Keep work running over SSH

Install and run ckmux on the machine doing the work. Your local terminal displays the remote client through SSH; the remote ckmux server owns the shells, programs, terminal history, and workspace.

ssh -t user@host
ckmux new -s work
ckmux attach work

Press Ctrl+B, d to detach, then exit the remote shell. To return:

ssh -t user@host
ckmux ls
ckmux attach work

Use the same remote account and server endpoint each time. If ckmux is on the remote PATH, ssh -t user@host ckmux attach work combines the two steps. The -t allocates a terminal for the interactive client; ckmux new and ckmux ls do not need one. On Windows hosts, use the installed ckmux.exe path when it is not on PATH.

Running ckmux locally and then starting SSH inside it preserves the local SSH process and its screen. It cannot preserve remote programs if that SSH connection ends. For remote persistence, run ckmux after logging into the remote host.

Disconnecting is different from signing out

Closing a client disconnects its display and input. It does not ask ckmux to stop the server or its programs. An operating system can still terminate the server when it ends a login session. Detaching is not an exemption from that policy.

Windows

A server started from Windows Terminal belongs to that desktop login. Signing out ends that server and its programs. ckmux currently does not install a Windows service to host sessions independently of the desktop.

Windows OpenSSH can start processes in a different context. In the tested OpenSSH service configuration, the ckmux server ran in Windows session 0, survived SSH disconnect, and remained reachable on a fresh connection using the same account and pipe label. Do not infer this behavior for every SSH server or containment policy.

A launcher whose Windows job forbids independent processes causes ckmux startup to fail with a diagnostic. A successful --server --foreground process is not a substitute for testing normal automatic server startup.

Linux

Linux login cleanup is configurable. On systemd hosts, KillUserProcesses can end detached programs when a login session closes. Moving a server into a systemd user service and enabling user lingering can give it a lifetime outside individual logins; lingering alone does not move an already-running server out of its login session. ckmux does not install such a unit.

The tested Debian 13 host kept both the original processes and their default socket after SSH logout and LightDM/Openbox desktop logout. Its effective KillUserProcesses setting was no, with lingering disabled. This result is specific to that configuration, not a guarantee for every Linux desktop.

There is a second dependency: the socket. The default lives under $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR when it is set. The system can remove that directory at the last logout, even if a detached process is still alive. A fresh client then cannot reach the old server. For environments that keep detached processes but remove the runtime directory, choose a private persistent socket before starting the server and use it on every connection:

mkdir -p "$HOME/.local/state/ckmux"
chmod 700 "$HOME/.local/state/ckmux"
export CKMUX_SOCKET="$HOME/.local/state/ckmux/default.sock"
ckmux new -s work

Keep the Unix socket path short enough for the OS limit. A persistent socket path does not prevent an OS policy from terminating the server.

macOS

ckmux detaches its server from the launching terminal using a double fork and setsid(). That establishes terminal independence; it does not by itself prove survival through graphical desktop logout. Treat desktop logout survival as unverified until tested on the macOS version and launch context you use. A user LaunchAgent should not be confused with a system LaunchDaemon.

Verified coverage

These checks use ckmux 0.1.8 with ckVision 0.1.18. A worker writes its PID and an increasing counter once per second. The checks compare process identity, counter progress, and the ability to reconnect to the original session.

The Linux desktop check uses a real LightDM/PAM login and normal Openbox session exit with a virtual X display; it is not GNOME or KDE coverage. The Windows desktop and SSH fixtures use different test accounts; their results do not establish same-account desktop-to-SSH handover. Native Windows x64 and macOS logout behavior have not been measured by this check.

Check your host

Use a disposable account or VM for desktop logout tests. Start a named session with a program that records its PID and increments a counter in a file. Record the server PID too. Then:

1. Detach, close SSH, and reconnect with the same account and endpoint.
2. Repeat while attached, abruptly closing the SSH connection.
3. Separately, start a session from the graphical desktop and sign out of that desktop. Observe from a different account or management connection.
4. Check that the original PIDs still exist, the counter advanced while disconnected, and ckmux attach reaches the original session.

Wait long enough for delayed login cleanup to run. A new server, a recreated session, or a surviving PID with an unreachable socket is not a successful reattachment test. Keep desktop logout, SSH disconnect, and reboot results separate.

Platform references

• Windows logoff process termination
• systemd login cleanup
• systemd user lingering
• Apple login-session lifetimes

For endpoint overrides and command syntax, see Command line.