No colour in MOTD

Question

I recently bought a Raspberry Pi, and have started playing around with it. After changing my MOTD, (to include colours), the colour codes are coming up as raw-text instead of executing.

I am connected to my Raspberry Pi via SSH in a Mac Terminal. I also tried directly via the Raspberries command line. How do I allow colour?

Below is a screenshot of the failed MOTD:

The file I am editing is "/etc/motd". I am editing it with "nano".

Code below:

The programs included with the Debian GNU/Linux system are free software;
the exact distribution terms for each program are described in the
individual files in /usr/share/doc/*/copyright.

Debian GNU/Linux comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY, to the extent
permitted by applicable law.

#!/bin/bash
echo "$(tput setaf 2)
   .~~.   .~~.
  '. \ ' ' / .'$(tput setaf 1)
   .~ .~~~..~.
  : .~.'~'.~. :
 ~ (   ) (   ) ~
( : '~'.~.'~' : )
 ~ .~ (   ) ~. ~
  (  : '~' :  ) $(tput sgr0)Raspberry Pi$(tput setaf 1)
   '~ .~~~. ~'
       '~'
$(tput sgr0)"

motd is a text file read by login. You can't run a script in it. — fd0, Aug 18 '15 at 10:36
Can you paste the code instead of an image? That makes it much easier to help you. — klimpergeist, Aug 18 '15 at 10:37
@fd0 I had a feeling someone would say that... Is there a way I can execute a scripted file upon connection? — , Aug 18 '15 at 10:38
@FinnRayment A `cron` or `systemd` job should do the trick. There you can execute arbitrary scripts at a given time or on startup. — klimpergeist, Aug 18 '15 at 10:40
@klimpergeist Sorry, as stated, I am horrible with Unix at the moment. :) What should I do with those? — , Aug 18 '15 at 10:41
@FinnRayment Best look at some manuals on the web. But I also posted a simpler solution (hopefully) below as an answer. — klimpergeist, Aug 18 '15 at 10:44
@klimpergeist I found a solution thanks to your help! Thanks. Mind if I edit your answer to reflect the solution? — , Aug 18 '15 at 10:46

score 5 · Accepted Answer · edited Aug 18 '15 at 10:57

Due to the fact that "etc/motd" is a plain text file, commands are not executed, but instead printed as so:

#!/bin/bash
echo "$(tput setaf 2)
   .~~.   .~~.
  '. \ ' ' / .'$(tput setaf 1)
   .~ .~~~..~.
  : .~.'~'.~. :
 ~ (   ) (   ) ~
( : '~'.~.'~' : )
 ~ .~ (   ) ~. ~
  (  : '~' :  ) $(tput sgr0)Raspberry Pi$(tput setaf 1)
   '~ .~~~. ~'
       '~'
$(tput sgr0)"

Instead, create a new file called "motd.sh" inside "/etc" and input the MOTD there instead. This is now an executable script, but is not executed. So goto "/etc/profile" and add at the end of the file:

bash /etc/motd.sh

This will now execute the script upon connection and display colour.

   .~~.   .~~.
  '. \ ' ' / .'
   .~ .~~~..~.
  : .~.'~'.~. :
 ~ (   ) (   ) ~
( : '~'.~.'~' : )
 ~ .~ (   ) ~. ~
  (  : '~' :  ) Raspberry Pi
   '~ .~~~. ~'
       '~'

No colour in MOTD

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