Lab 24: Booting Into Specific Targets Automatically

Objective Focus

Deploy, configure, and maintain systems: Configure systems to boot into a specific target automatically

Understanding: What is a target?

Targets are the modern, flexible way systemd uses to define a specific system state or operational mode in Linux, effectively replacing the older, numbered SysV Runlevels (like runlevel 3 or 5).

They are essentially groupings of systemd units (services, sockets, mount points, devices, etc.) that must be started to achieve a particular goal, such as booting into a command-line environment or a graphical desktop.

How do we list them?

$ systemctl list-unit-files --type=target

We list all avaliable targets

$ systemctl list-units --type=target

List currently active or recently used

$ systemctl list-units --type=target --all

List all loaded targets including inactive ones.

How do we change it and make it persistent?

$ systemctl set-default multi-user.target

$ systemctl get-default

$ reboot

Reference table for the different targets

Below are some of the targets that are most commonly used based on books I have read.

Target Name	Purpose/System State
poweroff.target	Shuts down the system.
rescue.target	Single-user mode for maintenance.
multi-user.target	Non-graphical, command-line mode with full networking.
graphical.target	Multi-user mode plus the graphical desktop interface.
reboot.target	Reboots the system.