Terminal Mode

Terminal mode is a feature that allows you to interact with the system using a command-line interface. This mode is useful for advanced users who prefer to work with the system using commands.

For example, if you need to install Nvidia drivers, host as a server, or running a benchmark tool which requires minimal resources, you can use terminal mode to interact with the system.

Enter Terminal Mode via TTY

The easiest way to switch to terminal mode is to use the TTY (Teletype) interface. You can switch to the TTY interface by pressing Ctrl + Alt + F1 to F6. Each TTY interface represents a different terminal session.

To switch to terminal mode, press Ctrl + Alt + F3 to F6. You can switch back to the graphical mode by pressing Ctrl + Alt + F2 or Ctrl + Alt + F1.

Enter Terminal Mode via systemd

To switch to terminal mode using systemd, you can use the following commands:

sudo systemctl isolate multi-user.target
sudo systemctl stop gdm3.service

If you want to switch back to the graphical mode, you can use the following command:

sudo systemctl start gdm3.service
sudo systemctl isolate graphical.target

Uninstalling the Desktop Environment

If you want to remove the desktop environment, you can use the following to uninstall GNOME Shell and GDM3:

sudo apt autoremove --purge gnome-shell gdm3

Set system default target to multi-user.target:

sudo systemctl set-default multi-user.target

And then reboot the system:

sudo reboot

Now, the system will boot into terminal mode by default and no longer start the graphical environment.