https://faq.i3wm.org/questions/Frequently asked questions and answers about the i3 window managerenCopyright i3, 2012Fri, 04 Dec 2015 09:48:47 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/4938/bash-script-to-start-several-terminalssh-windows-with-specific-layout/I need a bash script to start serveral terminals with ssh connections using a specific layout on demand, not at startup. Basically each window (Wx) is a 'gnome-terminal -e "ssh $USER@$IPx"'. The layout I need is something like is: +----+----+----+ | W1 | | | +----+ W4 | | | W2 |----| W6 | +----+ W5 | | | W3 | | | +----+----+----+ I tried to use "i3-msg" to change the layout, and to move the terminals to different containers, but somehow I couldn't manage to get the layout I want. Can someone give me some hints with this problem, please?Wed, 12 Nov 2014 09:14:01 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/4938/bash-script-to-start-several-terminalssh-windows-with-specific-layout/https://faq.i3wm.org/question/4938/bash-script-to-start-several-terminalssh-windows-with-specific-layout/?answer=4950#post-id-4950Since you're using Terminal-only, I would recommend `terminator` for such a setup. You can define layouts, save them and define a "start command" for each terminal. Short "Tutorial" for usage of `terminator`: http:// blog.al4.co.nz/2011/05/getting-the-most-out-of-terminator/ Edit: Cannot post links due to having not enough karmaThu, 13 Nov 2014 18:11:46 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/4938/bash-script-to-start-several-terminalssh-windows-with-specific-layout/?answer=4950#post-id-4950https://faq.i3wm.org/question/4938/bash-script-to-start-several-terminalssh-windows-with-specific-layout/?comment=7558#comment-7558I haven't logged into here for quite some time, so I didn't see Your answer earlier. I had a brief look at ```terminator```, and actually I was not too happy. I still use the layout feature. But I will have a better look at ```terminator``` soon.Fri, 04 Dec 2015 09:48:47 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/4938/bash-script-to-start-several-terminalssh-windows-with-specific-layout/?comment=7558#comment-7558https://faq.i3wm.org/question/4938/bash-script-to-start-several-terminalssh-windows-with-specific-layout/?answer=4941#post-id-4941The fastest and easiest way is to save the intended layout and restore it when needed on a fresh workspace. (Since version 4.8 i3 can save and restore layouts ([see here](http://i3wm.org/docs/layout-saving.html)) Luckily with `gnome-terminal` you can set the window role with a command line parameter: `--role ROLE`, which makes it quite easy to assign specific positions for specific windows. To start your terminals you can just use the following script and run it on an empty workspace: #!/bin/bash WS_LAYOUT_FILE=/some/where/layout declare -A IPs IPs=( [W1]=xx.xx.xx.01 [W2]=xx.xx.xx.02 [W3]=xx.xx.xx.03 [W4]=xx.xx.xx.04 [W5]=xx.xx.xx.05 [W6]=xx.xx.xx.06 ) SSH_USER=username i3-msg append_layout "$WS_LAYOUT_FILE" for window in ${!IPs[*]}; do gnome-terminal --role "$window" -e "ssh $SSH_USER@${IPs[$window)}" & done The layout file (`/some/where/layout` in the example) for your case looks like this: { "border": "normal", "floating": "auto_off", "layout": "splith", "type": "workspace", "nodes": [ { "border": "normal", "floating": "auto_off", "layout": "splitv", "percent": 0.333333333333333, "type": "con", "nodes": [ { "border": "normal", "floating": "auto_off", "layout": "splitv", "percent": 1, "type": "con", "nodes": [ { "border": "normal", "floating": "auto_off", "type": "con", "percent": 0.333333333333333, "name": "W1", "swallows": [ { "window_role": "^W1$" } ] }, { "border": "normal", "floating": "auto_off", "type": "con", "percent": 0.333333333333333, "name": "W2", "swallows": [ { "window_role": "^W2$" } ] }, { "border": "normal", "floating": "auto_off", "type": "con", "percent": 0.333333333333333, "name": "W3", "swallows": [ { "window_role": "^W3$" } ] } ] } ] }, { "border": "normal", "floating": "auto_off", "layout": "splitv", "percent": 0.333333333333333, "type": "con", "nodes": [ { "border": "normal", "floating": "auto_off", "type": "con", "percent": 0.5, "name": "W4", "swallows": [ { "window_role": "^W4$" } ] }, { "border": "normal", "floating": "auto_off", "type": "con", "percent": 0.5, "name": "W5", "swallows": [ { "window_role": "^W5$" } ] } ] }, { "border": "normal", "floating": "auto_off", "layout": "splitv", "percent": 0.333333333333333, "type": "con", "nodes": [ { "border": "normal", "floating": "auto_off", "type": "con", "percent": 1, "name": "W6", "swallows": [ { "window_role": "^W6$" } ] } ] } ] } `append_layout` opens placeholder windows as defined in the layout file. If a window is created that matches the rules in `swallow` (in this example only `window_role` is checked) i3 puts it in place of the placeholder. Wed, 12 Nov 2014 12:45:36 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/4938/bash-script-to-start-several-terminalssh-windows-with-specific-layout/?answer=4941#post-id-4941