tmux

tmux is a terminal multiplexer. It lets you switch easily between several programs in one terminal, detach them (they keep running in the background) and reattach them to a different terminal. It lets us split our terminal into panes, switch between different sessions, and keep programs running even when we disconnect.

Architecture overview of tmux

Figure: Architecture of tmux emphasizing the several interfaces available to the user.

A user should first create/launch a new session with a chosen socket file name (for instance group-session)

[user1@mc2]$ tmux -L group-session

This will create a socket file /tmp/tmux-<UID>/group-session, where UID is user1 ID number. Make the socket directory and file group-readable, writable and executable:

[user1@mc2]$ chmod -R 770 /tmp/tmux-`id -u`
[user1@mc2]$ ls -la /tmp/tmux-`id -u`
total 16
drwxrwx---   2 user1  users  4096 Sep 18 09:25 .
drwxrwxrwt. 15 root   root  12288 Sep 18 09:31 ..
srwxrwx---   1 user1  users     0 Sep 18 09:25 group-session

The socket can be used as a handle for a second user who wishes to have real-time access to the session. If the UID of user1 is 1039, that second user should type:

[user2@mc2]$ tmux -S /tmp/tmux-1039/group-session attach

Session Control

Commamd	Description
`tmux`
`tmux new -s <session-name>`	Start a new session with a chosen name
`tmux ls`	List all sessions
`tmux attach -t <session-name>`	Re-attach a detached session
`tmux kill-session -t <session-name>`	Delete session

Copy Mode

Short-cut	Description
`Crtl+b`, `[`	Enter copy mode
`Crtl+b`, `G`	Bottom of history
`Crtl+b`, `g`	Top of history
`Crtl+b`, `Enter`	Copy selection
`Crtl+b`, `p`	Paste selection
`Crtl+b`, `k`	Cursor up
`Crtl+b`, `j`	Cursor down
`Crtl+b`, `h`	Cursor left
`Crtl+b`, `l`	Cursor right

Window Control

Short-cut	Description
`Crtl+b`, `c`	Create new window
`Crtl+b`, `d`	Detach from session
`Crtl+b`, `,`	Rename current window
`Crtl+b`, `&`	Close current window
`Crtl+b`, `w`	List windows
`Crtl+b`, `p`	Previous window
`Crtl+b`, `n`	Next window

Pane Control

Short-cut	Description
`Crtl+b`, `"`	Split pane horizontally
`Crtl+b`, `%`	Split pane vertically
`Crtl+b`, `o`	Next pane
`Crtl+b`, `;`	Previous pane
`Crtl+b`, `q`	Show pane numbers
`Crtl+b`, `z`	Toggle pane zoom
`Crtl+b`, `!`	Convert pane into a window
`Crtl+b`, `x`	Kill current pane
`Crtl+b`, `Ctrl+0`	Swap panes
`Crtl+b`, `t`	Display clock
`Crtl+b`, `q`	Transpose two letters
`Crtl+b`, `{`	Move to the previous pane
`Crtl+b`, `}`	Move to the next pane
`Crtl+b`, `Space`	Toogle between pane layouts
`Crtl+b`, `↑`	Resize pane - make it taller
`Crtl+b`, `↓`	Resize pane - make it shorter
`Crtl+b`, `←`	Resize pane - make it wider
`Crtl+b`, `→`	Resize pane - Make it narrower

Plugins

Short-cut	Description
tmux resurect	https://github.com/tmux-plugins/tmux-resurrect
`Crtl+b`, `Ctrl+s`	Save current environment
`Crtl+b`, `Ctrl+r`	Restore (saved) environment