How to speed up your boot on Ubuntu 16.04

Question

I have installed Ubuntu 16.04 but at the moment it needs 2 minutes and 35 seconds to be ready .... :o

$ uname -a
Linux mycomputer 4.4.0-36-generic #55-Ubuntu SMP Thu Aug 11 18:01:55 UTC 2016 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

This is my configuration:

• CPU Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz
• 8GB RAM DDR3 Geil Value Plus
• Hard Disk Interno Western Digital Caviar Green 500GB

How to improve my Ubuntu load time process?

• Preload
• Prelink
• swappiness = 10

Update: This is a developer box. I am using it to software development, php software, Virtualbox is useful to test the software in MS windows enviroments.

Updates

I have deleted all too much time spent ! In a fresh install I have installed the preload, fixed the swappiness and I have installed the bootchart.

$ systemd-analyze critical-chain

graphical.target @41.346s
└─multi-user.target @41.346s
  └─apache2.service @32.909s +8.436s
    └─network-online.target @32.893s
      └─NetworkManager-wait-online.service @17.777s +15.116s
    └─NetworkManager.service @13.330s +4.436s
      └─dbus.service @11.561s
        └─basic.target @11.559s
          └─sockets.target @11.559s
            └─snapd.socket @11.509s +44ms
              └─sysinit.target @11.471s
                └─apparmor.service @3.406s +8.064s
                  └─local-fs.target @3.406s
                    └─run-user-1000.mount @38.169s
                      └─local-fs-pre.target @3.396s
                        └─systemd-remount-fs.service @3.332s +52ms
                          └─systemd-journald.socket @1.067s
                            └─-.mount @1.066s
                              └─system.slice @1.067s
                                └─-.slice @1.066s

$ systemd-analyze blame
    16.650s mysql.service
    15.116s NetworkManager-wait-online.service
    8.436s apache2.service
    8.064s apparmor.service
    7.246s ModemManager.service
    7.095s dev-sda1.device
    4.436s NetworkManager.service
    4.075s accounts-daemon.service
    3.334s lightdm.service
    3.095s gpu-manager.service
    2.367s grub-common.service
    2.239s ondemand.service
    2.027s rsyslog.service
    1.959s networking.service
    1.948s thermald.service
    1.880s plymouth-start.service
    1.571s polkitd.service
    1.527s brltty.service
    1.397s systemd-tmpfiles-setup-dev.service
    1.386s systemd-tmpfiles-setup.service
    1.372s systemd-modules-load.service
    1.323s systemd-journald.service

NEW UPDATE! I have bought a new Samsung SSD Hard Drive and now the boot requires about 15 seconds!!! but I am not so happy because I have seen the new bootloader chart and I have discovered that the NetworkManager-wait-online-service requires about 8 seconds to be online! How to solve this issue?

FINAL UPDATE: This is the complete hardware configuration:

Processor: Intel Core i5-2500K @ 3.70GHz (4 Cores), 
Motherboard: ASRock H67DE3, Chipset: Intel 2nd Generation Core Family 
DRAM, Memory: 32768MB, 
Disk: 250GB Samsung SSD 850, 
Graphics: HIS AMD Radeon HD 6870 1024MB, 
Audio: Realtek ALC892, 
Monitor: SyncMaster, 
Network: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411

Now I have upgraded the RAM from 8GB to 32GB! After the installation of the SSD, my pc freeze until the normal using.

• Preload
• Prelink
• swappiness = 0 (you don't need to use the swap partition)

The boot now is falling down to 9s as show in this bootchart image:

$ systemd-analyze critical-chain

graphical.target @5.756s
└─multi-user.target @5.747s
  └─apache2.service @4.461s +1.285s
    └─network-online.target @4.460s
      └─NetworkManager-wait-online.service @1.447s +3.013s
    └─NetworkManager.service @1.344s +93ms
      └─dbus.service @1.006s
        └─basic.target @999ms
          └─sockets.target @999ms
            └─snapd.socket @991ms +3ms
              └─sysinit.target @988ms
                └─apparmor.service @372ms +596ms
                  └─local-fs.target @365ms
                    └─run-user-1000-gvfs.mount @2.621s
                      └─run-user-1000.mount @2.234s
                        └─local-fs-pre.target @365ms
                          └─systemd-remount-fs.service @352ms +7ms
                            └─systemd-journald.socket @118ms
                              └─-.slice @116ms

Thanks

Solution

That system you have should be quite fast with Ubuntu. Since that processor is nearly 6 years old, the hard drive in your system is also likely close to 6 years old as well. It is probable that your hard drive is simply nearing its end of life, if you want a fast boot, invest in a ssd. You should be able to achieve 80-160 MB/s(sequential read/write) on a good hard drive (hdd not a ssd). A ssd however, can achieve speeds up to 500MB/s

Comments

[Melebius]

Is the machine intended as a server (apache2, mysql, postfix services being started)? I’d not install GUI in such a case.

[Ben]

It can have many reasons...It also depends on your autostart services and maybe something like wait for Network-Settings...My Ubuntu x64 16.04 is ready (incl. GUI) in below 30 secs. (AMD FX 8150 + 16GB + SSD) for example....

[Melebius]

@Ben OP does not use an SSD. This is a huge difference.

[Ben]

@Melebius Yes, I just wanted to give my specs, so he has something to compare when he asks Is my system fast?. Beside that, before I used a SSD, my boot-up time was about 50-60 secs., which is still much faster than 2:35 min.

[Ben]

Look at Network-Wait-Online (15s) + MySQL(35s) in your diagram. It is correct? 35s for MySQL seems to be a long time..(depending on your configuration/db-size),same with Apache...

[Ben]

I have to add to my system spec comment, that I also have a similiar service setup (MySQL, Apache, TeamViewer, VirtualBox, and some more...) Do you really need all this services? (e.g like Postfix?)

[Michelangelo]

thanks guys. this is a developer machine. I have edited the question to improve the description of the system. @Ben: TeamViewer has been deleted.

[Amias]

best developer machine i have used is the dell precision m3800 , fast i7 , 16GB RAM , 4k screen , Nvidia Quadro m2 pcie ssd and thunderbolt 2 . There are some sweet deals in the outlet store if you can wait for a while. At the very least double the ram and get a good SSD.

[Ben]

I've also a dev machine. My MySQL starts in 1.15 sec. (default config, it contains 5 DB's, each about 200 MB to - 1,5 GB Size) Why does your MySQL need 35s to start?

[Michelangelo]

Ok I have formatted all! I've spent too much time.

[Michelangelo]

look at the update!

[Michelangelo]

I have bought a Samsung SSD and now the boot is really very fast! thanks for the hint! by the way the boot needs a little fix. Look at the updated post above. thanks

[user34716]

Great to hear that the upgrade worked for you.