Dedicated Server: Installation of Screen
This guide was created with the following products:
(Details may vary with products from different providers but the main concepts remain the same)
Introduction
Screen is a terminal multiplexer for Unix-like operating systems, like Linux. It allows users to manage multiple terminal sessions within a single window or remote connection. In this guide, we will cover the installation steps and provide usage guidance to make you more familiar with screen.
Prerequisites
Before you install anything on a server, it is recommended to run the update command corresponding to your operating system to keep your server secure.
- Ubuntu & Debian
- CentOS
- OpenSUSE
- Fedora
sudo apt update
sudo yum update
sudo zypper update
sudo dnf update
Installation
Installing the screen utility is as easy as running the following command based on your Linux distro:
- Ubuntu & Debian
- CentOS
- OpenSUSE
- Fedora
sudo apt install screen
sudo yum install screen
sudo zypper install screen
sudo dnf install screen
Basic Screen Usage
As previously mentioned screen allows users to create multiple sessions. To start one you simply need to run the following command, replacing [name] with anything you wish.
screen -S [name]
Keep in mind that the commands presented in this guide are case sensitive, particularly regarding any parameter flags.
This will then open up a new screen where you can start any script or program you want to keep running even after closing the remote connection.
You can exit a screen by using CTRL + A, followed by D or simply by typing exit in the console as a command.
You can browse all active sessions/screens by using the screen -ls or screen -list command.
To return back to a previously created screen, you can execute the screen -r [name] command which will instantly take you back to the relevant screen.
Screen Parameter Flags
Screen has many - parameter flags you can use to configure the commands. Some of the most important ones are listed below in the table.
| Flag | Alias | Info |
|---|---|---|
| -v | Shows the current version of screen | |
-S [name] | Starts a new screen called [name] | |
| -ls | -list | Lists all running screens |
-wipe [name] | Delete screens with optional [name] parameter | |
-r [name] | Reattach to the [name] screen session | |
-d -r [name] | Detach from your current screen and reattach to [name] |
You can browse all of the available parameters by running screen -h which will return a comprehensive list.
Advanced Screen Usage
Window Usage
Now that you've familiarized yourself with the basic commands of screens it's time to learn some shortcuts to help you navigate through your sessions more effectively. Inside any screen you can create multiple separate windows for different tasks.
All of the shortcuts in this part of the guide need to be ran after pressing CTRL + A.
Pressing C will create a new empty window in your current directory. To navigate between windows you can run N (next) or P (previous) or " and selecting the window you want to see from the list with arrow keys.
By default all windows will have the same name (usually the name of the shell you're using). To change it run the A command and pick a new name.
And finally to delete a window you can press K.
Split Windows
To run 2 windows in a split configuration you can run S (horizontal) or | (vertical) and navigate between them using Tab.
After creating a new split window go to it using Tab and run " to open a previous window in the 2nd view of the split.
You can keep splitting these windows as much as you wish but the server's RAM usage might increase exponentially as you would expect when multi-tasking.
Conclusion
We hope this guide was helpful in teaching you how the screen utility works in Linux. For further questions or assistance, please don't hesitate to contact our support team, which is available daily to assist you! 🙂