Toolserver:Screen

Problem: when you log off, the programs that were running under your session quit.

Solution: run the programs under screen.

Quick-start
Log in to a terminal (for instance, use PuTTY and log in to login.toolserver.org).

Type $ screen at a terminal. You will get a new shell prompt. Now run your program here. (When running php scripts in the console, GET and POST variables cannot be used.) When you want to log off, type  . You will see: [screen detached] and you're back at the old shell prompt. Now log off; your programs will continue running in screen's virtual terminal. When you want to get them back, log in again and run $ screen -r This will resume a detached screen. To terminate a screen, resume it with   and then press  , or simply exit the shell, and screen will exit automatically.

If you are running multiple sessions,  will end the session.

If you don't want to accidentally close something important, you may want to use  instead. is not specific to screen, it's specific more to tty. It won't work in other programs like vi.

Other features

 * Opening multiple windows : Type CTRL+A c. A new screen will open.  You can switch between screens with CTRL+A #, where # is the screen to switch to (starting from 0).  All screens under the same session are detached and reattached together.
 * List all open windows : Type CTRL+A w.

For a detailed overview of screen, see the manual page screen(1).

Always use screen on login
By changing your ~/.bash_profile to somewhat like you will always reattach to the same screen session (or create a new one if there's no screen running). With CTRL+C d</tt> you will detach the screen and log out. Use CTRL+d</tt> or type exit</tt> to close a screen. With the last screen closed you will log out.

If ~/.bash_profile</tt> did not exist in prior you have to make it executable: chmod +x ~/.bash_profile</tt>.