$(systemctl --failed --no-legend)
if [ -n \"$failed_services\" ]; then
    echo \"\u274c Failed Services:\"
    echo \"$failed_services\" | awk '{print \"   \u2192 \" $1 \" (\" $2 \")\"}'
fi
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
This was a game-changer \u2014 no more missing broken services like postfix<\/code>, nginx<\/code>, or docker<\/code>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\ud83e\ude9c Step 6: Add \ud83d\udcc5 Cron Job Preview<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
echo \"\ud83d\udcc5 Upcoming Cron Jobs:\"
(crontab -l 2>\/dev\/null; sudo crontab -l 2>\/dev\/null) | grep -v '^#' | awk 'NF' | while read -r job; do
    echo \"   \u2192 $job\"
done
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Now I can double-check scheduled jobs at a glance after each login.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\ud83e\ude9c Step 7: Add \ud83d\udcdc Meaningful Log Summaries<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Here\u2019s the fun part \u2014 summarizing key log files for:<\/p>\n\n\n\n