In CentOS 7 and RHEL 7, the systemd process replaces the init process for starting services at boot time and also for changing the runlevels. It uses “targets” instead of run-levels and relies on systemctl command to change runlevel or to change the target.
The systemd provides much more control than the init process does while still supporting existing init scripts.
Take note that in RHEL 7 and CentOS 7, any edits of /etc/inittab file will not take effect.
The following articles describe how to change default runlevel in CentOS 7 / RHEL 7.
1. How to determine the state that the system currently configured to boot to :
# systemctl get-default
Example 1 :
If the system running on Non-GUI Mode, “systemctl get-default” command will return “multi-user.target” :
Method 1 :
[root@centos72 ~]# systemctl get-default multi-user.target
Method 2 :
[root@centos72 ~]# ls -al /etc/systemd/system/default.target lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root 37 May 30 2015 default.target -> /lib/systemd/system/multi-user.target
Example 2 :
If the system running on GUI Mode, “systemctl get-default” command will return “graphical.target” :
Method 1 :
[root@centos72-gui ~]# systemctl get-default graphical.target
Method 2 :
[root@centos72-gui ~]# ls -al /etc/systemd/system/default.target lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root 36 Jun 5 2015 /etc/systemd/system/default.target -> /lib/systemd/system/graphical.target
However, you can still use the runlevel command as it was left intact for backward compatibility:
[root@centos72 ~]# runlevel N 3
[root@centos72-gui ~]# runlevel N 5
In case you are required to change from your CentOS 7 from Non-GUI (text-based) mode to GNOME Desktop mode, you have to ensure the following group of packages has been installed properly :
a) Server with GUI (This is for server)
b) GNOME Desktop
c) Graphical Administration Tools
2. How to Install Gnome GUI in CentOS 7 :
# yum groupinstall "GNOME Desktop" "Graphical Administration Tools" "Server with GUI"
3. How to list all currently loaded and available targets :
# systemctl list-units -t target UNIT LOAD ACTIVE SUB DESCRIPTION basic.target loaded active active Basic System cryptsetup.target loaded active active Encrypted Volumes getty.target loaded active active Login Prompts graphical.target loaded active active Graphical Interface local-fs-pre.target loaded active active Local File Systems (Pre) local-fs.target loaded active active Local File Systems multi-user.target loaded active active Multi-User System network.target loaded active active Network paths.target loaded active active Paths remote-fs-pre.target loaded active active Remote File Systems (Pre) remote-fs.target loaded active active Remote File Systems slices.target loaded active active Slices sockets.target loaded active active Sockets swap.target loaded active active Swap sysinit.target loaded active active System Initialization timers.target loaded active active Timers
In below example, the following target are required to be laoded :
graphical.target loaded active active Graphical Interface multi-user.target loaded active active Multi-User System
How to Change default runlevel
4. How to Change default runlevel from Non-GUI (text-based) mode to GNOME Desktop in CentOS 7 / RHEL 7
# systemctl set-default multi-user.target
5. How to Change default runlevel from GNOME Desktop to Non-GUI (text-based) mode in CentOS 7 / RHEL 7
# systemctl set-default graphical.target
Resource :
https://access.redhat.com/articles/754933
