Paul Mayero

Introduction

If you are new to Linux or command line interfaces then you may not have heard of tmux.It is one of the numerous terminal multiplexers that are used by Linux system admins and other power users.Other terminal multiplexers include GNU Screen and dvtm.They offer numerous advantages like persistent sessions and having more than one window at a time and the ability to switch to any of them.

Installation

Tmux can be installed on numerous Linux distributions in various different ways.

To install it on Debian/Ubuntu .Use the command below

$ sudo apt-get install tmux

To install it on Redhat/CentOS, use the command below

$ sudo yum install tmux

To install it on Arch-linux, use command below

$ sudo pacman -S tmux 

To install it on OpenSUSE, use the command below

$ sudo zypper install tmux

To install it on Fedora , use the command below

$ sudo dnf install tmux

Once tmux is installed on to your system,it is time to start using it.

Getting Started

Checking for tmux installation

To check out that tmux has been installed,run the command below

$ tmux --help

Your output should be as below

Creating a tmux session

To create a new tmux session called manila-logs , run the command below

$ tmux new -s manila-logs # manila-logs is the session name

The terminal window will be as below

Please note the change from the initial terminal window.

Splitting panes

Splitting panes vertically

To split the active pane vertically , press Ctrl + b then %.

The terminal window will be split into two as below

PS:Remember the pane with the blinking cursor is the active pane.

Splitting pane horizontally

To split the currently active pane horizontally press Ctrl + b then ”

The active pane will be split horizontally as shown below

Moving to panes

Moving to panes is pretty easy in tmux.Just remember wherever the blinking cursor is, that is the active pane.

Move to pane above

Press Ctrl + b then up arrow key

Move to pane below

Press Ctrl + b then down arrow key

Move to pane left

Press Ctrl + b then left arrow key

Move to pane right

Press Ctrl + b then right arrow key

Move to next pane

Press Ctrl + b then o

Deleting active pane

Press Ctrl + b then x

The result would be as below

Detaching from session

To detach from the tmux session, press Ctrl + b then d.

This will return you back to the normal terminal window as shown below.

Listing all available sessions

To list out all available sessions on tmux , run the command below

$ tmux ls

or

$ tmux list-sessions

All the available sessions will be listed out with the date of creation.This can be seen below.

Attaching to an existing session

To attach to an existing session , on the command interface run the command below

$ tmux attach -t manila-logs #manila-logs is the session name

This will get us into the session where we can see our panes as depicted below.

Deleting a session

To delete and existing session , run the command below

$ tmux kill-session -t manila-logs #manila-logs is the session name

This will delete the mentioned session and it will no longer be among the existing sessions.

Outro

The above has been a short guide on how to use tmux.If you are interested to know more about tmux, please try the following links below.

• Tmux Cheat Sheet : for all you cheaters out there 😉
• Tmux Shortcuts and Cheat Sheet
• Awesome Tmux Tutorial

If you are interested in other terminal multiplexers such Screen and dvtm , please try any of the links below.

• Screen Cheat Sheet
• Awesome Screen Tutorial
• dvtm Cheat Sheet

Have fun as you explore more of the cli and its power!