SLES11 ignores default runlevel

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server SLES Install-Boot
1

Hi,

my SLES 11 servers all boot to runlevel 5 even though default runlevel is
set to 3. Since I almost never use the GUI on Linux servers I’d prefer 3…

cat /etc/inittab | grep :initdefault

id:3:initdefault:

cat /var/log/boot.msg | grep “runlevel”

INIT: Entering runlevel: 5
Master Resource Control: previous runlevel: N, switching to runlevel: 5
Master Resource Control: runlevel 5 has been reached
Skipped services in runlevel 5: nfs splash smartd

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Mirko

2

[QUOTE=Mirko Guldner;16228]Hi,

my SLES 11 servers all boot to runlevel 5 even though default runlevel is
set to 3. Since I almost never use the GUI on Linux servers I’d prefer 3…

cat /etc/inittab | grep :initdefault

id:3:initdefault:

cat /var/log/boot.msg | grep “runlevel”

INIT: Entering runlevel: 5
Master Resource Control: previous runlevel: N, switching to runlevel: 5
Master Resource Control: runlevel 5 has been reached
Skipped services in runlevel 5: nfs splash smartd

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Mirko[/QUOTE]

My first thought would be to check the bootloader /boot/grub/menu.lst statements to see if an “init 5” has been included there?

Having a read through the /var/log/boot.msg might also reveal who/what is calling runlevel 5.

-Willem

3

There is no ‘init 5’ in menu.lst. I’m not sure what exactly to look for in
boot.msg… there is no ‘init 5’. There this:

System Boot Control: Running /etc/init.d/boot.local
done
INIT: Entering runlevel: 5

/etc/init.d/boot.local is empty, only comments.

I see several occurrences of variable RUNLEVEL=5 - but I don’t see where
this comes from. I afraid I’m missing something obvious…

Thanks,
Mirko

Magic31 wrote:

[color=blue]

Mirko Guldner;16228 Wrote:[color=green]

Hi,

my SLES 11 servers all boot to runlevel 5 even though default runlevel
is
set to 3. Since I almost never use the GUI on Linux servers I’d prefer
3…

cat /etc/inittab | grep :initdefault

id:3:initdefault:

cat /var/log/boot.msg | grep “runlevel”

INIT: Entering runlevel: 5
Master Resource Control: previous runlevel: N, switching to runlevel: 5
Master Resource Control: runlevel 5 has been reached
Skipped services in runlevel 5: nfs splash smartd

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Mirko[/color]

My first thought would be to check the bootloader /boot/grub/menu.lst
statements to see if an “init 5” has been included there?

Having a read through the /var/log/boot.msg might also reveal who/what
is calling runlevel 5.

-Willem

[/color]

4

[QUOTE=Mirko Guldner;16413]…
I see several occurrences of variable RUNLEVEL=5 - but I don’t see where
this comes from. I afraid I’m missing something obvious…
…[/QUOTE]

Then I’m missing it too :slight_smile: The places you’ve looked are the places I would look.

Would you mind, so we can have a more detailed look, posting the output of:
“cat /boot/grub/menu.lst”
“cat /etc/inittab |grep -v ‘#’”

Also curious to which SLES 11 SP version you are running (and when was it last patched up)?

Cheers,
Willem

5

Sorry for the delay, it seems to be a bad habit of me to ask questions
immediately before holidays… but the holidays helped… :wink:

Found it: it was in menu.lst. I did not see it before, because I looked for
‘init’, but it’s simply ‘5’:

kernel /boot/vmlinuz-3.0.80-0.7-default root=/dev/disk/by-
id/scsi-360050768018087140000000000000077-part2 5

My guess is, that autoyast is the culprit which put it there… (?)

Thanks,
Mirko

Magic31 wrote:
[color=blue]

Mirko Guldner;16413 Wrote:[color=green]

…
I see several occurrences of variable RUNLEVEL=5 - but I don’t see
where
this comes from. I afraid I’m missing something obvious…
…[/color]

Then I’m missing it too :slight_smile: The places you’ve looked are the places I
would look.

Would you mind, so we can have a more detailed look, posting the output
of:
“cat /boot/grub/menu.lst”
“cat /etc/inittab |grep -v ‘#’”

Also curious to which SLES 11 SP version you are running (and when was
it last patched up)?

Cheers,
Willem

[/color]

6

[QUOTE=Mirko Guldner;16737]…Found it: it was in menu.lst. I did not see it before, because I looked for
‘init’, but it’s simply ‘5’:[/QUOTE]

Cool that’s sorted & thanks for posting back! :slight_smile:

It’s possible you will find that value in your AutoYaST XML… I’m more of a template guy myself (as we run 99% of our systems virtually, that’s a much quicker deployment method) and haven’t done much with that. But the boot vars should be easily enough to find and adjust in that xml, it if runlevel 3 is what you want to have it default to. It will probably make the installer (second pass) also fallback into text mode, which is less desirable imo. Better set it after the fact.

Cheers,
Willem