How to Install and Use Eternal Terminal

Updated

Eternal Terminal (ET) is a remote shell that automatically reconnects without interrupting your session, so an ET session can survive network outages and IP roaming. To get started, use the Download and Tutorial links on eternalterminal.dev, install ET on both the machine you connect from and the machine you connect to, then start a session with the et command. ET uses ssh to initialize the connection, so you need working ssh access to the target host first.

What ET is and when to use it

ET is described on its site as a "remote terminal for the busy and impatient." Its core difference from plain ssh is that an ET session survives network outages and IP roaming; with ssh you must kill the session and reconnect after an outage.

It is a good fit when:

  • You work over unstable networks (Wi-Fi, mobile, VPN) and do not want to lose your shell.
  • You want your tmux session to stay attached across reconnects.
  • You need native scrolling or tmux control mode (tmux -CC), which the site notes mosh does not support.

Install ET

The site provides a Download page and a Tutorial page; use those as the authoritative source for current packages and platform-specific instructions. The general shape of installation is:

  1. Install ET on the remote host (the machine you connect to).
  2. Install ET on the local machine (the machine you connect from).
  3. Make sure the ET daemon (etserver) is running on the remote host.

Because ET initializes its connection over ssh, confirm that you can already ssh into the remote host before troubleshooting ET itself.

Start a session

Once both sides are installed and the remote server component is running, connect with:

et myhost.com

Expected result: you get a remote shell that stays alive if the connection drops. When the network returns, ET resumes the session instead of starting a new one.

How it compares to ssh, autossh, and mosh

Tool Reconnects automatically Keeps the same session Notes from the ET site
ssh No No ET uses ssh to initialize the connection; ssh sessions die on network outage and must be reconnected.
autossh Yes No — starts a new session each time More advanced than while true; ssh myhost.com; with tmux control mode you must wait for the ssh connection to die and then re-attach.
mosh Yes Yes (core functionality) Does not support native scrolling or tmux control mode (tmux -CC).
ET Yes Yes Maintains your tmux session even when the TCP connection dies and resumes quickly.

Common sticking points

  • ssh must work first. ET uses ssh to initialize the connection, so fix ssh access before debugging ET.
  • Both ends need ET. Installing only on the client or only on the server will not give you a working session.
  • Server component must be running. If etserver is not running on the remote host, the connection cannot be established.
  • tmux control mode is an ET advantage. If you rely on tmux -CC, ET supports it while mosh does not.

For exact package names, supported platforms, and current setup steps, follow the Download and Tutorial pages on eternalterminal.dev.