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
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 and exit
| 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 |
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
Config file example
~$ cat screen-pm
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
split #split horizontally
split -v #split vertically
select 1
focus #get focus on a selected window
screen -t mail2-queue #create a new terminal/prompt in the focus window
stuff "echo Screen1^M"
select 2
focus
screen -t mail1
stuff "echo Screen2^M"
split -v
select 3
focus
screen -t mail2
stuff "echo Screen3^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}]'