App Management Workflow

Tmux is excellent for managing running applications — web servers, WordPress sites, Docker containers, and databases — from a single organized terminal.

Use Case

A structured app management session gives you shell access, logs, monitoring, and tool panes in one persistent workspace.

WordPress / PHP App Session

~/bin/wp-session.sh

#!/bin/bash
SESSION="wordpress"
WP_DIR="/srv/wordpress"

tmux has-session -t "$SESSION" 2>/dev/null && tmux attach -t "$SESSION" && exit

# Session
tmux new -s "$SESSION" -n "shell" -d
tmux send-keys -t "$SESSION:shell" "cd $WP_DIR" Enter

# Window: logs
tmux new-window -t "$SESSION" -n "logs"
tmux split-window -v -t "$SESSION:logs"
tmux send-keys -t "$SESSION:logs.0" "tail -f /var/log/nginx/error.log" Enter
tmux send-keys -t "$SESSION:logs.1" "tail -f /var/log/php8.2-fpm.log" Enter

# Window: database
tmux new-window -t "$SESSION" -n "db"
tmux send-keys -t "$SESSION:db" "mysql -u wordpress -p wordpress" Enter

# Window: monitoring
tmux new-window -t "$SESSION" -n "monitor"
tmux split-window -h -t "$SESSION:monitor"
tmux send-keys -t "$SESSION:monitor.0" "watch -n 5 systemctl status nginx php8.2-fpm" Enter
tmux send-keys -t "$SESSION:monitor.1" "htop" Enter

tmux select-window -t "$SESSION:shell"
tmux attach -t "$SESSION"

Docker Management Session

~/bin/docker-session.sh

#!/bin/bash
SESSION="docker"

tmux has-session -t "$SESSION" 2>/dev/null && tmux attach -t "$SESSION" && exit

tmux new -s "$SESSION" -n "ps" -d
tmux send-keys -t "$SESSION:ps" "watch -n 3 docker ps" Enter

tmux new-window -t "$SESSION" -n "logs"
tmux send-keys -t "$SESSION:logs" "docker compose logs -f" Enter

tmux new-window -t "$SESSION" -n "exec"
# ready for docker exec commands

tmux select-window -t "$SESSION:exec"
tmux attach -t "$SESSION"

General Web Server Session

~/bin/webserver-session.sh

#!/bin/bash
SESSION="webserver"

tmux has-session -t "$SESSION" 2>/dev/null && tmux attach -t "$SESSION" && exit

tmux new -s "$SESSION" -n "nginx" -d

# Window layout: side-by-side access + error logs
tmux split-window -h -t "$SESSION:nginx"
tmux send-keys -t "$SESSION:nginx.0" "tail -F /var/log/nginx/access.log" Enter
tmux send-keys -t "$SESSION:nginx.1" "tail -F /var/log/nginx/error.log" Enter

# Separate window for service status
tmux new-window -t "$SESSION" -n "status"
tmux send-keys -t "$SESSION:status" "watch -n 5 systemctl status nginx" Enter

# Admin shell
tmux new-window -t "$SESSION" -n "admin"

tmux select-window -t "$SESSION:admin"
tmux attach -t "$SESSION"

Recommended Window Structure for Apps

Window	Purpose	Typical Contents
shell	Primary working shell	cd to app dir, general commands
logs	Live log viewing	tail -F on app/server logs
db	Database client	mysql, psql, sqlite3
monitor	Resource monitoring	htop, watch commands
admin	Management tasks	systemctl, docker, wp-cli

Tips for App Management

1. Name all windows — use tmux rename-window for clarity
2. Use tail -F not tail -f — follows log rotation automatically
3. Zoom in on important panes — Ctrl+b z to focus, zoom again to return
4. Keep admin shell separate — don't mix commands in a log-watching pane

What's Next

• Troubleshooting
• Cheatsheet