[Novalug] Screen for dummies

geoff geoffm@companionway.net
Sat Aug 31 10:54:57 EDT 2013


Probably - most of the group already knows this but I thought I'd share

byobu is a wrapper that goes around either screen or tmux.
If tmux is installed you can call byobu-tmux or you can force it as the 
default (should be already if tmux was there when byobu was installed) 
by running byobu-select-backend

Normally I like to control my own .screentc or my .tmux.conf - but byobu 
comes pretty close to how I like my set-up. I stopped fighting the 
dragon and just go with byobu's config now.

I don't know how any sysadmin can get alone without screen or tmux but 
that is just my opinion

-g-


On 08/28/2013 04:07 PM, Jim Sheafer wrote:
> +1 for tmux.
>
> I was a screen user for years. Someone turned me on to tmux and it was 
> a simple transition. tmux and screen both have multiple "screens" to 
> handle multiple login sessions. tmux goes a step further where each 
> screen can have different horizontal and vertical window panes, each 
> with a different login session. Combine that with the "mirror 
> keystrokes to all panes" command and you can make short work of 
> handling multiple logins.
>
> http://robots.thoughtbot.com/post/2641409235/a-tmux-crash-course
>
> But note that most of those "type them all out" commands can be 
> replaced by simple keystrokes.
>
> -Jim
>
>
> On Wed, Aug 28, 2013 at 3:52 PM, Chuck Frain <linux@chuckfrain.net 
> <mailto:linux@chuckfrain.net>> wrote:
>
>
>     You may also want to look at Tmux which is a newer implementation of
>     screen. If you're not going much beyond basic multiplexing I don't
>     think
>     you'll see much of a difference. You will find Screen installed by
>     default more often than you'll find Tmux in the wild, from my
>     experience.
>
>     For learning Screen, it took me a while to really 'get it'. What
>     helped
>     me was using byobu (http://byobu.co) so I could see the various
>     shells I
>     had going within a given screen session. It also helped when I
>     returned
>     to the session later. The status lines are nice to have to quickly see
>     what terms are going, the date and time of the server if you cross
>     time
>     zones, hostnames, and other various configuration options. It also
>     (as I
>     recall) allows you to export from byobu to a generic .screenrc
>     file for
>     machines you can't run it on, but not all scripts are easily
>     ported with
>     the rc file. Byobu presents a nice configuration screen to perform
>     basic
>     tasks while you're in the learning curve. It may become a hindrance
>     down the line as you learn the keyboard shortcuts. Byobu is also
>     available for Tmux.
>
>     You don't want to open a screen session within a screen session unless
>     you are careful about it. For me, I have one machine I ssh into
>     from the
>     outside world to my home network. On that machine I have a customized
>     control sequence so that when I use that session as a pivot point to
>     other boxes, I can use c-a on them without my first screen session
>     catching that. Its customizing one configuration vs all the others.
>
>     Split screens within screen is rather useful. I'll often tail a
>     log file
>     or two to monitor output of commands I run in another window.
>
>     Every so often I'll come across a program or script that doesn't act
>     right within screen due to some environmental issues within the screen
>     session. Its rare enough that I've never investigated a proper
>     solution
>     beyond a few minutes here and there.
>
>
>     On Wed, 28 Aug 2013, greg pryzby wrote:
>
>     > Subject defines me and my knowledge. I am interested in learning
>     more
>     > so "Teach Me".
>     >
>     > FWIW I have started using ssh-agent, ssh-add and keys to manage
>     > logging in. Adding screen will probably make it easier vs tabs on
>     > gnome-terminal/iTerm/etc
>     >
>     > As I find myself at the command prompt (and usually remotely logged
>     > in) exclusively for work, I am looking at working smarter. The
>     > computer I was given is OSX so my crutch of ssh -X user@host doesn't
>     > work as well as it does when I have Linux as the desktop
>     >
>     >
>     > --
>     > greg pryzby                              greg at pryzby dot org
>     > http://www.linkedin.com/in/gpryzby
>     >
>     > TWTR: gpryzby
>     > WEB: http://www.MakeRoomForArt.com/
>     > BLOG: http://www.ryqyrmedia.com/ (son's)
>     > _______________________________________________
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>
>     --
>     Chuck Frain
>     GPG Key: B2420431
>     http://www.chuckfrain.net
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>
>
>
>
> -- 
> -Jim
> "Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes 
> off your goals."
> http://jim.sheafer.org/
>
>
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