The Screen Command

Some TOS management commands such as install, backup and restore take time to complete and if your connection to the server is lost in the process, you may have to start from the beginning and in some cases, the system may even become unstable. To avoid this, we strongly recommend running the screen command before running such TOS commands. This creates a named background in which to run the command and ensures that the management command will run to completion even if your network session terminates unexpectedly.

• To create a named screen session:

  # screen -S <session_name>

  # <TOS_management_command>

  where <session_name> is the name for the screen session e.g. install, backup, restore).

  The session will be listed as <pid>.<session_name> in the list of screen sessions. Execute the management command from within the new screen session. Exit the screen session when the management command has completed.

• To list all screen sessions:

  # screen -ls

  There is a screen on:

  6350.TufinCommands (Attached)

  1 Socket in /var/run/screen/S-root.

• To detach from the screen session:

  Type Ctrl-A and then 'd'.

• To attach to a named screen session: You can reconnect to a named screen session from another network connection on the server.

  # screen -d -r 6350.TufinCommands

  Note: -d detaches the named screen session if it is attached elsewhere, and -r attaches you to the specified screen session.

• To terminate a screen session: You must be attached to the screen session to terminate it.

  Do not terminate the screen session while the TOS management command is still running.

  1. Type exit at the prompt, or
  2. Type Ctrl-A,then type ":quit<enter>".