# Boot into terminal not GUI **URL:** \ **Category:** SLES for Raspberry Pi\ **Created:** [January 12, 2017, 3:17pm UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/boot-into-terminal-not-gui/29224 "2017-01-12T15:17:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Boris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/74df32/32.png) [@Boris](https://forums.suse.com/u/Boris)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 3:17pm UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/boot-into-terminal-not-gui/29224/1 "2017-01-12T15:17:11Z")
Hi, I would like to use my Raspberry as headless server, accessible predominantly via ssh. Therefore I don’t need it, after power on, to boot into GUI. I saw some instructions how to do it for general Linux installation or opensuse but I can’t use any of these as files and tools are bit different in SLES. Can somebody advise? Thanks Boris ---
**Author:** ![Willem1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c57346/32.png) [@Willem1](https://forums.suse.com/u/Willem1)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 3:58pm UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/boot-into-terminal-not-gui/29224/2 "2017-01-12T15:58:56Z")
Hi Broris, [QUOTE=borismichalko;36047]Hi, I would like to use my Raspberry as headless server, accessible predominantly via ssh. Therefore I don’t need it, after power on, to boot into GUI. I saw some instructions how to do it for general Linux installation or opensuse but I can’t use any of these as files and tools are bit different in SLES. Can somebody advise? [/QUOTE] Have you tired?: systemctl set-default multi-user.target Cheers, Willem ---
**Author:** ![Boris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/74df32/32.png) [@Boris](https://forums.suse.com/u/Boris)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 4:58pm UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/boot-into-terminal-not-gui/29224/3 "2017-01-12T16:58:54Z")
Hi, perfect this one works. Also now I can’t start X as non root user. Is there a way? Thanks Boris ---
**Author:** ![hdtodd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/9d8465/32.png) [@hdtodd](https://forums.suse.com/u/hdtodd)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 7:48pm UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/boot-into-terminal-not-gui/29224/4 "2017-01-15T19:48:25Z")
[QUOTE=borismichalko;36056]Hi, Also now I can’t start X as non root user. Is there a way? Thanks Boris[/QUOTE] Yes, I’m able to boot into non-GUI (“multi-user.target”) mode, log in as my non-root account, and “startx” to get the GUI. I don’t recall doing anything special to make that work. BUT, I do have my personal account assigned to groups: groups=502(hdtodd),0(root),33(video),100(users),1000(plugdev) You might try "sudo useradd -G root " and then try startx again. ---
**Author:** ![Willem1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c57346/32.png) [@Willem1](https://forums.suse.com/u/Willem1)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 7:54am UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/boot-into-terminal-not-gui/29224/5 "2017-01-17T07:54:23Z")
Hi two, [QUOTE=hdtodd;36087]Yes, I’m able to boot into non-GUI (“multi-user.target”) mode, log in as my non-root account, and “startx” to get the GUI. I don’t recall doing anything special to make that work. BUT, I do have my personal account assigned to groups: groups=502(hdtodd),0(root),33(video),100(users),1000(plugdev) You might try "sudo useradd -G root " and then try startx again.[/QUOTE] Just saw the replies… Adding the root group to a non group user is not something you’d want to do or I’d recommend in any case as that greatly defeats the purpose of having a non root user. @Boris: what is the goal (in this case) of starting up an X session? By that I mean, does it not suffice to use SSH with X forwarding enabled when needed X support? Cheers, Willem ---
**Author:** ![Boris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/74df32/32.png) [@Boris](https://forums.suse.com/u/Boris)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2017, 3:06pm UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/boot-into-terminal-not-gui/29224/6 "2017-01-18T15:06:32Z")
@Willem: I was just curious how to achieve it for a “case when I would need it”. Right now I’m fine with SSH w/o X. Just for the reference I was able to achieve it via: systemctl set-default graphical.target Cheers Boris ---
**Author:** ![Willem1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c57346/32.png) [@Willem1](https://forums.suse.com/u/Willem1)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2017, 8:23pm UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/boot-into-terminal-not-gui/29224/7 "2017-01-18T20:23:47Z")
Hi Boris, Good you found it. As added note: If it’s just an occasional X startup you are looking for, you can use: systemctl start graphical.target #load all the way up to the graphical interface (won’t work if X is not installed, say on a minimal install) systemctl isolate multi-user.target #bring the system back from a higher level into console mode Doing it that way ensures the default mode does not get affected. About these target things: Units are the new thing with systemd. These units replace the good old init scripts. the multi.user.target (aka “runlevel 3” if systemd would have runlevels) is a grouping of units into targets. Cheers, Willem ---
**Author:** ![Boris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/74df32/32.png) [@Boris](https://forums.suse.com/u/Boris)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2017, 1:31pm UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/boot-into-terminal-not-gui/29224/8 "2017-01-23T13:31:03Z")
Thank you Willem! This was exactly I was looking for. Boris