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tmux wiki

the follow contents is mainly reprinted of learn x in y minutes - tmux.

installation of centos7

# dependce packages
yum install ncurses-devel libevent-devel

# download source code package
wget https://github.com/tmux/tmux/releases/download/2.8/tmux-2.8.tar.gz

# extract & make & make install
tar -zxvf tmux-2.8.tar.gz
cd tmux-2.8
./configure --prefix=/opt/tmux
make && make install

# set path
export path=$path:/opt/tmux/bin

introduction

is a terminal multiplexer: it enables a number of terminals to be created, accessed, and controlled from a single screen. tmux may be detached from a screen and continue running in the background then later reattached.

tmux conform c/s mode, including followed modules:

• server - run tmux in terminal to start a server;
• session - a server can include serveral sessions;
• window - a session can include serveral windows;
• pane - a window can include serveral panes.

directive	description
tmux [command]	run a command
	'tmux' with no commands will create a new session
command/option
[new]	create a new session
-s "session"	create named session
-n "window"	create named window
-c "/dir"	start in target directory
[attach]	attach last/available session
-t "#"	attach target session
-d	detach the session from other instances
[ls]	list open sessions
-a	list all open sessions
[lsw]	list windows
-a	list all windows
-s	list all windows in session
[lsp]	list panes
-a	list all panes
-s	list all panes in session
-t	list all panes in target
[kill-window]	kill current window
-t "#"	kill target window
-a	kill all windows
-a -t "#"	kill all windows but the target
[kill-session]	kill current session
-t "#"	kill target session
-a	kill all sessions
-a -t "#"	kill all sessions but the target

key bindings

the method of controlling an attached tmux session is via key combinations called 'prefix' keys.

key	description
c-b	'prefix' combination required to use keybings
m-1
system
?	list all key bindings
:	enter the tmux command prompt
r	force redraw of the attached client
t	show current time
d	detach the current client
d	choose a client to detach
[	enter copy mode to copy text or view history.
~	show info messages
s	select a new session for the attached client
window
c	create a new window
n	change to the next window
p	change to the previous window
l	switch to last window
w	choose the current window interactively
&	kill the current window
0-9	select windows 0 to 9
,	rename current window
.	renumber current window no.
f	find plain in all windows
pane
%	split the current pane into two, left and right
"	split the current pane into two, top and bottom
q	show no. of splited panes
;	switch to last pane
u/d/l/r	change to the pane above, below, left, or right
!	break the current pane out of the window.
x	kill the current pane
o	switch to next pane in current window
c-o	rotate all panes anti-clockwise
m-o	rotate all panes clockwise
c-u/d/l/r	resize the current pane in steps of one cell
m-u/d/l/r	resize the current pane in steps of five cells
space	toggle in preset pane layouts including even-horizontal, even-vertical, main-horizontal, main-vertical, tiled
{	swap the current pane with the previous pane
}	swap the current pane with the next pane
m-1 to m-5	arrange panes
m-1	even-horizontal
m-2	even-vertical
m-3	main-horizontal
m-4	main-vertical
m-5	tiled

configuring ~/.tmux.conf

tmux.conf can be used to set options automatically on start up, much like how .vimrc or init.el are used.

# example tmux.conf

### general

# scrollback/history limit
set -g history-limit 2048

# index start
set -g base-index 1

# mouse
set-option -g -q mouse on

# force reload of config file
unbind r
bind r source-file ~/.tmux.conf

### keybinds

# unbind c-b as the default prefix
unbind c-b

# set new default prefix
set-option -g prefix ` 

# return to previous window when prefix is pressed twice
bind c-a last-window
bind ` last-window

# allow swapping c-a and ` using f11/f12
bind f11 set-option -g prefix c-a
bind f12 set-option -g prefix `

# keybind prefrence
setw -g mode-keys vi
set-option -g status-keys vi

# moving between panes with vim movement keys
bind h select-pane -l
bind j select-pane -d
bind k select-pane -u
bind l select-pane -r

# window cycle/swap
bind e previous-window
bind f next-window
bind e swap-window -t -1
bind f swap-window -t +1

# easy split pane commands
bind = split-window -h
bind - split-window -v
unbind '"'
unbind %

# activate inner-most session (when nesting tmux) to send commands
bind a send-prefix

### theme

# statusbar color palatte
set-option -g status-justify left
set-option -g status-bg black
set-option -g status-fg white
set-option -g status-left-length 40
set-option -g status-right-length 80

# pane border color palette
set-option -g pane-active-border-fg green
set-option -g pane-active-border-bg black
set-option -g pane-border-fg white
set-option -g pane-border-bg black

# message color palette
set-option -g message-fg black
set-option -g message-bg green

# window status color palette
setw -g window-status-bg black
setw -g window-status-current-fg green
setw -g window-status-bell-attr default
setw -g window-status-bell-fg red
setw -g window-status-activity-attr default
setw -g window-status-activity-fg yellow

### ui

# notification
setw -g monitor-activity on
set -g visual-activity on
set-option -g bell-action any
set-option -g visual-bell off

# automatically set window titles
set-option -g set-titles on
set-option -g set-titles-string '#h:#s.#i.#p #w #t' # window number,program name,active (or not)

# statusbar adjustments
set -g status-left "#[fg=red] #h#[fg=green]:#[fg=white]#s#[fg=green] |#[default]"

# show performance counters in statusbar
# requires https://github.com/thewtex/tmux-mem-cpu-load/
set -g status-interval 4
set -g status-right "#[fg=green] | #[fg=white]#(tmux-mem-cpu-load)#[fg=green] | #[fg=cyan]%h:%m #[default]"

references