How to use the screen command

The screen command launches a terminal in the background which can be detached from and then reconnected to. This is especially useful when you log in to the system remotely. You can start a screen, kick off a command, detach from the screen, and log out. You can then log in later and reattach to the screen and see the program running.

To start a screen session type the command:

$ screen

You can run any application normally.

To detach from the screen press the following keys in sequence:

Ctrl+a+d

To reattach to the screen type the command:

$ screen -r

More information is available in the manual pages visible by typing the command:

$ man screen