How to record the terminal on a server?

Question

I do a lot of tutorials on youtube under the name DevHQLessons, and since my previous video on Linux commands was welcomed by my viewers - I've decided to do a whole lot more.

I have a machine running Ubuntu Server and was wondering if there is any easy way to record the screen (preferably with audio - but I can always just put that over in editing)? (Or if I'll just be forced to record a Virtual Machine in Windows)

Any Ideas?

Answer 1

Take a look at recordMyDesktop, here is also a comparison of screencasting software.

If you don't have any GUI you might want to use script (it's part of the util-linux-ng package):

user@srv % script logfile
Script started, file is logfile
user@srv % echo test
test
user@srv % exit
Script done, file is logfile

You'll find a recording of this session in logfile.

To track a SSH session in the same fashion you can use tee:

user@srv % ssh host | tee -a sshlog

However, both ways just dump commands and outputs, without any time assignments. So it's not applicable to record videos.

I recommend to use something like VirtualBox or VMware and record the windows with virtual machines inside...

Answer 2

ttyrec

ttyrec allows you to record your terminal sessions easily. However, they are recorded in a special format (not video), but the resulting files are smaller, and as such easily transferable.

I use playterm.org as a hosting for my ttyrec files. It allows you to view your terminal recordings over a browser (as if it were a video).

Steps

Recording

sudo apt-get install ttyrec
ttyrec
#Type your commands
git init #Example command
exit

A ttyrec session is similar to a screen session, except that it is recorded. After your recording is complete, a file with .tty extension will be present in your directory. You can upload that file to playterm, or pass people a download link.

Playing

To play the file, they'd need to use the ttyplay command. Just use ttyplay file.tty and it should play your terminal.

Editing

Since you are comfortable with adding audio later, I'd recommend copying the ttyrec file to a normal ubuntu desktop, and playing the recording (using ttyplay) while recording it using a screencasting session. You can record your voiceovers at the same time.

References:

• ttyrec Home Page
• ttyrec man page

Answer 3

ascii.io

No nonsense asciicasting for serious hackers

ascii.io lets you record your terminal sessions and share them with other geeks simply by running asciiio command in your term.

It is fully open-source platform with aim of being a "go to" place for terminal users wanting to share their hackery. Web based player is an implementation of VT100/VT102 ANSI terminal, supporting most ANSI sequences, all text attributes and 256 colors.

Installation

curl -sL get.ascii.io | bash

Start recording with asciiio. If you want to upload recordings from command line, run asciiio auth to authenticate with your account on the website.

More instructions on the help page (asciiio -h)

Answer 4

You can install shelr via PPA or via rubygems and record it with:

shelr record

Answer 5

Most screen-casting software requires a GUI ( Graphical User Interface ). I have not jet seen one especially for server CLI ( Command Line Interface ). The best way i can think of is running a desktop version of Ubuntu and recoding a terminal or running a virtual-machine in virtual-box. That way you can use recordMyDesktop or any other GUI recording software.