How to get out of runlevel 5 in an emergency?

[Stuart Sears]

Chris G wrote:
> I had a problem with my Fedora system at work today which required
> that I get to a root console login to fix it.  The fault (simply a
> network change elsewhere) prevented the system from booting as it
> couldn't mount some necessary NFS drives.
> 
> How is one supposed to revert to runlevel 3 (or even 2) to overcome
> this sort of problem?  Is there a grub/boot parameter one can use to
> change the runlevel?

Yes.
You can select the runlevel you require at boot time, without a boot cd.

Stop the computer at boot time (when you see the countdown or the grub 
menu). - just hit a key that isn't an arrow or 'enter'.

It's worth reading the paragraph of text under the kernel list to see 
what you can do.

In your case:

use the up/down arrows to choose a kernel.

hit A (append)

Add a space and then your desired runlevel (e.g. 2) to the end of the 
displayed text.

Hit enter to boot.

and you'll boot into that runlevel. This change is non-permanent, so the 
next time you boot your system it will boot normally.

Regards,

Stuart
-- 
Stuart Sears RHCA etc.
"It's today!" said Piglet.
"My favourite day," said Pooh.