17.2Run Linux without a Monitor

One way to do this is to just use a terminal (serial console) for the monitor See Make a Serial Terminal the Console. You may still need a video card since many BIOSs require one to get the PC started. Your BIOS may also require a keyboard to get started or it may have an option where you can set the BIOS not to require a keyboard.

If you boot without a monitor, make sure that the boot loader (such as LILO or GRUB) doesn't try to present any image on the screen.


A text-terminal can't display it and the booting may hang.

If you have a keyboardless terminal, it can also be used as a monitor by use of the ttysnoop program. As of yet, it doesn't work like a console since it doesn't get all the initial boot-time messages. See Use a Keyboardless Terminal as the Monitor

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