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How to Send a Message to All Users in Linux

Complete guide to sending messages to all users in Linux networks. Local and network tools, graphical dialogs with yes/no buttons, practical implementation examples.

#gui-linux#linux-messaging#network-communication#ssh-networking#system-administration#wall-command#zenity-dialogs

How to send a message to all users in a Linux network?

What tools can be used to display messages on the screens of remote users in Linux? It would be ideal to find a solution with a graphical interface that allows asking a question with yes/no answer options.

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Multiple Ways to Send Messages to All Users in Linux

In Linux, there are several methods for sending messages to all users on the network, including both console tools and graphical solutions with “yes/no” dialog support. For network interaction, SSH-based methods are most effective, while for graphical interfaces, utilities like zenity and yad are recommended.

Table of Contents

Local Messaging Tools

Basic Linux tools allow you to send messages directly to the consoles of local users:

The wall Command

The wall (write all) command is designed to send messages to all logged-in users on the local system:

bash
wall "Important message: system will reboot in 10 minutes"

The write Command

For sending messages to specific users:

bash
write username "Your personal message"

The talk Command

An interactive tool for real-time communication:

bash
talk username

Note: These tools only work for users logged into the same physical server.

Network and Remote Tools

For sending messages over the network, Linux offers several approaches:

SSH Message Broadcasting

One of the most reliable ways to send messages to remote Linux machines:

bash
#!/bin/bash
MESSAGE="Urgent notification from administrator"
for HOST in server1 server2 server3; do
    ssh $HOST "wall '$MESSAGE'"
done

Using wall Over the Network

If passwordless access is configured, you can send messages to all network users:

bash
# For users on remote machines
ssh user@remote-host "wall 'Your message'"

Mass Mailing Script

bash
#!/bin/bash
# send_message_to_network.sh
MESSAGE=$1
HOSTS=("server1" "server2" "server3")

for HOST in "${HOSTS[@]}"; do
    echo "Sending message to $HOST..."
    ssh $HOST "wall '$MESSAGE'"
done

Graphical Dialog Tools

Several powerful tools exist for creating graphical dialogs with “yes/no” buttons in Linux:

Zenity - Graphical Dialog Boxes

Zenity is a popular utility for creating dialog boxes in shell scripts:

bash
# Basic yes/no question
zenity --question --text "Are you sure you want to continue?"

# Check response
if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
    echo "User selected Yes"
else
    echo "User selected No"
fi

Extended Zenity Capabilities

bash
# Question with custom buttons
zenity --question --text "Install updates?" --ok-label "Yes" --cancel-label "No"

# Question with icon
zenity --question --text "System requires reboot" --icon-name="warning"

Yad - Yet Another Dialog

A more powerful alternative to Zenity with extended capabilities:

bash
# Basic yes/no dialog
yad --question --title="Confirmation" --text="Do you want to delete this file?"

# With progress bar
yad --question --text="Processing files..." --progress-text="Processing"

Dialog - Classic Utility

bash
# Console yes/no dialog
dialog --yesno "Continue with installation?" 8 40

# Process response
case $? in
    0) echo "Yes";;
    1) echo "No";;
    255) echo "Cancel";;
esac

Combined Network Solutions

Complete Script for Network Messages with GUI

bash
#!/bin/bash
# network_message_gui.sh

# Check if message was provided
if [ $# -eq 0 ]; then
    MESSAGE=$(zenity --entry --title="Network Message" --text="Enter message to send:")
else
    MESSAGE="$1"
fi

# Confirm sending
if zenity --question --text="Send message '$MESSAGE' to all servers?"; then
    HOSTS=("server1.example.com" "server2.example.com" "server3.example.com")
    
    for HOST in "${HOSTS[@]}"; do
        if ssh $HOST "wall '$MESSAGE'"; then
            zenity --info --text="Message successfully sent to $HOST"
        else
            zenity --error --text="Error sending to $HOST"
        fi
    done
    
    zenity --info --text="Broadcast completed"
else
    zenity --info --text="Sending cancelled"
fi

Cross-Platform Mailing Script

bash
#!/bin/bash
# cross_platform_message.sh

MESSAGE=$1

# Linux servers
for HOST in linux-server-1 linux-server-2; do
    ssh $HOST "wall '$MESSAGE'" &
done

# Windows clients (if smbclient is installed)
if [ -x "$(command -v smbclient)" ]; then
    echo "$MESSAGE" | smbclient -M workstation-1 -U guest &
    echo "$MESSAGE" | smbclient -M workstation-2 -U guest &
fi

zenity --info --text="Message sent to network"

Practical Implementation Examples

Example 1: System Reboot Notification

bash
#!/bin/bash
# reboot_notification.sh

MESSAGE="System will reboot in 5 minutes. Please save all your work!"

# Local users
wall "$MESSAGE"

# Remote servers
SERVERS=("web-server" "db-server" "app-server")

for SERVER in "${SERVERS[@]}"; do
    ssh $SERVER "wall '$MESSAGE'" &
done

# Graphical confirmation
zenity --info --text="Reboot notifications sent"

Example 2: Interactive User Polling

bash
#!/bin/bash
# user_poll.sh

QUESTION="Should we install security updates?"

# Local poll
if zenity --question --text="$QUESTION"; then
    LOCAL_ANSWER="Yes"
else
    LOCAL_ANSWER="No"
fi

echo "Local user answered: $LOCAL_ANSWER"

# Network poll
ANSWERS_FILE="/tmp/user_answers.txt"
echo "Local: $LOCAL_ANSWER" > "$ANSWERS_FILE"

for HOST in server1 server2 server3; do
    ssh $HOST "
        if zenity --question --text='$QUESTION'; then
            echo '$HOST: Yes' >> /tmp/answer
        else
            echo '$HOST: No' >> /tmp/answer
        fi
    " &
done

wait

# Collect all answers
for HOST in server1 server2 server3; do
    scp $HOST:/tmp/answer >> "$ANSWERS_FILE"
done

# Show results
zenity --text-info --filename="$ANSWERS_FILE" --title="Poll Results"

Example 3: Network Status Monitoring with Notifications

bash
#!/bin/bash
# network_monitor.sh

while true; do
    # Check server availability
    for HOST in server1 server2 server3; do
        if ! ping -c 1 $HOST > /dev/null 2>&1; then
            MESSAGE="ATTENTION: Server $HOST is unavailable!"
            
            # Local notification
            wall "$MESSAGE"
            
            # Send to other servers
            for OTHER in server1 server2 server3; do
                if [ "$OTHER" != "$HOST" ]; then
                    ssh $OTHER "wall '$MESSAGE'" &
                fi
            done
            
            # Graphical warning
            zenity --warning --text="Problem detected with server $HOST"
        fi
    done
    
    sleep 300  # Check every 5 minutes
done

Sources

  1. How to Send a Message to Logged Users in Linux Terminal
  2. Communicating with other users on the Linux command line
  3. Zenity: A Graphical Dialog Box Utility for Linux
  4. yad Command Linux: Complete Guide to Yet Another Dialog Tool
  5. How to send messages or chat in Linux
  6. Send a ‘net send like’ message from a Linux Host to ALL Linux and Windows computers
  7. dialog(1): dialog boxes from shell scripts
  8. Sending messages to another user

Conclusion

  • For local systems, use the wall, write, and talk command-line utilities
  • For network broadcasting, apply SSH scripts with parallel message sending
  • Graphical “yes/no” dialogs are implemented using zenity, yad, or dialog
  • Combined solutions allow creating interactive network notification systems
  • The most effective approach combines SSH for remote machines and GUI tools for local interaction

For your task requiring a graphical interface with “yes/no” buttons, I recommend using zenity in combination with SSH broadcasting, which will ensure both network message distribution and a convenient user interface for confirming actions.

How to configure SSH keys for passwordless message broadcasting between Linux servers?How to create scheduled message broadcasts in Linux networks?How to send messages to specific user groups in Linux?How to integrate messaging system with monitoring in Linux?How to handle message delivery errors in Linux network broadcasting?How to create interactive polls on multiple Linux machines simultaneously?
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