Tmux vs Screen
The unix command screen and tmux have similar goal, but tmux is more complex than screen.
Quick Tips
In order to start using tmux without worrying about forgetting keys, remember follows one after another.
- Help using key
Ctrl+b ? - Detach using key
Ctrl+b d - Resume using command
tmux a - Create window using command
Ctrl+b c - Navigate windows using key
Ctrl+b w, then arrow keys - Rename window using key
Ctrl+b , - Status bar has window name and
<id> - Switch window using key
Ctrl+b <id>
Commands
| screen | tmux | |
|---|---|---|
| Startup | screen |
tmux |
| Starting Named Session | screen -S session_name |
tmux new -s session_name |
| List running session | screen -ls |
tmux ls |
| Reattach | screen -r |
|
| Reattach by id | screen -r <id> |
tmux attach-session -t <id> |
Keys
| screen | tmux | |
|---|---|---|
| Help | Ctrl+a ? |
Ctrl+b ? |
| Create a new shell (without window) | Ctrl+a c |
|
| Switch to next shell | Ctrl+a space |
|
| Switch to previous shell | Ctrl+a backspace |
|
| Create a new window (with shell) | Ctrl+b c |
|
| List all shells | Ctrl+a " |
|
| Choose window from a list | Ctrl+b w |
|
| Switch to N'th shell | Ctrl+a <n> |
|
| Switch to N'th window | Ctrl+b <n> |
|
| Rename the current window | Ctrl+a A |
Ctrl+b , |
| Split current region horizontally into two regions | Ctrl+a S |
Ctrl+b % |
| Split current region vertically into two regions | Ctrl+a | |
Ctrl+b " |
| Switch the input focus to the next region | Ctrl+a tab |
Ctrl+b o |
| Toggle between the current and previous windows | Ctrl+a Ctrl+a |
Ctrl+b ; |
| Close all regions but the current one | Ctrl+a Q |
|
| Close the current region | Ctrl+a X |
Ctrl+b x |
| Detach from session | Ctrl+a d |
Ctrl+b d |
Sent Ctrl+a to region |
Ctrl+a a |
Customize
screen
Customization can be done in /etc/screenrc and ~/.screenrc. Sample of contents is shown below.
# Turn off the welcome message
startup_message off
# Disable visual bell
vbell off
# Set scrollback buffer to 10000
defscrollback 10000
# Customize the status line
hardstatus alwayslastline
hardstatus string '%{= kG}[ %{G}%H %{g}][%= %{= kw}%?%-Lw%?%{r}(%{W}%n*%f%t%?(%u)%?%{r})%{w}%?%+Lw%?%?%= %{g}][%{B} %m-%d %{W}%c %{g}]'tmux
Customization can be done in ~/.tmux.conf. Sample of contents is shown below.
# Improve colors
set -g default-terminal 'screen-256color'
# Set scrollback buffer to 10000
set -g history-limit 10000
# Customize the status line
set -g status-fg green
set -g status-bg blackReferences
How To Use Linux Screen
Getting started with Tmux
How to split the terminal into more than one "view"?