How to Change Boot Order in Ubuntu

If you have multiple operating systems installed on a single computer, or if you have multiple kernels installed for the Ubuntu operating system, boot order is important. The boot order defines how the operating systems and kernels appear in the boot menu. It also defines which operating system or kernel is booted by default. The boot order for the Ubuntu operating system is held in the "/boot/grub/menu.lst" file.

Instructions

1. Open a terminal window. The terminal window is found under the "Accessories" section of the main "Applications" menu.

2. Type the command "sudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst" to open the "menu.lst" file in the gedit text editor.

3. Locate the section of the file that says:

   # You can specify 'saved' instead of a number. In this case, the default entry
   # is the entry saved with the command 'savedefault'.
   default 0

4. Replace the "0" in the line "default 0" to the section number for the boot option you want to boot first. The first section is section 0, the second section is section 1, and so forth. The sections will look like:

   # This entry automatically added by the Debian installer for a non-linux OS
   # on /dev/hda1
   title Microsoft Windows XP Professional
   root (hd0,0)
   savedefault
   makeactive
   chainloader +1

   ## ## End Default Options ##

   title Ubuntu, kernel 2.6.12-5-386
   root (hd1,4)
   kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.12-5-386 root=/dev/sdb5 ro quiet splash
   initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.12-5-386
   savedefault
   boot

   Each section starts with the "title" line.

5. Save and close the "menu.lst" file.

6. Restart your computer. The new "default" boot option will automatically boot if you don't specifically choose another option.

Tips & Warnings

• You can also rearrange the boot order by moving each section to the new order.

References

• Ubuntu Documentation: GrubHowto
• Boff: Editing /boot/grub/menu.lst to change the GRUB boot menu