How do I change default from command line?

[Jonathan Wakely]

Hi,

I switched to grub from lilo several years ago but have not been able to
figure out how to do something that was very easy with lilo.

I used to run "bootwin", which was a script that would tell lilo to set
the default boot partition to windows, create a file called /unbootwin,
and reboot.  When linux next booted rc.local would check for /unbootwin
and if it existed, set the default boot partition back to linux and delete
the file.  This made it simple to reboot into another OS while I made a
cup of tea, without having to sit by the machine and choose the right
option when the boot menu appeared.

As far as I can tell, the only way to do this with grub is to have a
second config file with the alternative default in, is that right?
That's impractical, because when I upgrade my kernel grub's config file
gets updated automatically (I run Fedora) but I would have to update the
alternative conf file manually. This would be tedious and error prone.

Am I missing something in the documentation or is this just not as easy
as it was with lilo?  I have grub-0.95-13 installed from an FC4 RPM.

Thanks for your help,

jon

-- 
"Fanaticism consists in redoubling your efforts when you have forgotten 
 your aims."
        - George Santayana