Tmate - Instant Terminal Sharing Tool - cmd Cheatsheets

Tmate is a powerful fork of the popular terminal multiplexer, tmux, designed for instant terminal sharing and remote collaboration. It simplifies the process of sharing your command-line session with others, making it an invaluable tool for pair programming, debugging, and providing remote support.

What is Tmate?

Tmate allows you to share your current tmux session over the internet. Unlike traditional screen sharing, tmate provides a direct SSH connection to your terminal, ensuring a secure and efficient way to collaborate. It's particularly useful for developers who need to quickly share a terminal environment without complex setup or firewall configurations.

Key Features and Usage

Tmate offers several convenient ways to share and manage your terminal sessions:

Launching Tmate

To start a new tmate session, simply run the command:

tmate

This will launch tmate and typically display an SSH connection string that you can share with others.

Viewing Session Messages

To see log messages, including the SSH connection string, use:

tmate show-messages

Detached Sessions and Waiting

You can launch tmate in a detached state and wait for the SSH connection to be ready:

# Launch tmate in a detached state
tmate -S /tmp/tmate.sock new-session -d

# Blocks until the SSH connection is established
tmate -S /tmp/tmate.sock wait tmate-ready

Accessing Connection Strings

Tmate provides easy access to various connection strings:

# Prints the SSH connection string
tmate -S /tmp/tmate.sock display -p '#{tmate_ssh}'

# Prints the read-only SSH connection string
tmate -S /tmp/tmate.sock display -p '#{tmate_ssh_ro}'

# Prints the web connection string
tmate -S /tmp/tmate.sock display -p '#{tmate_web}'

# Prints the read-only web connection string
tmate -S /tmp/tmate.sock display -p '#{tmate_web_ro}'

Benefits of Using Tmate

Tmate is an excellent choice for developers and system administrators due to its simplicity and effectiveness. It requires minimal setup and allows for seamless collaboration, making it a go-to tool for quick terminal sharing needs.

Tmate - Instant Terminal Sharing Tool

Tmate - Instant Terminal Sharing