GNOME is a highly intuitive and user friendly desktop environment for CentOS and RHEL 7 based system. If you did a minimal install, then it will quickly tell you how to install GNOME GUI on a CentOS7 or RHEL7 using a command line options.
Linux admin spends most of his time on working in terminal, By default, RHEL7/CentOS7 installed as minimal server, user intervention is required to change the installation type.
Before installing GUI, make a Local yum repository in order to avoid downloading packages from internet.
The syntax is as follows to list available software groups on a CentOS7/RHEL7:
# yum grouplist
Step 1: Install Gnome GUI by issuing the following command.
RHEL7
# yum groupinstall “Server with GUI”
CentOS7
# yum groupinstall “GNOME Desktop” “Graphical Administration Tools”
Step 2: Enable GUI on system start up. In RHEL7/CentOS7, systemd uses ‘targets’ instead of runlevels; /etc/inittab file is no more used to change run levels. Issue the following command to enable the GUI on system start.
# ln -sf /lib/systemd/system/runlevel5.target /etc/systemd/system/default.target
Step 3: How do I set the system to boot directly into the GUI in CentOS7/RHEL7?
Type the following command:
# systemctl set-default graphical.target
Step 4: How do I switch or start GUI login from command line?
Type the following command if you do not want to reboot the server or desktop/laptop:
# systemctl start graphical.target
Once rebooted, you will get the desktop.
