Booting to cli, with startx option, but removing lightdm breaks switching between consoles.

Well without a graphical console running there will be no option to switch to it. Once you have started a graphical login console you should be able to switch between it and a cli console as normal. At least that is the way it works here for me when I logout of desktop and switch to a cli console and back to display manager login once more. That is the expected behavior when you have removed it and it never gets the chance to start.

this cured the 'no inittab' error, but then there is a 'no inittab.d' error.
Can't see inittab.d on any sysv system, so am stumped.

So create the stupid directory it searches for and be done with it. That is all them .d's are a configuration directory to put files into to be loaded instead of editing the system configuration file that can be overwritten on update/upgrade losing the changes you want to have in the default behavior contained in the system file. I have no .d directory on my install either and it works fine.

root@9600k:~# ll /etc/inittab 
4 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 2348 Jan  7 05:26 /etc/inittab

I do however have a modules-load.d which contains a file that is used to load cups related options.

root@9600k:~# ll /etc/modules*
4 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root  295 Jan 24 20:23 /etc/modules

/etc/modules-load.d:
total 4
4 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 119 Jan 16 04:53 cups-filters.conf

I have found that the less stuff I have on my machine that ends with a "d", the better it runs, go figure.

Debian 12.9 netinstall base.

inittab is here and functioning with Daedalus.
/etc/inittab

# /etc/inittab: init(8) configuration.
# $Id: inittab,v 1.91 2002/01/25 13:35:21 miquels Exp $

# The default runlevel.
id:2:initdefault:

# Boot-time system configuration/initialization script.
# This is run first except when booting in emergency (-b) mode.
si::sysinit:/etc/init.d/rcS

# What to do in single-user mode.
~~:S:wait:/sbin/sulogin --force

# /etc/init.d executes the S and K scripts upon change
# of runlevel.
#
# Runlevel 0 is halt.
# Runlevel 1 is single-user.
# Runlevels 2-5 are multi-user.
# Runlevel 6 is reboot.

l0:0:wait:/etc/init.d/rc 0
l1:1:wait:/etc/init.d/rc 1
l2:2:wait:/etc/init.d/rc 2
l3:3:wait:/etc/init.d/rc 3
l4:4:wait:/etc/init.d/rc 4
l5:5:wait:/etc/init.d/rc 5
l6:6:wait:/etc/init.d/rc 6
# Normally not reached, but fallthrough in case of emergency.
z6:6:respawn:/sbin/sulogin --force

# What to do when CTRL-ALT-DEL is pressed.
ca:12345:ctrlaltdel:/sbin/shutdown -t1 -a -r now

# Action on special keypress (ALT-UpArrow).
#kb::kbrequest:/bin/echo "Keyboard Request--edit /etc/inittab to let this work."

# What to do when the power fails/returns.
pf::powerwait:/etc/init.d/powerfail start
pn::powerfailnow:/etc/init.d/powerfail now
po::powerokwait:/etc/init.d/powerfail stop

# /sbin/getty invocations for the runlevels.
#
# The "id" field MUST be the same as the last
# characters of the device (after "tty").
#
# Format:
#  <id>:<runlevels>:<action>:<process>
#
# Note that on most Debian systems tty7 is used by the X Window System,
# so if you want to add more getty's go ahead but skip tty7 if you run X.
#
1:2345:respawn:/sbin/getty --noclear 38400 tty1
2:23:respawn:/sbin/getty 38400 tty2
3:23:respawn:/sbin/getty 38400 tty3
4:23:respawn:/sbin/getty 38400 tty4
5:23:respawn:/sbin/getty 38400 tty5
6:23:respawn:/sbin/getty 38400 tty6

# Example how to put a getty on a serial line (for a terminal)
#
#T0:23:respawn:/sbin/getty -L ttyS0 9600 vt100
#T1:23:respawn:/sbin/getty -L ttyS1 9600 vt100
#
# or on a USB serial line
#U0:23:respawn:/sbin/getty -L ttyUSB0 9600 vt100

# Example how to put a getty on a modem line.
#
#T3:23:respawn:/sbin/mgetty -x0 -s 57600 ttyS3

# Example for systemd-nspawn
# Only /dev/console exists inside nspawn, so we need a getty on that.
# Also make sure to comment out the gettys on tty* above.
#C0:2345:respawn:/sbin/getty -8 --noclear --keep-baud console 115200,38400,9600
c7:2345:respawn:bash -c "cat /proc/kmsg >/dev/tty11"
#c8:2345:respawn:bash -c "cat /var/log/squid/cache.log >/dev/tty10"
#c9:2345:respawn:bash -c "cat /var/log/syslog >/dev/tty9"
c8:2345:respawn:bash -c "tail -f /var/log/squid/access.log >/dev/tty10"

I hope this helps

AI Overview

After a Devuan migration, the absence of /etc/inittab and /etc/inittab.d is normal, as Devuan, a fork of Debian, uses systemd for system initialization instead of the older sysvinit which uses those files.

Here's a more detailed explanation:

Devuan and Systemd:

Devuan, a fork of Debian, intentionally removes sysvinit and its associated files (like /etc/inittab) in favor of systemd. systemd is a system and service manager that provides a different approach to managing system processes and boot sequences.

What /etc/inittab and /etc/inittab.d were for:

In systems that used sysvinit, /etc/inittab contained configuration for runlevels and the initial processes to be started, while /etc/inittab.d was used for adding custom configurations.

Why you won't find them:

Since Devuan uses systemd, the files and concepts associated with sysvinit are not present.

What to use instead:

If you need to manage services or boot processes, you should consult the systemd documentation and use systemd's tools and configuration files, such as unit files in /etc/systemd/system/.

No need to worry:

The absence of /etc/inittab and /etc/inittab.d is expected in a Devuan system and should not cause any problems.
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