[GRLUG] gui on a server

[Mike Williams]

On 04/06/2012 05:24 PM, John-Thomas Richards wrote:
> Debian runs multi-user at runlevel 2, regardless. RedHat and its 
> derivatives used runlevel 5 for multi-user with GUI (via a display 
> manager) and runlevel 2 for multi-user console. I've never understood 
> that distinction. I'm no sysadmin but I'm not sure how distinguishing 
> between the two (above) is practical. Do businesses sometimes run 
> multi-user console but later need to switch to multi-user GUI? Debian 
> just seems (to me) to be cleaner. Functionally (not merely 
> theoretically) it seems that a system needs runlevels 1, 2, and 6.

If I remember right, the official runlevel definitions are as follows.

0: system is shutting down.
1: single user mode.
2: full multiuser, but no network
3: full multiuser  with network
4: usually not used. A few distros defined 4 as accepting remote 
graphical logins (xterm), but no local X server. (Remember that in X 
terms the server is the part that displays windows and is generally run 
on a workstation)
5: full X server, network, multiuser, and everything. The default for 
workstations.
6: System is rebooting

Maybe what you want in this case is, in effect, the rare runlevel 4. 
There is nothing on the machine's native screen but the local consoles, 
and it doesn't even need an accelerated graphics card, but you can run X 
apps, including a login manager remotely on any X server that properly 
sets $DISPLAY. I played with this years ago on an underpowered house 
server and did get it to work, but I can't remember how. I remember that 
setting the right things in the right places was more difficult than it 
should have been!