Graphical login unavailable after upgrade to 8.9

Rocky Linux General
1

I’ve recently upgraded a number of Dell Optiplex 3090 workstations from RL8.8 or so to newest at time of writing, which is 8.9. These are desktop computers where GNOME is used.

Two of them went as expected, the third did not, and the last we have not dared to reboot.

The problem is, that the computer comes up just as it should, but it just starts at a CLI console. Multiple attempts to systemctl set-default graphical.target changes nothing.

The computer is an ocean away and not equipped with any form of hardware remote management. Ideas for logs I could check etc._

Output of uname -a:

Linux w04.example.local 4.18.0-513.24.1.el8_9.x86_64 #1 SMP Thu Apr 4 18:13:02 UTC 2024 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

2

what is the output of
systemctl status display-manager

3

Unit display-manager.service could not be found.

4

what is the output of that command on one of the working machines.
it looks like your display manager is missing (most probably gdm).

5

● gdm.service - GNOME Display Manager
Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/gdm.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
Active: active (running) since Thu 2024-04-11 09:50:41 MDT; 4 days ago
Main PID: 1620 (gdm)
Tasks: 3 (limit: 98553)
Memory: 5.6M
CGroup: /system.slice/gdm.service
└─1620 /usr/sbin/gdm

Loaded and active, excellent point.

6

If it was me I’d try on the broken machines

dnf install gdm
systemctl start gdm

and if the display manager comes back then

systemctl enable gdm

7

It appears the entire “Server with GUI” group had somehow gotten partially uninstalled.

dnf groupinstall “Server with GUI” and a restart seems to have fixed things.

Thanks for your help!