Linux multi window terminal Screen and Tmux
Screen allows for multi window connection using a single ssh session. It also allows to detach from the session screen while still running a remote session.
Install
sudo apt-get install screen
Key terms
- window -it's a separate window that you can switch between
- region -your terminal screen can be divided in regions where each can hold multiple windows
Useful key bindings
C^a c -create new prompt C^a tab -move to a next window C^a | -split vertically C^a S -split horizontly C^a \ -kill all windows, terminate any ssh sessions and exit GNU Screen program
| Key | Action | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Ctrl+a c | new window | |
| Ctrl+a n | next window | I bind F12 to this |
| Ctrl+a p | previous window | I bind F11 to this |
| Ctrl+a " | select window from list | I have window list in the status line |
| Ctrl+a Ctrl+a | previous window viewed | |
| Ctrl+a S | split terminal horizontally into regions | Ctrl+a c to create new window there |
| split terminal vertically into regions | Requires screen >= 4.1 | |
| Ctrl+a :resize | resize region | |
| Ctrl+a :fit | fit screen size to new terminal size | Ctrl+a F is the same. Do after resizing xterm |
| Ctrl+a :remove | remove region | Ctrl+a X is the same |
| Ctrl+a tab | Move to next region | |
| Ctrl+a d | detach screen from terminal | Start screen with -r option to reattach |
| Ctrl+a A | set window title | |
| Ctrl+a x | lock session | Enter user password to unlock |
| Ctrl+a [ | enter scrollback/copy mode | Enter to start and end copy region. Ctrl+a ] to leave this mode |
| Ctrl+a ] | paste buffer | Supports pasting between windows |
| Ctrl+a > | write paste buffer to file | useful for copying between screens |
| Ctrl+a < | read paste buffer from file | useful for pasting between screens |
| Ctrl+a ? | show key bindings/command names | Note unbound commands only in man page |
| Ctrl+a : | goto screen command prompt | up shows last command entered |
Scroll back - a copy mode
In GNU Screen press Ctrl + a + [ or C^a C^ESC to enter Copy Mode, then scroll up/down using keys j or k. Below are some other navigation keys:
h - Move the cursor left by one character
j - Move the cursor down by one line
k - Move the cursor up by one line
l - Move the cursor right by one character
0 - Move to the beginning of the current line
$ - Move to the end of the current line.
G - Moves to the specified line
(defaults to the end of the buffer).
C-u - Scrolls a half page up.
C-b - Scrolls a full page up.
C-d - Scrolls a half page down.
C-f - Scrolls the full page down.
Define scrollback buffer size start screen with the following key (5000 lines in this example):
screen -h 5000
Update: You can use activate copy mode of GNU Screen also by Ctrl + Esc that might be more useful than Ctrl + a + [ shortcut (thanks to Yu-Jie Lin for this tip).
Custom configuration
By default the config is kept in ~/.screenrc file but using -c option we can pass a custom config
~$ screen -c screen-4regions
Example of a config file:
~$ cat screen-pm # Region 0 screen -t mail1-queue #creates new terminal/prompt select 0 #select window0 stuff "echo Window0^M" #echo a string between quotes, ^M translates to EOL stuff "sshpass -p 'password' ssh -o PubkeyAuthentication=no root@example.com^M" #ssh interactively split #split horizontally split -v #split vertically # Region 1 select 1 focus #get focus on a selected region screen -t mail2-queue #create a new terminal/prompt in the focus window stuff "echo Window1^M" # Region 2 select 2 focus screen -t mail1 stuff "echo Window2^M" split -v # Region 3 select 3 focus screen -t mail2 stuff "echo Window3^M" altscreen on term screen-256color bind ',' prev bind '.' next # #change the hardstatus settings to give an window list at the bottom of the #screen, with the time and date and with the current window highlighted hardstatus alwayslastline #hardstatus string '%{= kG}%-Lw%{= kW}%50> %n%f* %t%{= kG}%+Lw%< %{= kG}%-=%c:%s%{-}' hardstatus string '%{= kG}[ %{G}%H %{g}][%= %{= kw}%?%-Lw%?%{r}(%{W}%n*%f%t%?(%u)%?%{r})%{w}%?%+Lw%?%?%= %{g}][%{B} %m-%d %{W}%c %{g}]'