tmux is a terminal multiplexr. As most (I mean all) people around me use vim, and I failed to install awesome wm (dependency issues, manually compiling xcb simply crashes my x11 env) and I didn’t want to try to exchange Caps with Ctrl for the virtual machine, I decide to use tmux with vim, where tmux for tiling windows management.
Following is the configuration and explanations:
Usually commands of tmux is leaded by a PREFIX so as to reduce conflicts with other applications. Reduce means there still exists many conflicts, so rebind default PREFIX C-b with the other key:
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# bind PREFIX with 'C-\'
set -g prefix 'C-\'
# unbind default one
unbind C-b
The set is a short version of set-option. The -g flag denotes that this configuration is global, it takes effect for all sessions.
There are sessions, windows and panes in tmux. For each session, it contains many windows, which is like tabs. For each window, it contains many panes, where panes work like tiling windows.
Let’s first make above configuration effect. To enter the command mode, press PREFIX :, then type source-file <path to config file>. Or we make following config to easy it:
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bind r source-file <path to config file> \; display "Reloaded"
The bind is short for bind-key.
Sessions
Create sessions:
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tmux # create anonymous session
tmux new-session -s <s-name> # create named session
tmux new -s <s-name> # create named session
tmux new [-s <s-name>] -d # create a session and then detach
Detach and Attach sessions:
To detach the current session, use command PREFIX d.
To attach a session:
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# list existing sessions
tmux list-sessions | ls
# if there is only one session
tmux attach # attach the session
# attach a particular session
tmux attach -t <s-name>
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# enable utf-8 on status bar
set -g status on
set -g status-utf8 on
To rename a session:
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tmux rename-session -t <s-name> <n-s-name>
To kill a session:
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tmux kill-session -t <s-name>
Windows
To create a window in current session, use PREFIX c.
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# create a named session with a named window
tmux -new -s <s-name> -n <w-name>
To rename current window, use PREFIX ,, or use:
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tmux rename-window -t <w-id>|<w-name> <n-w-name>
Movement between windows:
- Press
PREFIXnfor moving to next window. - Press
PREFIXpfor moving to previous window. - Press
PREFIXfto find a window by its name - Press
PREFIXwto show a visual menu to select window - Press
PREFIX<num>for moving to <num>-th window.
By default, windows and panes are indexed based on 0, following configuration make it to 1:
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set -g base-index 1
setw -g pane-base 1
# and also enable the renumbering function
set -g renumber-windows on
To close a window, type exit into the prompt of the window, or press PREFIX & to confirm and exit the current window, or press Ctrl-d to send the EOF, or type kill-window [-t <w-name> | -a] in the prompt to kill the current or particular or all window(s).
To move window between different sessions:
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tmux move-window -s <s-name>:<w-name> -t <t-s-name>
To share window between different sessions, type link-window -t <t-s-name>:<t-w-name> in the prompt.
Panes
To split the window vertically, press PREFIX %. And to split the window horizontally, press PREFIX ".
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# set new split key combination
bind \ split-window -h
bind - split-window -v
To focus the panes cyclically, press PREFIX o. PREFIX with UP, DOWN, LEFT, and RIGHT is to move to the pane in certain direction.
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# use C-h and C-l to cycle through panes
bind -r C-h select-window -t :-
bind -r C-l select-window -t :+
# map vi-like movement
bind -r h select-pane -L
bind -r j select-pane -D
bind -r k select-pane -U
bind -r l select-pane -R
The -r flat is to denote that this key can take effect repeatedly with first PREFIX.
To move directly to a specific pane, press PREFIX q then press proper number.
To resize the pane:
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# resize pane
bind H resize-pane -L 5
bind J resize-pane -D 5
bind K resize-pane -U 5
bind L resize-pane -R 5
To max the pane, press PREFIX z.
To rotate the panes, press PREFIX } to rotate clockwise, and press PREFIX { to rotate counterclockwise.
To change the pane layout, press PREFIX Space.
To close the current pane, type exit or press PREFIX x.
To synchronize the pane input or not, type setw synchronize-panes [on|off] in the prompt.
Transfer between Window and Pane
To break the pane into a separate window, press PREFIX !.
To convert a window into a pane in another window, type join-pane -s <source-window> -t <target-window> in the prompt. (It looks like only the single pane window work???)
Buffer
That presented in tmux is actually the viewport, farmed off to stdout.
To scroll buffer, we need first enter the copy mode. Either type copy-mode to the prompt (following pressing PREFIX :), or press PREFIX [ will send us to the copy mode.
Once enter the copy mode, move as in vim.
Copy and Paste
First, we need enter the copy mode.
To begin making a selection, press Space.
To make the selection in paste buffer, press Enter.
To show paste buffer, press PREFIX # or type list-buffers in prompt.
To copy current buffer entirely, type capture-pane in prompt.
To show the last copied buffer, type show-buffer in prompt.
To paste the last copied buffer into the current buffer, press PREFIX ] or type paste-buffer in prompt.
To save the last copied buffer to a file, type save-buffer <path to file> in prompt.
To paste specific copied buffer to the current buffer, press PREFIX = or type choose-buffer in prompt and then select one by its id number.
To paste between programs, xclip is required. And add following into the configuration (not tested yet):
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bind -t vi-copy 'v' begin-selection
bind -t vi-copy 'y' copy-pipe 'xclip'
Other configurations:
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# enable utf-8 on status bar
set -g status on
set -g status-utf8 on
# set Zsh as default tmux shell
set -g default-shell /bin/zsh
# set history limit to 30000
set -g history-limit 30000
# use utf8
set -g utf8
setw -g utf8 on
# use 256 color
set -g default-terminal "screen-256color"
# short command delay
set -sg escape-time 1
# long display time
set -g display-time 2000
# make the current window the first window
bind T swap-window -t 1
# automatically rename window
setw -g automatic-rename on
# enable mouse
set -g mouse on
# set command prompt vi-like
set -g status-key vi
