Tools

tmux

Terminal multiplexer for the working environment. Sessions survive disconnects, panes keep a listener and a shell side by side, and the logging plugin records pane output as report evidence. The configuration lives in ~/.tmux.conf; the file below is the current one, and every binding in this note assumes the prefix it sets.

Install

sudo apt install tmux

Start a Session

Change into the box directory before starting tmux:

cd results/TARGET

tmux new -s OSCP

New windows inherit the session’s starting directory, so they open in the box directory instead of the home directory.

Use a distinct session name when several sessions are needed:

tmux new -s BOXNAME

List existing sessions:

tmux ls

Attach to a session:

tmux attach -t OSCP

Kill a session after its work is finished:

tmux kill-session -t OSCP

Prefix Keys

tmux commands begin with a prefix. With the default configuration, press Ctrl-B, release both keys, then press the command key.

The configuration below changes the prefix to Ctrl-A. After reloading it, press Ctrl-A, release both keys, then press the command key.

Configuration

The personal tmux configuration is stored at:

~/.tmux.conf

Edit it with any text editor:

nano ~/.tmux.conf

Configuration:

# Remap the prefix to Ctrl-A, matching GNU Screen
unbind C-b
set -g prefix C-a
bind C-a send-prefix

# Quality of life
set -g history-limit 10000
set -g allow-rename off
set -g mouse on

# Join a pane from another window into the current window
bind-key j command-prompt -p "join pane from:" "join-pane -s '%%'"

# Send the current pane to another window
bind-key s command-prompt -p "send pane to:" "join-pane -t '%%'"

# Use vi keys in copy mode
set-window-option -g mode-keys vi

# Load tmux-logging
run-shell /opt/tmux-logging/logging.tmux

Reload the file without restarting tmux:

tmux source-file ~/.tmux.conf

From inside tmux, the same command can be run through its command prompt:

Ctrl-A, release, :
source-file ~/.tmux.conf

The prefix changes as soon as the configuration is loaded. Use Ctrl-A for subsequent commands.

Check configuration errors by running the reload command in a normal terminal. tmux prints the line number when it cannot parse an option or binding.

A session holds windows, a window divides into panes, and the green border marks the active pane, with the arrow bindings changing which pane owns it.

These bindings assume the prefix has been changed to Ctrl-A:

Ctrl-A, release, c       create a window
Ctrl-A, release, ,       rename the current window
Ctrl-A, release, n       next window
Ctrl-A, release, p       previous window
Ctrl-A, release, 0..9    jump to a numbered window
Ctrl-A, release, %             vertical split, panes side by side
Ctrl-A, release, "             horizontal split, panes above and below
Ctrl-A, release, arrow         select a pane
Ctrl-A, release, Ctrl-arrow    resize the active pane
Ctrl-A, release, {             swap with the previous pane
Ctrl-A, release, }             swap with the next pane
Ctrl-A, release, d             detach from the session

The resize bindings can be repeated while holding Ctrl and pressing an arrow.

With two panes, { and } look like moving left and right. They actually swap the active pane with the previous or next pane in tmux’s pane order.

Shell Line Movement

The remapped prefix consumes the first Ctrl-A. Send a literal Ctrl-A through tmux to move to the beginning of the shell command line:

Ctrl-A, release, Ctrl-A    beginning of the line

Ctrl-E does not conflict with the tmux prefix:

Ctrl-E                     end of the line

Close a pane or window by exiting its shell:

exit

Copy Mode and Scrollback

With set -g mouse on, the wheel scrolls through tmux’s pane history and enters copy mode automatically. Without it, the wheel reaches the shell as Up and Down, cycling through command history.

Enter copy mode with the keyboard:

Ctrl-A, release, [

With mode-keys vi, useful keys inside copy mode are:

?           search backward through pane history
Page Up     move up one page
Page Down   move down one page
Space       begin selecting text
Enter       copy the selection to the tmux buffer and leave copy mode
q           leave copy mode without copying

Paste the most recently copied tmux buffer:

Ctrl-A, release, ]

Copy mode operates on tmux’s pane history, not the terminal emulator’s scrollback, and the configured history limit keeps up to 10,000 lines per pane.

Joining and Sending Panes

The custom j binding joins a pane from another window into the current window:

Ctrl-A, release, j
join pane from: SESSION:WINDOW.PANE

Example:

OSCP:2.0

The custom s binding sends the current pane to another window:

Ctrl-A, release, s
send pane to: SESSION:WINDOW

Example:

OSCP:3

List the available targets before moving panes:

tmux list-panes -a -F '#S:#I.#P  #W'

Logging

Loading the plugin defines its tmux bindings. It does not immediately record every pane. Logging is started and stopped separately for the current pane.

Install the plugin into the path used by the configuration:

sudo git clone https://github.com/tmux-plugins/tmux-logging.git \
  /opt/tmux-logging

Confirm that the entry point exists:

ls -l /opt/tmux-logging/logging.tmux

The run-shell line at the bottom of the configuration loads it. Reload the configuration after the clone.

With the remapped prefix, toggle logging for the current pane:

Ctrl-A, release, Shift-P

Pressing it once starts recording everything typed and printed in that pane. Pressing it again stops recording. This is useful for logging a shell or an important enumeration command without recording unrelated panes. The status line briefly reports whether logging started or stopped.

Logs are written to the home directory by default with names similar to:

~/tmux-OSCP-0-1-20260724T120000.log

Find recent logs:

ls -lt ~/tmux-*.log

Saving the complete history is separate from live logging. It writes the history still retained by history-limit:

Ctrl-A, release, Alt-Shift-P

Capture only the text currently visible in the pane:

Ctrl-A, release, Alt-P