ARCHIVED: In Unix, how do I use screen to mask how many times I'm logged in?

In Unix, the screen command defaults to having every pseudo terminal show up as a login tty; therefore, when you execute the who or finger commands for your username, you will show up as many times as you have screens.

To log an individual screen out, at its shell prompt enter:

  Ctrl-a Shift-l   

If you have a customized escape sequence, use that instead of Ctrl-a.

You can also customize your .screenrc file so that only one or some of your screens show up as login screens.

Use the deflogin command, with an argument of on or off, for example:

  deflogin off

In the .screenrc the remaining screens started from the .screenrc, and any screen started thereafter, will not be a login screen.

In the following example, only one screen will be a login screen; therefore, the user will only show up once on the who list or when fingered.

  screen 1 bash
  deflogin off
  screen 2 elm
  screen 3 lynx
  screen 4 emacs

For more information on using screen, consult the manual page by entering at the Unix shell prompt:

  man screen