How to change boot options on Linux

1. Is it possible to change boot options on Linux?

Yes, it is possible to change the boot options on Linux, by accessing the grub config file and changing the values in GRUB_DEFAULT . Follow the steps given in this article to change boot options on Linux.

2.Can we use any other editor to open the configuration file?

Yes, you can use other editors like ‘Vim’ instead of using ‘nano’ , mention the editor name before opening the file and use the editor to change the required.

3.How to increase the boot menu time-out duration?

Use terminal in superuser mode and open grub config file and change GRUB_TIMEOUT value in seconds as per your requirement.

4. What is boot-loader is Linux?

Boot loader is the program that helps in starting the Operating system by loading the /boot files into the main memory along with other necessary file and checks.

5. Do I need to install GRUB Boot loader in my computer?

There is no need if one of your installed OS is Linux. All popular linux distributions like mint, Ubuntu uses GRUB as their default boot loader. Once grub is available in your system, it becomes the default Boot-loader on it’s own. Otherwise you can get the Grub boot-loader installed from PPA Repository.

During the computer startup process, users are presented with boot options in the boot menu. This menu displays all the available bootable partitions on the computer. Users must decide within a specified time frame which operating system (OS) they want to boot into. If no option is selected within this time, the default boot option takes precedence, and the system boots into the specified OS. Typically, boot options become relevant when there are two or more operating systems installed on the system. Many users opt for a dual-boot configuration with Windows and Linux. In such cases, the GRUB boot loader assigns priority to Linux by default. This default setting might be inconvenient for users who primarily use Windows and occasionally switch to Linux. If users aren’t attentive during startup, their device will automatically boot into Linux, potentially causing frustration for those who primarily use Windows.

In this article, we will see how to change boot options by accessing the grub configuration file in Linux.

Now, this is what your device’s boot screen looks like before changing the boot options. You can observe the boot options given and their order. (Remember this options given are using zero-based indexing i.e Boot option ‘Ubuntu’ is boot option ‘0’).