How to get out of runlevel 5 in an emergency?

Chris G cl at isbd.net
Wed Apr 23 13:59:04 UTC 2008


On Wed, Apr 23, 2008 at 02:27:28PM +0100, Stuart Sears wrote:
> Chris G wrote:
>> I had a problem with my Fedora system at work today which required
>> that I get to a root console login to fix it.  The fault (simply a
>> network change elsewhere) prevented the system from booting as it
>> couldn't mount some necessary NFS drives.
>>
>> How is one supposed to revert to runlevel 3 (or even 2) to overcome
>> this sort of problem?  Is there a grub/boot parameter one can use to
>> change the runlevel?
>
> Yes.
> You can select the runlevel you require at boot time, without a boot cd.
>
> Stop the computer at boot time (when you see the countdown or the grub 
> menu). - just hit a key that isn't an arrow or 'enter'.
>
I'd already got that far!  :-)

> It's worth reading the paragraph of text under the kernel list to see what 
> you can do.
>
No "paragraph of text" under mine, that's why I didn't get any
further.

> In your case:
>
> use the up/down arrows to choose a kernel.
>
> hit A (append)
>
> Add a space and then your desired runlevel (e.g. 2) to the end of the 
> displayed text.
>
That's the bit I needed to know, next time I'll try it.

> Hit enter to boot.
>
> and you'll boot into that runlevel. This change is non-permanent, so the 
> next time you boot your system it will boot normally.
>
Perfect, thanks, the only problem was finding out about it.

-- 
Chris Green




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