14.12. Changing Login from Console to X at Startup

How do I change my login from the console to the graphical screen?

Instead of logging in to your system at the console and typing the startx command to start the X Window System, you can configure your system so that you can log in directly to X.

You must edit one file, /etc/inittab, by changing just one number in the runlevel section. When you are finished, reboot the computer. The next time you log in, you will have a graphical login prompt.

Open a shell prompt. If you are in your user (home) account, change to the root user by using the su command:

su -

Now, type gedit /etc/inittab to edit the file with gedit. The file /etc/inittab will open. Within the first screen, you will see a section of the file which looks like this:

# Default runlevel. The runlevels used by RHS are:
#   0 - halt (Do NOT set initdefault to this)
#   1 - Single user mode
#   2 - Multiuser, without NFS (The same as 3, if you do not have networking)
#   3 - Full multiuser mode
#   4 - unused
#   5 - X11
#   6 - reboot (Do NOT set initdefault to this)
# 
id:3:initdefault:

To change from a console to a graphical login, you should change the number in the line id:3:initdefault: from a 3 to a 5.

	Warning
	Change only the number of the default runlevel from 3 to 5.

Your changed line should look like the following:

id:5:initdefault:

When you are satisfied with your change, save and exit the file using the [Ctrl]-[x] keys. You will see a message telling you that the file has been modified, and asking you to confirm your change. Type [Y] for yes.

Now, your next login after reboot will be from the graphical screen.