= Red Hat: Startx and Stopx =

**Summary**: How to change your runlevel on Red Hat from 3 to 5. \\
**Date**: Around 2014 \\
**Refactor**: 29 March 2025: Checked links and formatting. \\
{{tag>redhat linux}}

Using the {{{/etc/inittab}}} file you can modify the default runlevel for your Red Hat box. I usually keep "3" as default. This is an overview of the runlevels in Red Hat:

<code>
# Default runlevel. The runlevels used 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)
</code>

The default is set in the only used line in the file:
<code>
id:3:initdefault:
</code>

Note that "3" and "5" are the most used runlevels, three being used for console based servers/administrators and five for X11 (graphical) based servers/administrators.

= StartX =
As said, 3 is my default but sometimes I need to so something in the graphical enviroment. Using the command {{{startx}}} will start the graphical environment.

= StopX =
Unfortunetely there is no stopx command in Red Hat. If you have full control of the console you can stop the graphical environment using the key combination: CTRL-ALT-BACKSPACE. This will immediately shut down the graphical environment.

Another option is to simply logout. This will not log the user off, but will stop the graphical environment.