script

Reference

Record everything you do in a terminal or SSH session

Category

Linux Command

Usage

script [options] [file]

Manual

Description

script makes a typescript of everything on your terminal session. The terminal data are stored in raw form to the log file and information about timing to another (optional) structured log file. The timing log file is necessary to replay the session later by scriptreplay and to store additional information about the session.

Options

  • -a, --append: Append the output to file or to typescript, retaining the prior contents.
  • -c, --command command: Run the command rather than an interactive shell. This makes it easy for a script to capture the output of a program that behaves differently when its stdout is not a tty.
  • -E, --echo when: This option controls the ECHO flag for the slave end of the session’s pseudoterminal. The supported modes are always, never, or auto.
    • The default is auto — in this case, ECHO enabled for the pseudoterminal slave; if the current standard input is a terminal, ECHO is disabled for it to prevent double echo; if the current standard input is not a terminal (for example pipe: echo date | script) then keeping ECHO enabled for the pseudoterminal slave enables the standard input data to be viewed on screen while being recorded to session log simultaneously. Note that 'never' mode affects content of the session output log, because users input is not repeated on output.
  • -e, --return: Return the exit status of the child process. Uses the same format as bash termination on signal termination (i.e., exit status is 128 + the signal number). The exit status of the child process is always stored in the type script file too.
  • -f, --flush: Flush output after each write. This is nice for telecooperation: one person does 
    mkfifo foo; script -f foo
    and another can supervise in real-time what is being done using 
    cat foo
    Note that flush has an impact on performance; it's possible to use SIGUSR1 to flush logs on demand.
  • --force: Allow the default output file typescript to be a hard or symbolic link. The command will follow a symbolic link.
  • -B, --log-io file: Log input and output to the same file. Note, this option makes sense only if --log-timing is also specified, otherwise it’s impossible to separate output and input streams from the log file.
  • -I, --log-in file: Log input to the file. The log output is disabled if only --log-in specified. Use this logging functionality carefully as it logs all input, including input when terminal has disabled echo flag (for example, password inputs).
  • -O, --log-out file: Log output to the file. The default is to log output to the file with name typescript if the option --log-out or --log-in is not given. The log output is disabled if only --log-in specified.
  • -T, --log-timing file: Log timing information to the file. Two timing file formats are supported now. The classic format is used when only one stream (input or output) logging is enabled. The multi-stream format is used on --log-io or when --log-in and --log-out are used together. See also --logging-format.
  • -m, --logging-format format: Force use of advanced or classic format. The default is the classic format to log only output and the advanced format when input as well as output logging is requested.
    • Classic format: The log contains two fields, separated by a space. The first field indicates how much time elapsed since the previous output. The second field indicates how many characters were output this time.
    • Advanced (multi-stream) format: The first field is an entry type identifier (Input, Output, Header, Signal). The socond field is how much time elapsed since the previous entry, and the rest of the entry is type-specific data.
  • -o, --output-limit size: Limit the size of the typescript and timing files to size and stop the child process after this size is exceeded. The calculated file size does not include the start and done messages that the script command prepends and appends to the child process output. Due to buffering, the resulting output file might be larger than the specified value.
  • -q, --quiet: Be quiet (do not write start and done messages to standard output).
  • -t[file], --timing[=file]: Output timing data to standard error, or to file when given. This option is deprecated in favour of --log-timing where the file argument is not optional.
  • -V, --version: Display version information and exit.
  • -h, --help: Display help text and exit.

The size argument may be followed by the multiplicative suffixes KiB (=1024), MiB (=1024*1024), and so on for GiB, TiB, PiB, EiB, ZiB and YiB (the "iB" is optional, e.g., "K" has the same meaning as "KiB"), or the suffixes KB (=1000), MB (=1000*1000), and so on for GB, TB, PB, EB, ZB and YB.

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