How to Increase Available Default Terminals and GUI Interfaces in RHEL 9

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is known for its stability, security, and performance in enterprise environments. However, sometimes administrators need more terminal sessions or GUI interfaces to manage multiple tasks simultaneously. By default, RHEL 9 provides a limited number of virtual terminals (TTYs) and GUI options, but these can be increased or customized depending on your needs.

In this blog, we’ll walk through the steps to increase the available terminals and add or switch between different GUI interfaces in RHEL 9.

Table of Contents:

1. Understanding Terminals in RHEL 9
2. Increasing Available Virtual Terminals (TTYs)
3. Installing Additional GUI Interfaces (Desktop Environments)
4. Switching Between Multiple GUIs
5. Conclusion

1. Understanding Terminals in RHEL 9

In Linux, the terminal is an essential interface that allows users to interact with the system through a command-line interface (CLI). RHEL 9 comes with a set of predefined terminal sessions (also called TTYs or virtual consoles) that can be accessed using key combinations like Ctrl + Alt + F1 through Ctrl + Alt + F6 (by default).

These key combinations allow users to switch between different virtual terminals, but you can configure more terminals or even customize the graphical interface to support your workflow.

2. Increasing Available Virtual Terminals (TTYs)

By default, RHEL 9 provides 6 virtual consoles. If you want to increase the number of TTYs, you can do so by modifying the configuration of the system.

Steps to Increase TTYs:

1. Edit the Getty Configuration: Getty manages the virtual terminals. To add more, you can modify the systemd configurations. Open a terminal and navigate to the following directory:

cd /etc/systemd/system/getty.target.wants/

2. Create Additional Getty Services: Copy and create new instances for additional virtual terminals (e.g., tty7, tty8, etc.). Here's how to do that:

sudo cp getty@tty1.service getty@tty7.service
sudo cp getty@tty1.service getty@tty8.service

3. Start the New TTYs: After creating these new TTYs, start them using systemd:

sudo systemctl start getty@tty7.service
sudo systemctl start getty@tty8.service

Now, you can access the new virtual terminals using Ctrl + Alt + F7, Ctrl + Alt + F8, and so on.

3. Installing Additional GUI Interfaces (Desktop Environments)

RHEL 9 by default uses the GNOME desktop environment. However, there are other GUI options such as KDE Plasma, Cinnamon, and Xfce, which are lightweight alternatives.

Steps to Install Additional GUI Interfaces:

1. Enable EPEL Repository: To install additional desktop environments, you need the EPEL (Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux) repository.

sudo dnf install epel-release

2. Install KDE Plasma:

KDE is a popular desktop environment that is highly customizable and feature-rich. To install KDE Plasma:

sudo dnf groupinstall "KDE Plasma Workspaces"

3. Install Xfce:

Xfce is a lightweight alternative, perfect for low-resource systems. To install Xfce:

sudo dnf groupinstall "Xfce"

4. Install Cinnamon:

Cinnamon is known for its simplicity and modern look. To install Cinnamon:

sudo dnf install cinnamon

5. Reboot and Select GUI:

After installing the desktop environments, reboot the system:

sudo reboot

4. Switching Between Multiple GUIs

Once multiple desktop environments are installed, you can easily switch between them during login. Here’s how:

1. Logout of Your Current Session: Press Ctrl + Alt + L or go to the top-right corner and choose "Logout" from the dropdown menu.
2. Select Desktop Environment: At the login screen, click the settings icon next to your username. A list of available desktop environments will appear. Choose the one you prefer.
3. Login to the New Environment: Enter your password as usual, and you’ll be logged into the selected desktop environment.

This way, you can switch between GUIs depending on your tasks and system resources.

5. Conclusion

Linux provides extensive flexibility in configuring terminal sessions and desktop environments. By increasing the number of virtual terminals, you can easily multitask without the need for additional hardware, and by installing alternative GUIs, you can optimize your user experience based on your preferences and system capabilities.

RHEL 9, being a powerful enterprise-grade operating system, supports such customizations, making it an excellent choice for professionals who require both command-line efficiency and graphical interfaces.

Key Takeaways:

• You can increase virtual terminals in RHEL 9 by adding more Getty services.
• RHEL 9 supports multiple desktop environments like GNOME, KDE, Xfce, and Cinnamon.
• Switching between GUIs is easy and can enhance productivity depending on your needs.