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I'm starting the first command in screen like this: 

screen -d -m -S testen -t lalala watch df -h

which gives me a screen session running in the background and I can reconnect at a later time.

How can I run a second command in a new window in the same screen session?

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4 Answers 4

Reset to default
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Start a named screen session (-S) with a named window (-t) adapting to the terminal size (-A) in detached mode (-d -m):

screen -S mySessionName -t myWinName0 -A -d -m

Start another named window (-t) in the same screen session (-S):

screen -S mySessionName -X screen -t myWinName2

Stuff a few commands (-X stuff $'cmds') into the first named window (-p) in the session (-S):

screen -S mySessionName -p myWinName0 -X stuff $'echo myWinName0\necho cmd1\necho cmd2\n'

Stuff a few commands (-X stuff $'cmds') into the second named window (-p) in the session (-S):

screen -S mySessionName -p myWinName1 -X stuff $'echo myWinName1\necho cmd1\necho cmd2\n'

List the screen sessions and reattach to see what happened:

screen -ls
screen -r mySessionName

Note: The linefeed (\n) simulates pressing Enter. You could use semicolons to separate commands as well.

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  • You don't have to do the "stuff" bits. screen -S sessionName -t windowName1 -Adm <command> && screen -S sessionName -X screen -t windowName2 -Adm <command2>
    – Lotus
    Jul 6, 2016 at 15:45
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Tried above approach, but the second command didn't execute on the second window. I slightly adjusted the example by using the window number, instead of the window name:

  1. create session

    screen -S mySessionName -t 0 -A -d -m

  2. create second window

    screen -S mySessionName -X screen -t 1

  3. send command to first window

    screen -S mySessionName -p 0 -X stuff $'echo myWinName0\necho cmd1\necho cmd2\n'

  4. send command to second window

    screen -S mySessionName -p 1 -X stuff $'echo myWinName0\necho cmd1\necho cmd2\n'

  5. now check if the command has been runned on the first window

    screen -R mySessionName -p 0

  6. now check if the command has been runned on the second window

    screen -R mySessionName -p 1

Tested with Screen 4.00.03 (CENTOS 6.3 x64).

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4

Inside screen:

  • Ctrl-A, c to open a new shell window
  • Ctrl-A, :screen newcmd to run newcmd

Outside:

screen -X testen "screen newcmd"
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4
  • hi grawity, i know this, but i would like to do it from an init script. basically i want to start 2 commands in seperate windows in the same screen session. see you
    – user79879
    May 5, 2011 at 13:34
  • 1
    @bob: See example #3, "Outside screen", in this answer.
    – user1686
    May 5, 2011 at 13:50
  • hi grawity, screen -S testen -X 'screen echo "hi"' doesn't work.
    – user79879
    May 5, 2011 at 13:59
  • I was also unable to get the -X method to work. Fwiw, my screen -v says "Screen version 4.00.03 (FAU) 23-Oct-06"
    – Lauri Lehtinen
    Aug 19, 2011 at 22:58
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You can setup an alternate .screenrc via the -c argument. In this new screenrc you can setup multiple commands to start when the screen session is initialized.

At the end of this alternate .screenrc put the following commands:

screen 1 cmd1 args
screen 2 cmd2 args

You don't need to setup an alternate configuration file if you only plan to run one type of screen session and the default commands run are always fine.

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