ttyrec: Record and replay terminal activity

Master Terminal Recordings with Ttyrec: Complete Guide to Installation and Usage

Are you ever in a position where sharing your real-time terminal activity could benefit your team, accelerate learning, or simplify support? Whether for educational purposes, demonstration, or debugging, recording your terminal activity is invaluable. One such tool that stands as a game-changer is ttyrec. It's simple, efficient, and incredibly easy to use. Here we will dive into what ttyrec is, how you can install it on different Linux distributions, and how to use it effectively.

What is Ttyrec?

Ttyrec is a terminal utility that records terminal sessions natively and allows you to replay them whenever needed. It records everything displayed on the terminal, including keystrokes and timing information, allowing an exact replay. This tool can be particularly useful for creating tutorials, demo scripts, or even keeping track of complex terminal tasks.

Installation Instructions

1. Debian and Ubuntu (apt)

For users running a Debian-based distribution like Ubuntu, the ttyrec package can be easily installed using the apt package manager. Open your terminal and run the following commands:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install ttyrec

This will update your package list and install ttyrec on your system.

2. Fedora (dnf)

If you are using Fedora, you can install ttyrec using the dnf package manager. Use the below commands to proceed:

sudo dnf update
sudo dnf install ttyrec

Just like with apt, these commands will update your system’s package repository index and then install ttyrec.

3. openSUSE (zypper)

For those who are on an openSUSE distribution, ttyrec can be installed using zypper. Run the following in your terminal:

sudo zypper refresh
sudo zypper install ttyrec

The refresh command ensures that all of your package indexes are up-to-date, and install ttyrec command will get ttyrec set up on your system.

How to Use Ttyrec

Recording:
To start a recording, simply type ttyrec in your terminal. This command will start recording the terminal session until you stop it. The recording will automatically be saved in a file named ttyrecord in the same directory where you started the recording unless you specify otherwise.

ttyrec mysession.tty

This command starts recording and saves the output to mysession.tty.

Stopping the Recording:
To stop recording, simply press CTRL+D or type exit. This will end the session and save your recording.

Replaying the Recording:
To replay the recorded session, you can use the ttyplay command as follows:

ttyplay mysession.tty

Advanced Usage

You can control the speed of replay with the -s (speed) option, which is useful for fast-forwarding through less important parts or slowing down for detailed demonstrations.

ttyplay -s 2 mysession.tty  # Plays the recording at double the speed

Conclusion

With ttyrec, documenting and sharing your terminal sessions becomes not only feasible but also straightforward. Whether you're an educator, a developer, or any Linux enthusiast, ttyrec helps ensure that none of your brilliant terminal work goes unrecorded or unappreciated. Install it today on your system and start leveraging the power of terminal recordings!

Remember, the ability to replay terminal sessions can be a powerful asset for tutorials, demos, or even just to review your command sequences. Enjoy recording and sharing your terminal wisdom!