9. Command line options

The following options can be used to start Multi Gnome Terminal. These will over-ride any saved configuration settings.

• --version

  Show the current Multi Gnome Terminal version information, then exit.

• --usage

  Show all command line options, including various GNOME and GDK options, then exit.

• --help

  Show command line options, including a brief description of each, then exit.

• --background COLOR

  Used to specify the background color for the terminal at startup. The COLOR can be any form accepted by your windowing system.

• --class WM_CLASS

  Specify a Window class name for X (this is different than --tclass and --wclass, which are purely Multi Gnome Terminal functions).

• --display DISPLAY

  Specify the X "display" to be used.

• --command CMD ARGS, -e CMD ARGS

  Executes the command CMD with its arguments ARGS on startup. No arguments beyond this one will be processed by the terminal. This behavior mimics the xterm -e behavior.

• --execute CMD ARGS

  Same as --command above, included for compatibility.

• --font FONT

  Sets the font of the terminal to FONT

• --foreground COLOR

  Sets the foreground of the terminal to COLOR.

• --geometry GEOMETRY

  Specifies the startup geometry for this terminal. The geometry specifies the desired width and height in terminal characters. For example: --geometry=80x40 will create an eighty-column by forty-line terminal. You can also specify the location of the terminal Window on the screen; for example, --geometry=80x40+100+200 will create a Window whose top left corner is 100 pixels to the right and 200 pixels down from the top left corner of the screen, while --geometry=80x40+100-200 will give a Window whose bottom left corner is 100 pixels to the right and 200 pixels up from the bottom left corner of the screen.

• --login

  Make Multi Gnome Terminal launch the built-in shell (from the New Term menu) in login mode (it will run all of your login initialization scripts in this mode).

• --nologin

  Make Multi Gnome Terminal only launch a shell, without running any login initialization scripts. This is the default, unless you have selected Use --login by default in the Preferences dialog.

• --noutmp

  Indicates that this and the associated shell should not be registered in the system database of users logged into the computer.

• --utmp

  Indicates that the user wants this terminal to be registered in the system database of users logged into the computer (the utmp database). This is the default.

• --lastlog

  Always create a lastlog entry for each terminal login.

• --nolastlog

  Do not create a lastlog entry for each terminal login.

• --wtmp

  Requests that this session will be logged into the system records for users that have logged into the system. This is different from `utmp' because this keeps track of who logged in and logged out of the system, independently of whether it shows up in the list of users.

• --nowtmp

  Requests that the session be not logged into the system records.

• --title TITLE, -t TITLE

  Makes Multi Gnome Terminal use TITLE for the Window title.

• --termname TERMNAME

  Makes Multi Gnome Terminal use TERMNAME as the value of the TERM environment variable. This is generally not needed, but is available for those who find they do need to change it.

• --start-factory-server

  Try to start the TerminalFactory service for this terminal (see below).

• --use-factory

  If there is already a terminal process started with --start-factory-server option, then running the command multi-gnome-terminal --use-factory will create a new terminal Window owned by the existing terminal process. In other words, it will have the same effect as choosing File->New Window in the existing terminal.

  If there is no TerminalFactory running, then this option has no effect.

• --solid

  Force a solid background color, i.e. turn off transparency or pixmap backgrounds.

• --pixmap FILENAME

  Specifies the image filename to be used as the background for this terminal Window.

• --shaded

  Requests that the background be shaded (for use with --transparent and --pixmap).

• --noshaded

  Requests that the background remain untouched (no shading is applied).

• --transparent

  Requests that the terminal should run in "pseudo-transparent" mode, making the background of the terminal Window be the same as the background of your root Window. It is not truly transparent since other Windows will not be visible through the terminal Window.

• --icon FILENAME

  Specifies the filename that contains the icon image that should be used for Multi Gnome Terminal when iconified (as long as your Window Manager supports icon hints).

• -s, --tclass CLASSNAME (NEW Behavior v1.6.0)

  Specifies the Class for this Tab only. This effects all terminals within the Tab as well, but other Tabs may have belong to other Classes.

• -S, --wclass CLASSNAME (NEW v1.6.0)

  Specifies the Class shared by all Tabs of this Window. This is essentially the old behavior of --tclass.

• -w, --add-window

  Launch a new Window from the parent Window, as a sub-process. This will automatically open one Tab. This can be combined with various other options listed below.

• -W, --add-window-wt (NEW v1.5.2)

  Launch a new Window from the parent Window just as the above --add-window, but also open any start-up or saved Tabs for the current Class as well.

• -A, --newapp

  Use this option to force a completely new instance of Multi Gnome Terminal so that the options listed below (e.g. --add-tab) can be utilized in a new Window as opposed to the current one.

• -T, --add-tab

  Add a new Tab. --add-tab can be used to add a Tab to a new Window that is being created (see --add-window and --newapp), and also to dynamically add a new Tab to the Window that invokes the command. Example:

  multi-gnome-terminal --add-tab

  Something fun to use with Keybindings. See example below for combining various command line options.

• -n, --tname NAME

  Use this NAME for the new Tab label and shell being launched. If white space is included, use quotes.

• -h, --hsplit

  Split the Tab or Window being created horizontally in equal parts.

• -v, --vsplit

  Split the Tab or Window being created vertically in equal parts.

• -p, --tpath PATH

  Change to this PATH when starting the new Tab.

• -c, --tcommand COMMAND

  Use this COMMAND to launch the new shell. This can be used in conjunction with --add-tab to create a new Tab or with --add-window. Successive --tcommand's can also be invoked so as to pass arguments to the first --tcommand. Or if white space is included, the command must be in quotes. The first word should be the command in this case, and any additional words, or characters separated by white space, would be arguments to the command. Example:

  multi-gnome-terminal --add-tab --tname="MGT Man Page" \ --tcommand="man multi-gnome-terminal"

  This creates a new Tab with the Multi Gnome Terminal man page opened. Obviously, something more suited for a key binding shortcut. Remember, once the command exits, so does the Tab.

• -x COMMAND

  As above, use this COMMAND to launch the new shell, but quoting is not required with this option.

• -N, --tnext

  When creating split terminals, force the split to the next terminal being created. This is to aid in the positioning of terminals within the Window.

• -P, --tprev

  When creating split terminals, force the split to the previous terminal being created.

• --nowait

  Normally, Multi Gnome Terminal waits to make sure a new terminal has in fact been created before proceeding. This option bypasses this safety net, and thus is dangerous for general usage. It should not be used -- unless you have a very good reason, and know what you are doing. In most cases, it simply is not warranted.