Terminal Basic Usage

The Xermius terminal provides a full-featured terminal experience with modern conveniences and powerful features.

Terminal Types

Xermius supports three types of terminal instances:

1. SSH Terminal

Connect to remote servers via SSH:

• Full SSH protocol support: Password, key-based, keyboard-interactive authentication
• Session persistence: Reconnect to existing sessions
• Multiple sessions: Open multiple terminals to the same host
• Connection monitoring: Real-time latency and bandwidth tracking
• Auto-reconnect: Automatic reconnection on network interruption

2. Local Terminal

Run commands on your local machine:

• Native shell: Uses your system's default shell (bash, zsh, PowerShell)
• Full terminal emulation: Same features as SSH terminal
• Quick access: No SSH connection required
• File operations: Direct access to local filesystem
• Development workflow: Run commands, git operations, etc.

3. Snippet Execution Terminal

Execute command snippets on remote hosts:

• One-click execution: Run pre-configured commands instantly
• Variable substitution: Dynamic values in snippets
• Multi-host execution: Run same snippet on multiple hosts
• Output capture: View and save command output
• Non-interactive: Executes and closes automatically

Terminal Features

Modern Terminal Emulation

Xermius provides industry-standard terminal emulation:

• Full compatibility: Works with all terminal applications
• Unicode support: Display international characters correctly
• True color support: Rich colors for modern CLI tools
• Ligature support: Programming fonts with ligatures
• Smooth performance: Hardware-accelerated rendering
• Canvas fallback: Automatic fallback for compatibility

Terminal Themes

Choose from 32 built-in themes:

• Dark themes: Optimized for low-light environments
• Light themes: For bright workspaces
• Popular themes: Dracula, Monokai, Solarized, Nord, One Dark, etc.
• Custom colors: Each theme carefully crafted for readability
• Live preview: See theme changes instantly
• Per-terminal themes: Different themes for different terminals (future)

Advanced Features

• Scrollback buffer: Configurable history (default: 10,000 lines)
• Search in terminal: Find text in terminal output (Ctrl/Cmd + F)
• Web links detection: Click URLs to open in browser
• Bell sound: Audio notification on terminal bell
• Terminal cache: Restore terminal state on app restart
• Copy on select: Automatically copy selected text
• Right-click paste: Quick paste with right-click

Opening a Terminal

From Dashboard

Method 1: Click Host

• Simply click on any host card
• A new terminal tab opens automatically
• Connection initiates immediately

Method 2: Right-click Menu

1. Right-click on host
2. Select "New Terminal"
3. Terminal opens in new tab

Method 3: Keyboard Shortcut

• Select a host
• Press Ctrl/Cmd + T
• Terminal opens instantly

Multiple Terminals

You can open multiple terminal sessions to the same host:

• Each tab creates a separate SSH session
• Sessions are independent
• Closing one tab doesn't affect others

Example Use Case:

Tab 1: Monitor logs (tail -f /var/log/syslog)
Tab 2: Edit configuration files
Tab 3: Run application server

Terminal Interface

Layout

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ [Tab: Production Server] [Tab: Dev Server] [+]     │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ user@server:~$                                      │
│                                                     │
│   Terminal output appears here...                  │
│                                                     │
│                                                     │
│                                                     │
│                                                     │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ [Status: Connected | Latency: 45ms | ↓ 1.2KB/s]   │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Status Bar

Shows real-time information:

• Connection Status: Connected, Disconnected, Reconnecting
• Network Latency: Round-trip time in milliseconds
• Data Transfer: Upload/download speeds
• Session Duration: How long you've been connected

Basic Operations

Copy & Paste

Copy Text

Mouse:

1. Select text with mouse
2. Right-click → "Copy"
3. Or use keyboard shortcut

Keyboard:

• Windows/Linux: Ctrl + Shift + C
• macOS: Cmd + C

Auto-copy: Enable in Settings → Terminal → Auto-copy selection

Paste Text

Mouse:

1. Right-click → "Paste"

Keyboard:

• Windows/Linux: Ctrl + Shift + V
• macOS: Cmd + V

Middle-click Paste:

• Select text anywhere
• Middle-click in terminal to paste (Linux/Windows)

Find Text

Search for text in terminal output:

1. Press Ctrl/Cmd + F
2. Enter search term
3. Use arrows to navigate results
4. Press Esc to close

Features:

• Case-sensitive option
• Regex support
• Highlight all matches
• Navigate with Enter/Shift+Enter

Clear Screen

Method 1: Keyboard

• Press Ctrl + L

Method 2: Command

clear

Method 3: Context Menu

• Right-click → "Clear Terminal"

Select All

Select all terminal content:

• Ctrl/Cmd + A
• Right-click → "Select All"

Working with Tabs

Create New Tab

For Same Host:

• Click [+] button
• Or press Ctrl/Cmd + T
• New session to current host

For Different Host:

• Click host in dashboard
• New tab opens automatically

Switch Between Tabs

Keyboard:

• Ctrl/Cmd + Tab - Next tab
• Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + Tab - Previous tab
• Ctrl/Cmd + 1-9 - Jump to specific tab

Mouse:

• Click on tab
• Scroll on tab bar (if many tabs)

Rename Tab

1. Right-click on tab
2. Select "Rename Tab"
3. Enter new name
4. Press Enter

Tip: Rename tabs to remember their purpose:

"Logs Monitor"
"Config Edit"
"Application"

Close Tab

Mouse:

• Click X on tab
• Or right-click → "Close Tab"

Keyboard:

• Ctrl/Cmd + W

Warning: Closing tab disconnects the SSH session.

Reorder Tabs

Drag & Drop:

1. Click and hold tab
2. Drag to new position
3. Release to drop

Useful for: Organizing related sessions together

Terminal Features

Command History

Navigate through previous commands:

• ↑ (Up Arrow) - Previous command
• ↓ (Down Arrow) - Next command
• Ctrl + R - Reverse search history

Server-side History: Commands are stored on the server in ~/.bash_history

Auto-completion

Tab completion for commands and paths:

# Type partial command
cd /var/lo[TAB]

# Becomes
cd /var/log/

# Type partial filename
cat ~/.bash[TAB][TAB]

# Shows options
.bash_history  .bash_logout  .bash_profile  .bashrc

Scrollback Buffer

Review previous output:

• Scroll with mouse wheel
• Page Up/Down keys
• Shift + Page Up/Down - Scroll faster

Buffer Size:

• Default: 1000 lines
• Configurable in Settings → Terminal
• Range: 100 - 10,000 lines

Unicode Support

Full UTF-8 support for:

• International characters
• Emojis 😀
• Special symbols ★ ☆ ✓ ✗
• Box drawing characters

Advanced Terminal Operations

Split View (Coming Soon)

Split terminal horizontally or vertically:

• Work on multiple tasks side-by-side
• Compare outputs
• Monitor multiple logs

Session Recording

Record terminal sessions for:

• Training purposes
• Troubleshooting documentation
• Compliance auditing

Controls:

• Ctrl + Shift + R - Start/Stop recording
• Recordings saved to ~/Documents/Xermius/Recordings/

Custom Prompts

Xermius preserves your custom shell prompts:

# Bash
export PS1='\[\e[0;32m\]\u@\h:\w\$\[\e[0m\] '

# Zsh
PROMPT='%F{green}%n@%m:%~%f$ '

# Fish
function fish_prompt
    echo (set_color green)(whoami)@(hostname):(pwd) '$' (set_color normal)
end

Terminal Shortcuts

Essential Shortcuts

Action	Windows/Linux	macOS
Copy	Ctrl + Shift + C	Cmd + C
Paste	Ctrl + Shift + V	Cmd + V
Find	Ctrl + F	Cmd + F
New Tab	Ctrl + T	Cmd + T
Close Tab	Ctrl + W	Cmd + W
Clear Screen	Ctrl + L	Ctrl + L
Select All	Ctrl + A	Cmd + A

Shell Shortcuts

These work in most Unix shells:

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl + C	Interrupt current command
Ctrl + D	Exit shell (logout)
Ctrl + Z	Suspend current process
Ctrl + A	Move to beginning of line
Ctrl + E	Move to end of line
Ctrl + K	Delete to end of line
Ctrl + U	Delete to beginning of line
Ctrl + W	Delete previous word
Ctrl + R	Search command history
Ctrl + L	Clear screen

Troubleshooting

Terminal Not Responding

Symptom: Commands don't execute, no prompt

Causes & Solutions:

1. Process Hanging:

   # Press Ctrl+C to interrupt
   # Or Ctrl+Z to suspend

2. Connection Lost:

   • Check status bar for "Disconnected"
   • Close tab and reconnect

3. Output Paused:

   # Press Ctrl+Q to resume (if accidentally pressed Ctrl+S)

Garbled Text / Weird Characters

Cause: Terminal encoding mismatch

Solution:

1. Settings → Terminal
2. Set encoding to UTF-8
3. On server, check echo $LANG
4. Should be en_US.UTF-8 or similar

Colors Not Working

Cause: Terminal type not set correctly

Solution:

# Check current TERM
echo $TERM

# Should be: xterm-256color

# If not, set it
export TERM=xterm-256color

# Add to ~/.bashrc to persist
echo 'export TERM=xterm-256color' >> ~/.bashrc

Copy/Paste Not Working

Windows:

1. Check if terminal has focus
2. Try right-click menu instead of keyboard
3. Check Settings → Terminal → Enable copy/paste

macOS:

1. Use Cmd (not Ctrl)
2. Enable in Security & Privacy → Accessibility

Tab Key Not Working

Cause: Auto-completion disabled

Solution:

# In bash
set show-all-if-ambiguous on

# In zsh
autoload -U compinit && compinit

Tips & Best Practices

1. Use Screen or Tmux

For long-running tasks, use terminal multiplexers:

# Install screen
sudo apt install screen  # Ubuntu/Debian
sudo yum install screen  # CentOS/RHEL

# Start screen session
screen -S mysession

# Detach: Ctrl+A, then D
# Reattach: screen -r mysession

# Or use tmux
sudo apt install tmux
tmux new -s mysession
# Detach: Ctrl+B, then D
# Reattach: tmux attach -t mysession

Benefits:

• Sessions survive disconnections
• Can detach and reattach anytime
• Split screen functionality

2. Customize Your Shell

Make your terminal experience better:

# Add useful aliases
alias ll='ls -lah'
alias gs='git status'
alias gp='git pull'

# Add to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc
echo "alias ll='ls -lah'" >> ~/.bashrc

3. Enable Syntax Highlighting

For better readability:

# Install for Bash
git clone https://github.com/zsh-users/zsh-syntax-highlighting.git
echo "source ${(q-)PWD}/zsh-syntax-highlighting/zsh-syntax-highlighting.zsh" >> ${ZDOTDIR:-$HOME}/.zshrc

4. Use History Effectively

# Search history
Ctrl + R, type search term

# Repeat last command
!!

# Repeat last command with sudo
sudo !!

# Repeat command #123
!123

# Repeat last command starting with "git"
!git

5. Learn Essential Commands

Master these for productivity:

# File operations
ls, cd, pwd, mkdir, rm, cp, mv, touch

# Text viewing/editing
cat, less, nano, vim, head, tail

# File search
find, locate, grep

# System info
top, htop, df, du, free, ps

# Network
ping, netstat, ss, curl, wget

# Package management
apt, yum, dnf  # Depends on distro

Next Steps

• 🎨 Customize Terminal Appearance
• 🎨 Terminal Themes - Choose from 32 themes
• ⌨️ Learn More Shortcuts
• 🔧 Advanced Terminal Features
• 💻 Local Terminal - Run commands locally
• 📁 Use SFTP for File Transfer
• 📝 Command Snippets - Save frequently used commands
• 🏠 Host Management - Manage connections