How Can you Disable a Ubuntu Service From Running at Boot?
I had an Ubuntu 11.10 VirtualBox instance which I needed to access just by SSH, so I investigated how to easily disable lightdm (the service that starts up X, the graphical user interface) from running at boot. Seems like it's pretty easy do disable an upstart service in Ubuntu. Just create an override file and lightdm won't start at boot: sudo echo "manual" >> /etc/init/lightdm.override To start lightdm when you need it: sudo start lightdm To restore your system so that lightdm is always started on boot: sudo rm /etc/init/lightdm.override