A minimalist guide to tmux(medium.com)
medium.com
A minimalist guide to tmux
https://medium.com/actualize-network/a-minimalist-guide-to-tmux-13675fb160fa
70 comments
As a long-time ‘screen’ user, the Ctrl-A issue is almost completely a non-issue. One can easily send a Ctrl-A to the underlying shell using Ctrl-A A. I assume ‘tmux’ has something similar. It’s also pretty rare to need the “beginning of the line” movement in a shell, when compared to the number of times one needs to control the multiplexor. Ctrl-A is also very close at hand, and the vast majority of people are using PC keyboards which also have a Home key that work just as well for movement.
I had remapped <prefix> w to cycle to the next pane so I had no idea of the window list. Thanks for that.
Ctrl-j is excellent for me as a vim user. It's default behavior is to just move the cursor one line down which you can already do by pressing... j (although Ctrl-j can be used in insert mode if I recall correctly).
C-a seems to be quite a common prefix, but as you said, it conflicts with the beginning-of-line command. I’ve been quite happy with C-s so far; if it conflicts with something, I have no idea.
^S is XOFF of software control flow fame. You shouldn't need to worry about it though.
It's a common prefix because it's what gnu-screen uses by default, which is what everyone was using for 20 years before tmux came along.
C-s searches forward where C-r searches backwards, if you're used to using C-r to retrieve an earlier command via incremental search.
If not otherwise configured with stty, it's frequently set up for control flow along with C-q. If you find your terminal freezes after typing C-s, C-q will unfreeze it.
Disable with:
If not otherwise configured with stty, it's frequently set up for control flow along with C-q. If you find your terminal freezes after typing C-s, C-q will unfreeze it.
Disable with:
stty -ixon start undef stop undefThanks, I didn’t know that! I use the fish shell, which does history searching differently but this is useful for those few times when I’m in bash.
Mapped mine to Ctrl-Space, no conflicts.
I use ^_ (0x1F) which can be "typed" with Ctrl + 7 and Ctrl + / in most terminals.
Exactly. I use C-z on mine
Doesn't that mess with job control in your shell?
I think I could live w having to “quote” ^Z to suspend a job, but worry I’m going to have ^Z baked-into my muscle memory and end up accidentally suspending jobs on non-tmux sessions.
But that's not a bad thing.. fg it back. ^z is my preference for tmux too.
Interesting. After I posted my comment I saw elsewhere that you can simply hit ^z twice to suspend so I guess that's not a big deal after all.
Yeah I just hit ^z twice to suspend now, and if I do it by mistake (which really rarely happens) I can fg.
[deleted]
> I'd add
I'd add stuff too, but I think we need to resist the temptation. The article succeeds in presenting the absolute bare minimum you need to get started. In fact, I think the author chose his features well but used too many words to present them.
I'd add stuff too, but I think we need to resist the temptation. The article succeeds in presenting the absolute bare minimum you need to get started. In fact, I think the author chose his features well but used too many words to present them.
> Let’s say you’re using vim to edit code on a remote computer using ssh, and you want to open a new terminal tab to start a development server.
vim 8 has a built-in terminal.
vim 8 has a built-in terminal.
:terminal ./start-development-server.sh --port 8080
:help terminal.txt
Thanks for sharing this! Vim is the kind of tool I use all the time, but never check for new features. Will definitely use :terminal all the time now :).
(For anyone interested, it looks like only more recent releases of vim 8 have :terminal.)
(For anyone interested, it looks like only more recent releases of vim 8 have :terminal.)
Yes, it was added only recently after Neovim showed the idea of terminal buffers to be feasible.
So it may not be available on $random_rhel6_server, but since the article described the scenario of a development server, I figured that package versions on there should be fairly recent.
So it may not be available on $random_rhel6_server, but since the article described the scenario of a development server, I figured that package versions on there should be fairly recent.
Somewhat off topic: the wonders of competition, at work! :)
I've stopped using tmux locally because vim terminals are so darned convenient
nvi (default vi on (I believe) Net (and therefore Minix), Free, and OpenBSD) supports what sounds similar via “:script”. You have to split your window (or fg/bg the buffer) manually, though.
Of all the previous tmux discussions, the most practical help was given when this article was discussed 2 months ago:
[dupe] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15776995 (267 points, 96 comments)
Surprised to see it again so soon -- darn you Medium flexible URLs!
PS. Anyone willing to earn $400 implementing mosh ssh port forwarding https://www.bountysource.com/issues/4471419-ssh-port-forward..., or should I move on to the mentioned alternative https://mistertea.github.io/EternalTCP?
PPS. Bountysource feels sketch: https://hn.algolia.com/?query=bountysource
[dupe] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15776995 (267 points, 96 comments)
Surprised to see it again so soon -- darn you Medium flexible URLs!
PS. Anyone willing to earn $400 implementing mosh ssh port forwarding https://www.bountysource.com/issues/4471419-ssh-port-forward..., or should I move on to the mentioned alternative https://mistertea.github.io/EternalTCP?
PPS. Bountysource feels sketch: https://hn.algolia.com/?query=bountysource
ET might be insecure. It has recently been easy to segfault with network traffic.
https://github.com/MisterTea/EternalTCP/issues/79
https://github.com/MisterTea/EternalTCP/issues/79
A while ago I saw comments here about tmuxinator. Which was a fantastic improvement to my tmux use. Create a layout manually, get the layout from tmux and then set it up to launch a custom set of windows, panes, and programs based on my project needs. Doing this easily and repeatedly makes it trivial for me to set aside a task and come back to it later and be confident I will have everything in view that I need.
https://github.com/tmuxinator/tmuxinator
https://github.com/tmuxinator/tmuxinator
Should you have to reboot, this related tidbit can come in handy: https://github.com/tmux-plugins/tmux-resurrect
Tmux is awesome. Although I never understood why they used ctrl-b instead of ctrl-a as the default though - incompatible with screen and hard to reach with one hand.
Probably since ctrl-a is a well-loved bash shortcut for goto start-of-line.
Not for us vi/vim guys.
I assume that shortcut predates the existence of the Home key? Maybe we can let it die.
The home key is in a terrible, terrible place on the keyboard and missing in many laptop keyboards. Ctrl-A is much easier to reach while touch typing, especially after remapping Caps Lock to Ctrl.
I hope not. I actually find C-a and C-e (for end) _much_ easier to type, especially with Caps Lock remapped to CTRL.
And my own personal muscle memory prefers a different setup, so that's why these things should be configurable, but the defaults should probably match common conventions don't you think?
set -o vi
:D
:D
I used ` for a long time, but it got old pasting old-fashioned shell scripts (which use `…` instead of $(…)).
Nowadays I use C-z: easy to hit with one hand, and easy enough to do C-z C-z if I actually want to suspend something.
Nowadays I use C-z: easy to hit with one hand, and easy enough to do C-z C-z if I actually want to suspend something.
I disliked ctrl-a and ctrl-b as prefixes because both conflict with using emacs keybindings. However, it was convenient that, by default, they were different. When I first used tmux I was still using screen on some servers (that I didn't fully control). Being able to use screen on the server through my tmux session without having to double type the prefix was useful.
CTRL-A is the default for GNU Screen, and when you're developing a terminal multiplexor, you sometimes want to work on it inside the terminal multiplexor you're hoping to improve upon. :)
See the tmux FAQ: https://github.com/tmux/tmux/wiki/FAQ
See the tmux FAQ: https://github.com/tmux/tmux/wiki/FAQ
start using keyboards that allow you to use left ctrl with your palm instead of your pinky, it's a life saver.
Previous discussion, https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15776995
# remap prefix from 'C-b' to 'C-a'
C-a is a non-starter for people who use Emacs/OS X key bindings for move-beginning-of-line.
C-b is pretty bad for the same reason for users like me with with well-worn emacs key memory. I end up using the backtick, but it does make sharing a session that little bit more difficult.
adding
bind C-a send-prefix I'm not sure about tmux, but you can still move to the beginning of the line by pressing C-a a in screen.
the urban legend is that they were developing and testing tmux inside of screen, which is why they needed a different prefix
Actually, it is not just urban legend but part of their FAQ ;-)
https://github.com/tmux/tmux/wiki/FAQ#why-is-c-b-the-prefix-...
Nevertheless, I think they should have changed that in the release version and configure their dev environment. After all, it is pretty uncommon to run tmux inside screen for most use-cases.
https://github.com/tmux/tmux/wiki/FAQ#why-is-c-b-the-prefix-...
Nevertheless, I think they should have changed that in the release version and configure their dev environment. After all, it is pretty uncommon to run tmux inside screen for most use-cases.
tmux always seems kind of cool but I have a hard time seeing an advantage over just running multiple terminal windows, using mosh if remote.
Being able to bring up my shell session if I accidentally quit the terminal emulator has been a really helpful feature for me.
When working remote from a DSL line with random disconnects or stupid 24 reconnects / ip address changes, or via unreliable mobile tethering, a screen/tmux session saves you from accidentally killing important, long running jobs or missing important outputs, among other things.
I like the ability to close the window without losing my workspace and, for the specific case of mosh, tmux allows me to have scrollback history.
tmux new-session -d [-s <session_name>] <command>
Sometimes you're in an actual TTY, not a windowed terminal.
I could never get into tmux since it doesn't play nicely with iTerm2 and the mouse. With iTerm2 panes, you can select/copy/paste text within the pane even if it's over multiple lines. In a tmux session, you select all text across all panes.
Ditto goes for scrolling: Native windows scroll more naturally than tmux with mouse support.
Ditto goes for scrolling: Native windows scroll more naturally than tmux with mouse support.
There are two things you can do:
1. iTerm2 has tmux integration, a new panel in tmux automatically maps to a new tab in iTerm2 2. You can enter copy/paste mode in tmux.
1. iTerm2 has tmux integration, a new panel in tmux automatically maps to a new tab in iTerm2 2. You can enter copy/paste mode in tmux.
iTerm has a setting that makes it respect "soft boundaries" that solves this problem. (Edit -> Selection Respects Soft Boundaries)
Took me a while to figure out why I had to press C-b twice to go back in emacs. Reconfigure your tmux prefix ;)
I've never used tmux because I've always used screen. Is there a reason to drop screen for tmux?
Two words: vertical splits.
Apparently I'm the only one who doesn't mind ctrl-b as the prefix.
been using mosh + tmux for couple years and it's been great.
Amazing how a tiny bit of work flow improvement increase productivity.
Highly recommended: byobu, a screen+tmux configuration that works well and is available on Ubuntu and in other places.
Awesome Guide. Definitely liking the move to tmux!
my minimalist guide to tmux : I use byobu.
> Ctrl a (a little faster to type, doesn’t conflict with vim
... but conflicts with beginning-of-line emacs-style bindings, widely in use in readline/libedit/zsh.