Linux: GNU/Screen Scroll Up and Down Look At Data

I am using GNU Screen software application to multiplex several virtual consoles. I can access multiple separate terminal sessions inside a single terminal window over remote ssh terminal session. Often I need to go though server logs located in /var/ directory. I can not seem to scroll up when I run tail -f /var/log/messages or /var/log/secure file. How do I use page-up / page-down keys to scroll up under GNU scree?

Tutorial details
Difficulty	Easy (rss)
Root privileges	No
Requirements	GNU/screen

You need to use the following key combination to scroll up and look at your data under GNU screen. First press:

CTRL-A

Next press:
[

This will activate copy mode in GNU/screen. Now, you can scroll up/down and look at your data. Use the following keys:

CTRL-u and CTRL-d scroll the display up/down by the specified amount of lines while preserving the cursor position. (Default: half screen-full).
CTRL-b and C-f scroll the display up/down a full screen.

From the man page - following movement keys can be used in copy mode:

         h, j, k, l move the cursor line by line or column by column.
         0, ^ and $ move to the leftmost column, to the first or last non-whitespace character on the line.
         H, M and L move the cursor to the leftmost column of the top, center or bottom line of the window.
         + and - positions one line up and down.
         G moves to the specified absolute line (default: end of buffer).
         | moves to the specified absolute column.
         w, b, e move the cursor word by word.
         B, E move the cursor WORD by WORD (as in vi).
         C-u and C-d scroll the display up/down by the specified amount of lines while preserving the cursor position. (Default: half screen-full).
         C-b and C-f scroll the display up/down a full screen.
         g moves to the beginning of the buffer.
         % jumps to the specified percentage of the buffer.

For searching use the following vi like syntax:

/SearchWord - Vi-like search forward.
?SearchWord - Vi-like search backward.

See screen man page for more information:
$ man screen

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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Michael Ray December 2, 2012 at 1:54 am

I always use Ctrl+A Esc, then just use the arrows and PageUp/PageDown to move through the scroll buffer (then just press Esc again to get out of copy mode). To me, that’s a little more intuitive than h/j/k/l and Ctrl+u/Ctrl+d.

2 martin December 3, 2012 at 12:02 pm: +1

Linux: GNU/Screen Scroll Up and Down Look At Data

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