How to autologin (without entering username and password)(in text mode)

Question

I've installed Ubuntu 12.04 & and edited the /etc/default/grub file to auto boot into text mode. but every time I turn on the computer it asks for username and password (in text mode), I wanted it to automatically login without asking for username and password, so in graphical mode I went to "System Setting->User Accounts" and checked the "Automatic login", but it didn't work. so what should I do to automatically log in even in text mode?

Answer 1

To boot into text mode

sudo vim /etc/default/grub

and change the following line:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="text"

exit and enter:

 sudo update-grub

Automatically login in text mode without specifying userid or password

Add -a <your-user-name> to the line:

exec /sbin/getty -8 38400 tty1

in file /etc/init/tty1.conf

like so:

exec /sbin/getty -8 38400 tty6 -a gruber

/etc/init/tty1.conf is the upstart job that runs at the appropriate time to start the terminal session on tty1. Adding the -a option tells getty to call the login program with the -f option to sign that user in, bypassing the user prompt from getty and the password prompt from login.

Upstart is the Ubuntu system that operates as the kernel init process (process 1).

I tested this on my tty6 and it worked great. Because of the upstart respawn line if you exit the shell it will start back up again automatically.

Answer 2

open terminal and do as

sudo kate /etc/default/grub

then find this line and change as shown below

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="text"

now close the editor and do as

sudo update-grub 

and do restart now

Answer 3

sudo gedit etc/default/grub

and replace

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"

to

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="text"

Also comment GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT=0 This line is for unhiding the GRUB menu (comment is to put "#" in the line )

sudo update-grub

and to start the x just type startx

Answer 4

Pardon me for asking, but why do you wan't to. There might be a better solution like using the alternative iso image or going into recovery mode (which should have some kind of command line only interface in it somewhere). If you could tell me your problem that you need solved in a different way and your situation I might be able to help you more, but what I recommend trying is booting to recovery mode.

Answer 5

sudo update-rc.d -f gdm remove

If you use Kubuntu, replace gdm with kdm in the command above.

if it still does the graphical boot/shutdown, but it will drop you at the command line after boot. You should probably check the grub configuration. For that Click Here