Fun with Linux

I'm trying to learn Linux a bit further than GNOME and the basic shell
stuff. The current "project" I'm on, if you would call it that, is trying
to figure out how to automatically upload a "cookie" file to my
(remote) shell account on bootup and edit or remove that file on shutdown.
This file would be read by a script on my remote shell so I can "tell"
whether my system is up and running.



My question to the community is... well, where would I insert the code for
this? I could put it in my shell login script, but then I'd be
required to actually log in each time. I was hoping for something
automatic. Any help would be greatly appreciated.



Also, while I have your attention, if there are any good reference sites
out there that I can put into my daily rotation, please let me know. :)