LKBEN11094: A command line window manager: screen

Symptom

Screen is a full-screen command line window manager that multiplexes a terminal session between processes

Cause

none

Solution

To use screen you need to know the ctrl-a command wich means type control key plus a. This is the basic keystroke to know. When this keystroke has been entered, the program waits for a command to be given.

You just start screen by typing "screen" in your shell. (e.g. bash) You can have your settings saved in .screenrc.

The following table shows a few (not all of them) of the interesting key bindings which I use the most:

command	Function	Explication
C-a 0	select 0	Selects screen 0
C-a 1	select 1	Selects screen 1
C-a n	select n	Selects screen n
C-a 9	select 9	Selects screen 9
C-a A	title	Allow the user to enter a name
		for the current window.
C-a c	screen	Create a new window with a shell
		and switch to that window.
C-a C	clear	Clear the screen.
C-a d
C-a C-d	detach	Detach screen from this terminal.
C-a D D	pow detach	Detach and logout.
C-a space
C-a n
C-a C-n	next	Switch to the next window.
C-a N	number	Show the number (and title)
		of the current window.
C-a backspace
C-a h	prev
C-a p
C-a C-p		Switch to the previous window
		(opposite of C-a n).
C-a ?	help	Show key bindings.
C-a C-	quit	Kill all windows and terminate screen.
C-a :	colon	Enter command line mode.
C-a [
C-a C-[
C-a esc	copy	Enter copy/scrollback mode.
C-a ]	paste	Write the contents of the paste buffer to the
		stdin queue of the current window.
C-a R	attach	Re-attach to a running session and if none
		exists create one
C-a R	attach	Re-attach to a running session and if none
		tell me without creating a session.
C-a x	multi user	Attach to a running session for
		for looking at it in multi screen mode.
		You can use it for attaching to!

You can find an ebook for screen on this website by clicking on the homepage and then on ebooks. You will find a link to the ebook. (or type "http://www.lubby.org/stable/ebooks/Screen/index.html" in your browser)

Disclaimer:

The information provided in this document is intended for your information only. Lubby makes no claims to the validity of this information. Use of this information is at own risk!

About the Author

Author: Wim Peeters - Keskon GmbH & Co. KG

Wim Peeters is electronics engineer with an additional master in IT and over 30 years of experience, including time spent in support, development, consulting, training and database administration. Wim has worked with SQL Server since version 6.5. He has developed in C/C++, Java and C# on Windows and Linux. He writes knowledge base articles to solve IT problems and publishes them on the Lubby Knowledge Platform.