Thunar custom actions

Add Thunar custom actions

As a maintainer I have made some custom actions for Thunar.

What we will cover

  1. Write ISO to USB
  2. Open a terminal using the current folder
  3. Launching Thunar as administrator
  4. Edit configuration as admin using GUI

How?

All custom actions are defined using the Configure custom actions... dialog in Thunar. It is found in the Edit menu.

All examples will follow the pattern

  • Navigate the Edit menu
  • Click Configure custom actions...
  • Click + to add an action
  • Configure the action
  • Save the action

Only the first example will detail the action of opening the Configure custom action dialog

Write ISO to USB

For ISO writing I have a preference for Mint stick. I am thinking it is because it does 2 two things and does it well. There is several benefits using Mint stick

  • Mint stick only allows USB devices
  • USB device formatting
  • USB image writing

Install mintstick package

sudo pacman -Syu mintstick

Open Thunar and navigate to Edit → Configure custom actions...

  • Click the + add an action

    • Name: Write to USB
    • Description: Write selected ISO to USB
    • Command: mintstick -m iso -i %f

  • Select a nice icon by clicking the icon e.g.

    • from the Device icons dropdown locate the media-flash-memory-stick icon.

  • Click the Appearance Conditions tab

    • File patter: *.iso
    • Select only the Other Files option
    • Shortcut: Click and press e.g. F7 Click OK and close the window.

Test it by navigating to a folder containing an ISO. Then right click the ISO and select the new Write to USB option.

Close Mint stick and test selected shortcut e.g. F7.

Open terminal here

Opening a terminal in a folder is probably one of the most useful features of the file manager. You can use a named terminal or you can use the exo-open app to launch the system's terminal defined by Preferred applications. To be able to use this you need the package exo installed. You can check if it is installed using which exo-open.

Click + in the custom actions dialog to configure a new action

  • Name: Open Terminal Here
  • Description: Open terminal in current folder

How do we get it to open in the folder currently open in Thunar? At the bottom of the Basics tab is a list of parameters you can use when executing a command.

In this case we want the current folder to be the location opened in the terminal.

We look at the list and find the %d parameter

%d    directory containing the file that is passed in %f

Another parameter is referenced %f and this is exactly what we need 

%f    the path to the first selected file or directory

So our command will be

  • Command: exo-open --launch TerminalEmulator %d

Next is shortcut

  • Keyboard Shortcut: F4

And icon

  • Select a suitable icon - a terminal

Now move to the Appearance Conditions tab

  • File Pattern: *``**
  • Select only the Directories option

Save the action by clicking OK

Launch Thunar as root

Click + in the custom actions dialog to configure a new action

  • Name: Open Thunar as ROOT
  • Description: Open Thunar as ROOT
  • Command: thunar admin:%d

The admin: is a protocol which allows for tasks to be launched with administrative privileges. This is part of the gvfs package (Gnome Virtual File System). We are again using the %d parameter to use the current folder for root actions.

  • Keyboard Shortcut: CtrlF8

And icon

  • Select a suitable icon - red folder as a consequence alert

Now move to the Appearance Conditions tab

  • File Pattern: *``**
  • Select Directories, Text Files and Other Files option

Save the action by clicking OK

Edit config as root using GUI

Click + in the custom actions dialog to configure a new action

  • Name: Edit file as ROOT
  • Description: Edit file as ROOT
  • Command: xed admin:%f

The command should be an editor supporting the admin protocol. This is true for xed and gedit. We use the %f parameter to pass the full path of the selected file to the editor

  • Keyboard Shortcut: None

And icon

  • Select a suitable icon - something signifying the consequence of the action

Now move to the Appearance Conditions tab

  • File Pattern: *``**
  • Select only the Text Files option

Save the action by clicking OK

What if ...

The editor I want to use does not support the admin protocol?

You can use pkexec and add some environment variables - e.g. if you want to launch geany the command could look like this

pkexec env DISPLAY=$DISPLAY XAUTHORITY=$XAUTHORITY geany %f

This is a work around - and may change in the future - who knows ...

Recreate on other systems

Creating the actions from scratch is a tedious task - if you have many. The easy way is to copy this file to another system.

~/.config/Thunar/uca.xml

Conclusion

You have now learned how you create custom actions in Thunar. I hope you find the guide useful.

You can find inspiration for custom actions in this thread

  • https://archived.forum.manjaro.org/t/thunar-custom-actions-are-awesome-what-are-yours/100835?u=linux-aarhus