tmux

tmux is a terminal multiplexer that allows for multiple virtual terminals to be created and controlled from a single screen. tmux may be detached from a screen and continue running in the background, then later reattached.

It is great especially to ssh into another computer for long running jobs or simply have access to multiple terminals from the same ssh connection.

Usage

From the command line, you may start a new session or attach to an existing session like so.

tmux new-session  # start a new session
tmux a            # attach to an existing session

Similar to screen, tmux uses a leader key before each command to distinguish it from the program in the terminal. Normally, this is C-b.

The following keybinds are a result of my configuration file.

Key Bind	Command
`C-b c`	Create a new window
`C-b 0`	Switch to window 0
`C-b -`	Create a vertical pane
`C-b \`	Create a horizontal pane
`C-b h`	Switch to the left pane
`C-b l`	Switch to the right pane
`C-b k`	Switch to the top pane
`C-b j`	Switch to the bottom pane
`C-b d`	Detach from tmux

Configuration

tmux may be configured with a $HOME/.tmux.conf file. Below is a snippet of my configuration that I prefer over the defaults.

# vi mode
setw -g mode-keys vi

# create new window in the home path
bind c new-window -c "~"

# split panes using \ and -
bind \\ split-window -h -c "#{pane_current_path}"
bind - split-window -v -c "#{pane_current_path}"
unbind '"'
unbind %

# set escape time 0
set -sg escape-time 0

# switch panes using Alt-hjkl without prefix
# or hjkl with prefix
bind -n M-h select-pane -L
bind -n M-l select-pane -R
bind -n M-k select-pane -U
bind -n M-j select-pane -D

bind h select-pane -L
bind l select-pane -R
bind k select-pane -U
bind j select-pane -D

My full configuration file can be found here.