Conventional method to change runlevel with /etc/inittab has changed. System and service manager command systemd is used. Runlevel have been replaced with targets. Although runlevel command, can still be used.
Below is comparison of different runlevels and related targets
[table id=1 /]
Run level check and change using systemctl
View Run Level
This command will show current runlevel
runlevel
Check run level – systemd
In newer version of linux (RHEL 7 and Ubantu 16.04 onwards) runlevels have been replaced with systemd targets. If your system is using systemd as default manager, use below command to check current default run level
Syntax
systemctl get-default
This will present current default runlevel.
List available targets with systemctl
This command will show list of all loaded target
systemctl list-units --type targetChange runlevel
Runlevel can be changed for current session or permanently default runlevel can also be changed.
Below video shows how to change run level for current session and change of default run level.
Change current runlevel with systemctl
To change current level to any other runlevel
systemctl isolate name.targetChange default run level with systemctl
To change default runlevel
systemctl set-default <name of target>.target
Above commands replaces the /etc/systemd/system/default.target file with a symbolic link to /usr/lib/systemd/system/name.target.
These commands have been tested on fedora 25 and Redhat 7
