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Little known features of iTerm2

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Re: Little known features of iTerm2

#51

Post by mobilemidget »

nrclark wrote: post #34

Not sure whether or not this is a little-known feature. iTerm2 has _fantastic_ integration with tmux (software used for persisting a terminal session across multiple logins). Tmux can be a pretty complex piece of software, but iTerm can basically wrap it all up into a nice package. You don't need to know anything at all about tmux to use iTerm's tmux integration. If you're SSHed into a server that has tmux installed,…

after years of seeing tmux fly by, and still not understanding its purpose I thought okay, lets give this one liner a try and see if I really don't need to know about tmux as you wrote. :)

why do I get: Can't open user config file : No such file or directory

Re: Little known features of iTerm2

#52

Post by jsmeaton »

nrclark wrote: post #34

Not sure whether or not this is a little-known feature. iTerm2 has _fantastic_ integration with tmux (software used for persisting a terminal session across multiple logins). Tmux can be a pretty complex piece of software, but iTerm can basically wrap it all up into a nice package. You don't need to know anything at all about tmux to use iTerm's tmux integration. If you're SSHed into a server that has tmux installed,…

I haven’t really figured out Tmux, and I’m a little ashamed to admit it. I usually reach for screen when needed, and disconnect/reconnect/kill are the only commands of screen I know.

I’ll give the tmux -CC a go when I’m back at my machine, but what else does the integration do? I’m a heavy pane user - does the default split pane in tmux mode use tmux splitting for example?

Re: Little known features of iTerm2

#53

Post by stekern »

rhlsthrm wrote: post #49
locusofself wrote: post #18

tmux -CC support is my favorite feature of iTerm2. It's amazing.

Can anyone ELI5 on Tmux? I want to know if I’m missing out on an awesome tool by not knowing about it by having heard the name it a lot.

In short, it's a terminal multiplexer (hence the name, tmux) that allows you to run multiple terminals within one (as opposed to opening a new window for each interactive shell you want to use). I spend 90% of my time as a developer either inside tmux or a web browser, so it wouldn't be a stretch to say that I find it quite useful.

The functionality I use the most in tmux is:

- attaching and detaching from a tmux session (e.g., for running machine learning jobs over SSH)

- having multiple terminals open inside of one

- scripting the setup of windows, panes, etc. for different projects I'm working on

I basically use vim and tmux as an IDE: my usual setup consists of one large pane consisting of vim and code, while two other panes are available for running git commands, starting servers, etc. Within one tmux session I separate different projects (e.g., frontend and backend) into tmux windows, and it's very easy to switch between panes, windows and sessions using keyboard shortcuts.

Re: Little known features of iTerm2

#54

Post by cerberusss »

donatj wrote: post #37

This feels like a dumb question, but is the text rendering really dark for others in iTerm2? It seems like on a black background I cannot get pure white text. It’s always a middle shade of gray for me - before and after getting a Retina display. I have messed with the colors and text rendering for literal hours over the last ten years and I genuinely cannot get it as clear and readable as Terminal.app which is a big…

iTerm -> Preferences -> Profiles tab -> Colors subtab.

You'll see two columns of options. The left column is titled "Basic Colors", the right is titled "ANSI Colors".

Under Basic Colors, click the color next to Foreground, and a color picker appears. Slide it to the lower-left: bright white.

Now it should be fixed. But if it didn't, repeat the same procedure for the White that's at the bottom of the column ANSI Colors.

Re: Little known features of iTerm2

#55

Post by jaaames »

raamdev wrote: post #36

I’m surprised to see that the iTerm2 dedicated hotkey window hasn’t been mentioned. It’s essentially a system-wide terminal window that you can open with a hotkey, similar to the old Visor app, and you can configure it as a floating window that appears over other apps' full screen windows. https://www.iterm2.com/documentation-hotkey.html

Yeah - I use this workflow and love it. cmd + esp (with caps lock remapped to escape) to toggle a full screen terminal from any application. Means don't have to cmd + tab and hunt for it, it's always one shortcut away.

Re: Little known features of iTerm2

#56

Post by jaaames »

bdcravens wrote: post #24
pkrumins wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which tools would you have to give up?

Some of the most obvious things I'd give up: - ability to plug into any monitor at any resolution that monitor supports - ability to copy and paste to/from my phone - Transmit - I really haven't found many good s3 clients on Linux - ScreenFlow - Git Tower Most of these have some sort of a work-around or close analog of course. (So I'd likely not be "giving anything up" as much as compromising or learning new techniqu…

Pushbullet (Chrome extension) might work for copy/paste to/from your phone.

Re: Little known features of iTerm2

#57

Post by rawfan »

nrclark wrote: post #34

Not sure whether or not this is a little-known feature. iTerm2 has _fantastic_ integration with tmux (software used for persisting a terminal session across multiple logins). Tmux can be a pretty complex piece of software, but iTerm can basically wrap it all up into a nice package. You don't need to know anything at all about tmux to use iTerm's tmux integration. If you're SSHed into a server that has tmux installed,…

So what exactly is the iTerm feature here? You are just describing regular tmux.

Re: Little known features of iTerm2

#58

Post by neilsense »

rawfan wrote: post #57
nrclark wrote: post #34

Not sure whether or not this is a little-known feature. iTerm2 has _fantastic_ integration with tmux (software used for persisting a terminal session across multiple logins). Tmux can be a pretty complex piece of software, but iTerm can basically wrap it all up into a nice package. You don't need to know anything at all about tmux to use iTerm's tmux integration. If you're SSHed into a server that has tmux installed,…

So what exactly is the iTerm feature here? You are just describing regular tmux.

it pulls out windows into terminal tabs (in the UI), and handles panes like they were native iTerm panes (so same keybindings etc). Makes for a native-feeling experience while still getting the benefits of tmux.

Re: Little known features of iTerm2

#60

Post by shabbyrobe »

iTerm2 is fantastic! It can be a bit CPU hungry but you get a stack of mod cons out of the bargain.

There are tons of proprietary escape codes, not least of all the incredibly useful one for "fireworks"! [1]

    ^[]1337;RequestAttention=fireworks^G
[1]: https://iterm2.com/documentation-escape-codes.html
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