RUNLEVEL(8) runlevel RUNLEVEL(8)
NAME
runlevel - Print previous and current SysV runlevel
SYNOPSIS
runlevel [options...]
OVERVIEW
"Runlevels" are an obsolete way to start and stop groups of services used in SysV init.
systemd provides a compatibility layer that maps runlevels to targets, and associated
binaries like runlevel. Nevertheless, only one runlevel can be "active" at a given time,
while systemd can activate multiple targets concurrently, so the mapping to runlevels is
confusing and only approximate. Runlevels should not be used in new code, and are mostly
useful as a shorthand way to refer the matching systemd targets in kernel boot parameters.
Table 1. Mapping between runlevels and systemd targets
+---------+-------------------+
|Runlevel | Target |
+---------+-------------------+
|0 | poweroff.target |
+---------+-------------------+
|1 | rescue.target |
+---------+-------------------+
|2, 3, 4 | multi-user.target |
+---------+-------------------+
|5 | graphical.target |
+---------+-------------------+
|6 | reboot.target |
+---------+-------------------+
DESCRIPTION
runlevel prints the previous and current SysV runlevel if they are known.
The two runlevel characters are separated by a single space character. If a runlevel
cannot be determined, N is printed instead. If neither can be determined, the word
"unknown" is printed.
Unless overridden in the environment, this will check the utmp database for recent
runlevel changes.
OPTIONS
The following option is understood:
--help
Print a short help text and exit.
EXIT STATUS
If one or both runlevels could be determined, 0 is returned, a non-zero failure code
otherwise.
ENVIRONMENT
$RUNLEVEL
If $RUNLEVEL is set, runlevel will print this value as current runlevel and ignore
utmp.
$PREVLEVEL
If $PREVLEVEL is set, runlevel will print this value as previous runlevel and ignore
utmp.
FILES
/run/utmp
The utmp database runlevel reads the previous and current runlevel from.
SEE ALSO
systemd(1), systemd.target(5), systemctl(1)
systemd 249 RUNLEVEL(8)
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