I recently covered how to change the static motd in Raspbian Jessie. If you are interested or want some background for this article, you can read about that here. This post will cover how to setup a dynamic motd in Rapsbian (and therefore Debian) Jessie to give users up to date, relevant information about the system upon login.

I have an awesome OpenVPN server setup on a Raspberry Pi to help protect my privacy when I travel. I have used it a couple times, and it has worked without a hitch; until last weekend. Prior to taking a weekend trip, I fired up the Pi, started the OpenVPN server, but I didn’t test to make sure I could connect. That would have been helpful, since I left out a critical step: opening up the proper port on my router. That’s right, my OpenVPN server ran all weekend waiting for connections that could not be made, while I used my cellular data rather than the free, insecure WiFi I had available to me. This got me wondering whether I could edit the message that is displayed when logging into the Pi via ssh. The answer: yes I can, and yes you can.