Ubuntu – How to customize the GRUB menu

customizationgrub2

This is what my GRUB 2 menu looks like so far:

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I want to do a few things here:

  • I want to rename "Windows Boot Manager (on /dev/sda1)" to just "Windows 8.1".
  • I'd like to rename "Ubuntu" to "Lubuntu 14.04.1".
  • I'd also like to switch the order of the options to this:
    • Windows 8.1
    • Lubuntu 14.04.1
    • Advanced options for Lubuntu

(Windows will be the default OS)

If it helps in any way, I'll explain the steps I took prior to this, since I am very new to Linux and don't know what information is required.

  1. I bought a laptop on Amazon (ASUS X551MAV-EB01-B) pre-installed with Windows 8.1 64-bit
  2. I downloaded the proper Lubuntu .iso file for my system (Lubuntu 14.04.1 amd64) and put it on my flash drive (via UNetBootin)
  3. I went to Disk Management, and shrunk the C:/ drive down 32Gb so that 32Gb will be free for Lubuntu
  4. I used my flash drive (32Gb Sandisk Cruzer) as a LiveUSB for Lubuntu 14.04.1
  5. I went through the install process. It didn't recognize Windows 8.1 so I had to do the "Something Else" option.
  6. I highlighted the free space, and pressed the + button
  7. I created a 10,000mb ext4 partition and mount point is / (is now dev/sda7)
  8. I created a 4,000mb swap area partition (is now dev/sda8)
  9. I created an ext4 partition using the rest of the free space and the mount point is /home (is now dev/sda9)
  10. I selected dev/sda7 to install Lubuntu and selected dev/sda7 for the bootloader installation
  11. It installed just fine, booted up just fine, and I'm happy to know the GRUB menu works.

Best Answer

How to customize the grub menu:

Download/Install the grub-customizer latest version.

Or Install via terminal:

This PPA contains the latest release of Grub Customizer.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:danielrichter2007/grub-customizer
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install grub-customizer

Among the Grub Customizer features are:

  • Edit the menu entries (reorder, rename, add or remove entries)
  • Edit the contents of menu entries or create new ones (internally it edits the 40_custom)
  • Change the default boot entry
  • Change menu visibility and timeout
  • Disable recovery entries
  • Change GRUB resolution, menu colors or background image
  • GRUB repair & configuration using a Live CD
  • Advanced options like booting an ISO, changing kernel parameters and lots more

After installation launch 'Grub Customizer' from Dash and as you see in screenshot you will see this window(I unexpanded "Advanced options for Ubuntu")

enter image description here

Then lets Start to answer the How to questions.

How to rename entries:

If you want to rename menu entries, under "List configuration" tab, first select the entry and right-click on it and select "Rename" from context menu. Then type new name and hit enter.

enter image description here

Now we renamed both "Ubuntu > Lubuntu 14.04.1" and "Windows Boot Manager (on /dev/sda1) to just "Windows 8.1".

How to change order of entries:

To reordering menu entries, do like above, first select entry and right-click on it and select "Move up/Move down" from context menu to move the entry to up/down. (Also you can use Up/Down arrow from tool-bar enter image description here )

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Now after renaming and reordering the entries we will have this list.

enter image description here

Now last question: How to make an entry as a default:

After changing order of the menu entries, First entry will be as default entry. In this case your Windows 8.1 will be default OS if you moved it to up and it's the first entry of the list. Or you can use "General settings" tab and select your "Windows 8.1" from default entry list box. see the screenshot:

enter image description here

That's it. After you finished changes press "Save" (the icon under main menu) to save the changes.

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