3.9 Displaying Boot Messages

During the boot process, the system will display the Ubuntu splash screen which hides from view all of the boot messages generated by the system as it loads. To make these messages visible during the boot process (as shown in Figure 3-20), simply press the keyboard Esc key while the system is starting:

Figure 3-20

The default behavior can be changed so that messages are always displayed by default by editing the /etc/default/grub file and changing the GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX setting which, by default, will resemble the following:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="... rhgb quiet"

If you are new to Linux and are not familiar with the editors available, refer to the editor recommendations outlined in the “Introduction” chapter. For example, to use the nano editor, enter the following command to start the editor and load the grub file:

# nano /etc/default/grub

To remove the graphical boot screen so that messages are visible without pressing the Esc key, remove the “splash” and “quiet” options from the setting:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX=""

This change will cause the system to display all of the boot messages generated by the system.

Once the changes have been made, run the following command to generate a new boot configuration to take effect next time the system starts:

# grub-mkconfig --output=/boot/grub/grub.cfg