{"id":13113,"date":"2019-04-01T01:17:14","date_gmt":"2019-04-01T01:17:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.appservgrid.com\/paw92\/?p=13113"},"modified":"2019-04-01T01:17:14","modified_gmt":"2019-04-01T01:17:14","slug":"how-to-host-multiple-linux-terminals-for-viewing-and-collaboration-with-wemux","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.appservgrid.com\/paw92\/index.php\/2019\/04\/01\/how-to-host-multiple-linux-terminals-for-viewing-and-collaboration-with-wemux\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Host Multiple Linux Terminals for Viewing and Collaboration with Wemux"},"content":{"rendered":"

Now we will introduce you to\u00a0wemux<\/strong>\u00a0(a multi-user version of\u00a0tmux<\/strong>), which not only includes the features provided by\u00a0tmux<\/strong>, but also allows users to host a multi-terminal environment where clients can join in viewing or collaborative mode.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Wemux<\/a><\/p>\n

Wemux View Remote Linux Terminal Session<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

In other words, you can host a session where others can view what you do in the terminal (to perform a demonstration, for example), or to collaborate with them.<\/p>\n

To help you get the most of\u00a0wemux<\/strong>, I highly recommend you take a look at the previous guide about tmux before going through the present article.<\/p>\n

Installing and Configuring Wemux Multi-User Terminal<\/h3>\n

As a prerequisite before installing\u00a0wemux<\/strong>, we will use\u00a0git to clone the project\u2019s repository<\/a>\u00a0in our local system. If the following command shows that\u00a0git<\/strong>\u00a0is not found in your system:<\/p>\n

# which git \r\n<\/pre>\n
as indicated by:<\/p>\n
\/usr\/bin\/which: no git in (\/usr\/local\/sbin:\/usr\/local\/bin:\/sbin:\/bin:\/usr\/sbin:\/usr\/bin:\/root\/bin) \r\n<\/pre>\n
Install it before proceeding (use\u00a0yum<\/strong>\u00a0or\u00a0aptitude<\/strong>\u00a0depending on your distribution):<\/p>\n
# yum install git       [On RedHat<\/strong> based systems] \r\n# dnf install git       [On Fedora 22+<\/strong> versions]\r\n# aptitude install git  [On Debian<\/strong> based systems]\r\n<\/pre>\n
Then,<\/p>\n
1.<\/strong>\u00a0Clone the remote repository.<\/p>\n
# git clone git:\/\/github.com\/zolrath\/wemux.git \/usr\/local\/share\/wemux \r\n<\/pre>\n
2.<\/strong>\u00a0Create a symbolic link to the\u00a0wemux<\/strong>\u00a0executable inside\u00a0\/usr\/local\/bin<\/code>\u00a0or another directory in your\u00a0$PATH<\/strong>variable.<\/p>\n
# ln -s \/usr\/local\/share\/wemux\/wemux \/usr\/local\/bin\/wemux \r\n<\/pre>\n
3.<\/strong>\u00a0Copy the configuration sample configuration file into\u00a0\/usr\/local\/etc<\/code>.<\/p>\n
# cp \/usr\/local\/share\/wemux\/wemux.conf.example \/usr\/local\/etc\/wemux.conf \r\n<\/pre>\n
And insert the following line:<\/p>\n
host_list=(user1 user2 user3) \r\n<\/pre>\n
where\u00a0user1<\/code>,\u00a0user2<\/code>, and\u00a0user3<\/code>\u00a0are users who are allowed to start\u00a0wemux<\/strong>\u00a0servers. You can add as many users as needed separated by spaces. Other users will be able to connect to a running wemux server but will not be allowed to start one.<\/p>\n
Introducing wemux Multi-User Terminal<\/h3>\n
To simplify things, please keep in mind that you can think of\u00a0wemux<\/strong>\u00a0as a tool that facilitates console viewing and mutual collaboration on the same\u00a0tmux<\/strong>\u00a0session.<\/p>\n
As explained earlier, in the configuration file (\/usr\/local\/etc\/wemux.conf<\/code>), you must have already indicated which users will be allowed to start a\u00a0wemux<\/strong>\u00a0server, or in other words, a\u00a0tmux<\/strong>\u00a0session that other users will be able to attach to. In this context, these \u201cusers<\/strong>\u201d are called clients.<\/p>\n
To summarize:<\/p>\n
    \n
  1. Wemux server<\/strong>: a tmux session.<\/li>\n
  2. Wemux clients<\/strong>: users joining the tmux session described above.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    These are the commands that are used to manage\u00a0wemux<\/strong>\u00a0servers:<\/p>\n
      \n
    1. \n
        \n
      1. wemux<\/strong>\u00a0or\u00a0wemux start<\/strong>: starts a new wemux server (if none exists; otherwise creates a new one) and creates a socket in\u00a0\/tmp\/wemux-wemux<\/code>\u00a0whose permissions need to be set to\u00a01777<\/strong>\u00a0so that other users may connect or attach to it:<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
        # chmod 1777 \/tmp\/wemux-wemux \r\n<\/pre>\n
          \n
        1. wemux attach<\/strong>\u00a0hooks you up to an existing wemux server.<\/li>\n
        2. wemux stop<\/strong>\u00a0kills the wemux server and removes the socket created earlier. This command needs to be executed from a separate terminal. Alternatively, you can use the exit shell builtin to close panes and eventually to return to your regular shell session.<\/li>\n
        3. wemux kick username<\/strong>\u00a0gets rid of the user currently logged on via SSH from the wemux server and removes his \/ her rogue sessions (more on this in a minute). This command requires that the wemux server has been started as root or with\u00a0sudo<\/strong>\u00a0privileges.<\/li>\n
        4. wemux config<\/strong>\u00a0opens the configuration file in the text editor indicated by the environment variable $EDITOR (only if such variable is configured in your system, which you can verify with echo\u00a0$EDITOR<\/strong>).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
          All of the\u00a0tmux<\/strong>\u00a0commands listed previously are valid within\u00a0wemux<\/strong>, with the advantage that the client may attach to a\u00a0wemux<\/strong>\u00a0server in one of three modes.<\/p>\n
          To do so, execute the command found in the\u00a0COMMAND<\/strong>\u00a0column below in a \u201cprospective client<\/strong>\u201c, so to speak (it will become an actual client once it has joined the wemux server):<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
          Mode<\/b><\/td>\nDescription<\/b><\/td>\nCommands<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
          Mirror<\/b><\/td>\nRead-only, non-interactive<\/td>\nwemux mirror<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
          Pair<\/b><\/td>\nInteractive, client shares cursor with the server<\/td>\nwemux pair<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
          Rogue<\/b><\/td>\nJoins an existing session but allows the client to uses independent windows<\/td>\nwemux rogue<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
          Let\u2019s take a look at the following screencast for a brief demonstration of the three client modes outlined in the above table (same order). Please note that I used\u00a0Terminator<\/a>\u00a0in order to start the server (as user\u00a0gacanepa<\/strong>) in the left pane and connect a client (as user test) in the right pane.<\/p>\n
          Thus, you can easily see how a\u00a0wemux<\/strong>\u00a0server works while interacting with one client. By repeating the the process that is used by a client to join a wemux server, you can have multiple clients do the same simultaneously.<\/p>\n