How do I disable X at boot time so that the system boots in text mode?

Question

Is it possible to disable X at boot time? I'm setting up a server so it would be nice if it wouldn't load the graphical interface every time I boot.

Answer 1

For Ubuntu 11.10 and 12.04, 12.10

Edit /etc/default/grub with your favorite editor,

sudo nano /etc/default/grub

Find out this line:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT=”quiet splash”

Change it to:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT=”text”

Update Grub:

sudo update-grub

No need to remove / disable lightdm upstart conf, it already does that for you.

lightdm.conf

# Check kernel command-line for inhibitors, unless we are being called
        # manually
        for ARG in $(cat /proc/cmdline); do
            if [ "$ARG" = "text" ]; then
                plymouth quit || :
                stop
                exit 0
            fi
        done

---

You will still be able to use X by typing startx after you logged in.

Answer 2

For 11.04 and previous versions (and perhaps later)

If you want to boot into text mode:

Edit /etc/default/grub. For example:

sudo gedit /etc/default/grub

Find this line:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"

Add text:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash text"

Then update Grub:

sudo update-grub

Note: Removing quiet splash (i.e. GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="") will show text during boot but then show a graphical login screen as usual. Replacing quiet splash with text will leave you at a login prompt; to start a GNOME session, use sudo /etc/init.d/gdm start or startx.

To disable GDM:
Install bum

After installation it will be found under System>>Administration>>Bootup-Manager

Uncheck Gnome Display Manager

Answer 3

You could use Ubuntu Server edition.

Answer 4

I did following

Step 1 First update your repository by running

sudo apt-get update

Step 2 There is some bug in old version of lightdm, so we need to upgrade the same. To do so run,

sudo apt-get install lightdm

Step 3 Now we have to modify grub config.

Step 3a Open /etc/default/grub with your faviourite editor and change

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"

to

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="text"

Step 3b Also comment GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT=0 This line is for unhiding the GRUB menu

Step 4 Now we will upgrade GRUB configuration

sudo update-grub

Step 5 Now restart your machine.