NAME

       script - make typescript of terminal session

SYNOPSIS

       script [options] [file]

DESCRIPTION

       script  makes  a  typescript  of  everything displayed on your terminal.  It is useful for
       students who need a hardcopy record of an interactive session as proof of  an  assignment,
       as the typescript file can be printed out later with lpr(1).

       If  the argument file is given, script saves the dialogue in this file.  If no filename is
       given, the dialogue is saved in the file typescript.

OPTIONS

       Below, 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.

       -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, --return
              Return  the  exit  code  of  the  child  process.   Uses  the  same  format as bash
              termination on signal termination exit code is 128+n.  The exit code of  the  child
              process is always stored in 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 real-time what is being done
              using `cat foo'.

       --force
              Allow  the  default  output  destination, i.e. the typescript file, to be a hard or
              symbolic link.  The command will follow a symbolic link.

       -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  data  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.   This  information  can  be  used  to  replay typescripts with
              realistic typing and output delays.

       -V, --version
              Display version information and exit.

       -h, --help
              Display help text and exit.

NOTES

       The script ends when the forked shell exits (a control-D for the Bourne shell (sh(1)), and
       exit, logout or control-d (if ignoreeof is not set) for the C-shell, csh(1)).

       Certain  interactive  commands,  such  as  vi(1),  create  garbage in the typescript file.
       script works best with commands that do not manipulate the screen, the results  are  meant
       to emulate a hardcopy terminal.

       It  is not recommended to run script in non-interactive shells.  The inner shell of script
       is always interactive, and this could lead to unexpected results.  If you  use  script  in
       the  shell  initialization file, you have to avoid entering an infinite loop.  You can use
       for example the .profile file, which is read by login shells only:

              if test -t 0 ; then
                  script
                  exit
              fi

       You should also avoid use of script in command pipes, as script can read more  input  than
       you would expect.

ENVIRONMENT

       The following environment variable is utilized by script:

       SHELL  If  the  variable  SHELL exists, the shell forked by script will be that shell.  If
              SHELL is not set, the Bourne shell is assumed.   (Most  shells  set  this  variable
              automatically).

SEE ALSO

       csh(1) (for the history mechanism), scriptreplay(1)

HISTORY

       The script command appeared in 3.0BSD.

BUGS

       script places everything in the log file, including linefeeds and backspaces.  This is not
       what the naive user expects.

       script is primarily designed for interactive terminal  sessions.   When  stdin  is  not  a
       terminal  (for  example:  echo  foo  |  script),  then  the  session can hang, because the
       interactive shell within the script session misses EOF and script  has  no  clue  when  to
       close the session.  See the NOTES section for more information.

AVAILABILITY

       The  script  command  is part of the util-linux package and is available from Linux Kernel
       Archive ⟨https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/util-linux/⟩.