Tmux – How to Split a New Window and Run a Command

tmux

I have tried

tmux -c "shell command" split-window

but it does not seem to work.

Using tmux split-window, one can split a new window.

UPDATE:

Using tmux split-window 'exec ping g.cn' can run the ping command , but when stoped the new window will be closed.

Best Answer

Use:

tmux split-window "shell command"

The split-window command has the following syntax:

 split-window [-dhvP] [-c start-directory] [-l size | -p percentage] [-t
         target-pane] [shell-command] [-F format]

(from man tmux, section "Windows and Panes"). Note that the order is important - the command has to come after any of those preceding options that appear, and it has to be a single argument, so you need to quote it if it has spaces.

For commands like ping -c that terminate quickly, you can set the remain-on-exit option first:

tmux set-option remain-on-exit on
tmux split-window 'ping -c 3 127.0.0.1'

The pane will remain open after ping finishes, but be marked "dead" until you close it manually.

If you don't want to change the overall options, there is another approach. The command is run with sh -c, and you can exploit that to make the window stay alive at the end:

tmux split-window 'ping -c 3 127.0.0.1 ; read'

Here you use the shell read command to wait for a user-input newline after the main command has finished. In this case, the command output will remain until you press Enter in the pane, and then it will automatically close.

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