How to disable/enable GUI on boot in Ubuntu 20.04 Focal Fossa Linux Desktop

In the following article you will learn how to disable GUI on boot in Ubuntu 20.04 Focal Fossa Linux Desktop.



In this tutorial you will learn:

• How to disable GUI on boot
  
• How to enable GUI on boot
  
• How to how to start GUI from command line
  

Disable GUI on boot in Ubuntu 20.04 Focal Fossa Linux Desktop


System Installed Ubuntu 20.04 or upgraded Ubuntu 20.04 Focal Fossa

Conventions
# – requires given linux commands to be executed with root privileges either directly as a root user or by use of sudo command
$ – requires given linux commands to be executed as a regular non-privileged user

How to disable GUI on boot in Ubuntu 20.04 step by step instructions

The following command will disable GUI on boot hence upon the reboot the system will boot into multi user target:

$ sudo systemctl set-default multi-user

Reboot or log out from a current session to exit GUI:

$ gnome-session-quit

How to enable GUI to start on boot

Given that you have installed GUI on your Ubuntu 20.04 Server/Desktop you can enable the system to start to GUI by execution of the following command:

$ sudo systemctl set-default graphical

Start GUI manually from a command line

For a GNOME GUI installations using GDM as a default display manager you can start GUI from a command line by executing the bellow command:

$ sudo systemctl start gdm3