centos - inittab 5 not working

Q.

CentOS Server load into init 5 with desktop GUI.

I've installed CentOS 6 with the basic server profile, no gui. #init 5 doesn't work, but hangs. I suspect this is because I don't have the proper packages installed for a desktop enviornment. What do I need to install in order to get this? Any specific package groups?

A.

yum grouplist will list all group. You need to install the following

1. X Window System - X Window System Support
2. Desktop - Default gnome desktop system.
3. Desktop Platform - Supported libraries for the Enterprise Linux Desktop Platform.

To install all of them type:

Code:

yum groupinstall 'X Window System' 'Desktop Platform' Desktop

Once done you can type startx command to start the GUI system from the shell prompt itself. To boot into a GUI after reboot, edit /etc/inittab file as follows:

Code:

id:5:initdefault:

source - http://nixcraft.com/showthread.php/18602-CentOS-Server-load-into-init-5-with-desktop-GUI