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tmux state management, how to i save my workspace setup to survive shutdown?


To manage and save your tmux workspace setup so it survives system shutdowns or logouts, you can utilize tmux-resurrect and tmux-continuum, which are plugins for tmux that handle session saving and restoring:

Step-by-Step Guide:

  1. Install Tmux Plugin Manager:

    First, you'll need the Tmux Plugin Manager (TPM) which simplifies the installation of tmux plugins:

    git clone https://github.com/tmux-plugins/tpm ~/.tmux/plugins/tpm
    

    Then, you need to add some lines in your .tmux.conf to initialize TPM:

    # List of plugins
    set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tpm'
    set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tmux-sensible'
    
    # Other examples:
    # set -g @plugin 'github_username/plugin_name'
    # set -g @plugin 'git@github.com/user/plugin'
    
    # Initialize TMUX plugin manager (keep this line at the very bottom of tmux.conf)
    run -b '~/.tmux/plugins/tpm/tpm'
    
  2. Install tmux-resurrect:

    Add tmux-resurrect to your .tmux.conf:

    set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tmux-resurrect'
    
  3. Save and Restore Sessions:

    • Save your tmux session: Press Prefix + Ctrl-s (where Prefix is commonly Ctrl-b). This command will save your panes, windows, programs like vim or ssh sessions, and their respective states.

    • Restore a session: Normally, this is automatically done at tmux start due to tmux-continuum, but you can manually trigger it with Prefix + Ctrl-r.

    Here, Prefix is whatever prefix key you have set in tmux, typically Ctrl-b.

  4. Install tmux-continuum (for automated backups):

    Add:

    set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tmux-continuum'
    

    For automatic session restore after tmux starts, enable the following settings:

    # Turn on automatic restore of tmux session
    set -g @continuum-restore 'on'
    

    This should also be in your .tmux.conf. With this setting, tmux-continuum will restore your last session automatically if tmux starts up.

  5. Set Interval for Auto Saves:

    If you want tmux to automatically save your session every so often (e.g., every 15 minutes), you can adjust the continuum save interval:

    set -g @continuum-save-interval '15'
    
  6. Install Plugins:

    After adding these lines to your .tmux.conf, install the plugins by:

    • Entering tmux (tmux command in terminal).
    • Press Prefix + I (capital i) to fetch and install the plugins.

With these steps, your tmux sessions, windows, panes, and even terminal programs within them should survive a system shutdown or tmux server crash, and will automatically restart when you start tmux again. Remember to configure your tmux server to persist even when no sessions are attached if you're concerned about long-running processes (you might need to tweak tmux startup scripts or parameters).


Evaluation

Evaluation ID
55e27c67-8a6c-47ab-b9fa-4fd9ea70a8cf
Created
October 21, 2024
Raw Output
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        "content": "To manage and save your `tmux` workspace setup so it survives system shutdowns or logouts, you can utilize **tmux-resurrect** and **tmux-continuum**, which are plugins for `tmux` that handle session saving and restoring:\n\n### Step-by-Step Guide:\n\n1. **Install Tmux Plugin Manager:**\n\n   First, you'll need the Tmux Plugin Manager (TPM) which simplifies the installation of tmux plugins:\n\n   ```bash\n   git clone https://github.com/tmux-plugins/tpm ~/.tmux/plugins/tpm\n   ```\n\n   Then, you need to add some lines in your `.tmux.conf` to initialize TPM:\n\n   ```tmux\n   # List of plugins\n   set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tpm'\n   set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tmux-sensible'\n\n   # Other examples:\n   # set -g @plugin 'github_username/plugin_name'\n   # set -g @plugin 'git@github.com/user/plugin'\n\n   # Initialize TMUX plugin manager (keep this line at the very bottom of tmux.conf)\n   run -b '~/.tmux/plugins/tpm/tpm'\n   ```\n\n2. **Install tmux-resurrect:**\n\n   Add `tmux-resurrect` to your `.tmux.conf`:\n\n   ```tmux\n   set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tmux-resurrect'\n   ```\n\n3. **Save and Restore Sessions:**\n\n   - **Save your tmux session:** Press `Prefix + Ctrl-s` (where Prefix is commonly `Ctrl-b`). This command will save your panes, windows, programs like vim or ssh sessions, and their respective states.\n   \n   - **Restore a session:** Normally, this is automatically done at `tmux` start due to `tmux-continuum`, but you can manually trigger it with `Prefix + Ctrl-r`.\n\n   Here, `Prefix` is whatever prefix key you have set in tmux, typically `Ctrl-b`.\n\n4. **Install tmux-continuum (for automated backups):**\n\n   Add:\n\n   ```tmux\n   set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tmux-continuum'\n   ```\n\n   For automatic session restore after tmux starts, enable the following settings:\n\n   ```tmux\n   # Turn on automatic restore of tmux session\n   set -g @continuum-restore 'on'\n   ```\n\n   This should also be in your `.tmux.conf`. With this setting, `tmux-continuum` will restore your last session automatically if tmux starts up.\n\n5. **Set Interval for Auto Saves:**\n   \n   If you want `tmux` to automatically save your session every so often (e.g., every 15 minutes), you can adjust the continuum save interval:\n\n   ```tmux\n   set -g @continuum-save-interval '15'\n   ```\n\n6. **Install Plugins:**\n\n   After adding these lines to your `.tmux.conf`, install the plugins by:\n\n   - Entering tmux (`tmux` command in terminal).\n   - Press `Prefix + I` (capital i) to fetch and install the plugins.\n\nWith these steps, your `tmux` sessions, windows, panes, and even terminal programs within them should survive a system shutdown or `tmux` server crash, and will automatically restart when you start tmux again. Remember to configure your tmux server to persist even when no sessions are attached if you're concerned about long-running processes (you might need to tweak `tmux` startup scripts or parameters).",
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