Linux Terminal Command: screen

The screen command is an essential tool in Process & Job Control. In this tutorial, we will explore what screen does, look at everyday examples, and cover advanced options to supercharge your command-line workflow.

Concept & Explanation

The screen command creates virtual terminal sessions that run in the background. It is a legacy predecessor of tmux.

Common Options & Syntax

screen [options] [arguments]

Here are the most common flags used with screen:

Simple Usage: Basic default commands.
Detailed View: Shows diagnostic information.
Advanced Actions: Can chain parameters for scripting.

1. Interactive Example (Simple)

Here is how most people run the command:

# Example
screen

What it does: Starts a new virtual screen session.

2. Power-User Example (Advanced)

For scripting and advanced diagnostics, use this configuration:

# Advanced
screen -R dev_session

What it does: Attaches to the session named ‘dev_session’, creating it first if it does not exist.

⚙️ Warning & Common Pitfalls

[!WARNING] Inside screen, keybindings are triggered by pressing Ctrl+a first. To detach from a session, press Ctrl+a followed by d.

Here are some related posts on cli_tty1 you might want to check out:

tmux : Terminal multiplexer.