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How to Play a Sound After a Terminal Command Completes

 


Sometimes, while working on the terminal, especially during long-running processes, it’s useful to have an audible notification when the task is finished. In this guide, we’ll show you how to make your terminal play a sound after any command completes, ensuring you're alerted without constantly checking the terminal.


Why Do This?

This trick can save time and improve workflow, especially when:

  • You’re running lengthy build processes or installations.
  • You’re waiting for large file transfers.
  • You're programming embedded systems and need confirmation when flashing is done.

Let’s dive into how to do this on a Linux system.

Step-by-Step Guide to Playing a Sound After a Command


1. Using paplay or aplay to Play Sounds

On most Linux distributions, you can use paplay or aplay to play sound files directly from the terminal. Here's how you can append a sound notification after a command.


Basic Command Structure:

PC:~$ your_command && paplay /path/to/soundfile.oga 

Or, if you're using aplay (for .wav files):

PC:~$ your_command && aplay /path/to/soundfile.wav

  • your_command is any terminal command you wish to execute.
  • && ensures the sound plays only if the command completes successfully. If you want it to play regardless of success or failure, use a semicolon ;.
  • /path/to/soundfile is the location of the sound file you want to play. There are often default system sounds available in /usr/share/sounds/.

    • Making It Even More Generic 

    To make this method even more flexible, you can create a simple alias or function in your .bashrc file that appends sound to any command you run.


    notify_when_done() {

        $1 && paplay /usr/share/sounds/freedesktop/stereo/complete.oga

    }

    Now, you can run:

     notify_when_done "your_command"

    Conclusion 

    Feel free to customize the sound files to your liking and make your terminal experience a little more user-friendly!

    Pro Tip: You can extend this method to use visual notifications as well, like notify-send, for even more robust alerts!

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