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The following sections describe how to start GNOME Terminal.

2.1. Starting GNOME Terminal

You can start GNOME Terminal in the following ways:

Menut Applications

Choose Accessories ▸ Terminal.

Linha de comanda

Execute the following command: gnome-terminal

You can use command line options to modify the way in which you run GNOME Terminal. To view the command line options, execute the following command: gnome-terminal --help

2.2. When You First Start GNOME Terminal

When you start GNOME Terminal for the first time, the application opens a terminal window with a group of default settings. The group of default settings is called the Default profile. The profile name appears in the titlebar of the GNOME Terminal window.

Figure 1Example of a Default GNOME Terminal Window

The terminal window displays a command prompt where you can type UNIX commands. The command prompt can be a %, #, >, $, or any other special character. The cursor is positioned at the command prompt. When you type a UNIX command and press Return, the computer executes the command. By default, GNOME Terminal uses the default shell specified for the user who starts the application.

GNOME Terminal also sets the following environment variables:

TERM

Set to xterm by default.

COLORTERM

Set to gnome-terminal by default.

WINDOWID

Set to the X11 window identifier by default.

2.3. Terminal Profiles

You can create a new profile, and apply the new profile to the terminal to modify characteristics such as font, color and effects, scroll behavior, window title, and compatibility. You can also specify a command that runs automatically when you start GNOME Terminal in the profile.

You define each terminal profile in the Profiles dialog, which you access from the Edit menu. You can define as many different profiles as you require. When you start a terminal, you can choose the profile that you want to use for the terminal. Alternatively, you can change the terminal profile while you use the terminal. To specify an initial profile for a terminal when you start the application from a command line, use the following command:

gnome-terminal --window-with-profile=profilename

The name of the current profile appears in the titlebar of the GNOME Terminal, unless you specify a different titlebar name in the Editing Profile dialog.

See Section 3.2 ― Managing Profiles for information about how to define and use a new terminal profile.

2.4. Working With Multiple Terminals

GNOME Terminal provides a tab feature that enables you to open several terminals in a single window. Each terminal opens in a separate tab. Click on the appropriate tab to display the terminal in the window. Each tabbed terminal in a window is a separate subprocess, so you can use each terminal for different tasks. You can apply a different profile to each tabbed terminal in the window.

The titlebar of the terminal window shows either the name of the current profile, or the name specified by the current profile. Figure 2 shows a GNOME Terminal window with four tabs. In this case, each of the four tabs has a different profile. The name of the profile in the active tab, Profile 1, appears in the titlebar.

Figure 2Example of a Terminal Window With Tabs

See Section 3.1 ― Opening and Closing Terminals for information about how to open a new tabbed terminal.