Ubuntu – change Message Of The Day (MOTD)

The usual problem MOTD is that you want to change it in /etc/motd and it keeps reverting to the default value.

Try different approach.

Install package  update-motd

aptitude install update-motd

Now you can control motd via editing files:

/etc/update-motd.d/00-header
/etc/update-motd.d/10-help-text
/etc/update-motd.d/91-release-upgrade
/etc/update-motd.d/99-footer

If you just want to add something in the bottom, create & edit the file:

/etc/motd.tail