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Is there any way to temporarily disable GUI (X server) when booting an Ubuntu 16.04 LTS installation?

There are various guides advising to add text option onto the line GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT in /etc/default/grub or directly on the linux line in GRUB. These methods work well in Ubuntu 14.04 LTS but I always end up in LightDM when trying them in 16.04 LTS.

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To boot Ubuntu 16.04 Desktop without X one time, add systemd.unit=multi-user.target to the linux command line in GRUB.

To make this the default, use

sudo systemctl set-default multi-user.target

To return to default booting into X, use

sudo systemctl set-default graphical.target

To see the current default target,

sudo systemctl get-default
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Yes, this one works! However, I am pretty sure I won’t remember this method as easily as the old one… – Melebius Jan 10 '17 at 13:42
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@Melebius: How to remember: Ubuntu now uses systemd as the init system. Systemd has a notion of target units, some of which correspond to the old-school bootlevels. When booting, systemd has the goal to achieve default.target, which can be symlinked to one of two: multi-user.target (system fully up, no graphics) and graphical.target (system fully up, with graphics). – AlexP Jan 10 '17 at 13:46
    
For those who don't know how to edit GRUB command: press Shift during boot, and press e to edit selected boot command. – longbkit Sep 20 '17 at 1:40
    
Thanks for your instruction, in my case I have to modify grub configuration as well. sudo vi /etc/default/grub Comment out GRUB_CMD_LINE_LINUX_DEFAULT line by adding prefix #, modify GRUB_CMD_LINE_LINUX to "text", and uncomment GRUB_TERMINAL=console. Then save and sudo update-grub – longbkit Sep 20 '17 at 2:22

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